LEAF Battery Warmer

[scottf200]

This article indicates the heater does not come on when plugged in. I don't recall reading that above unless I missed it. So when plugged it is staying warm enough by charging apparently. Sounds like they were thinking extended periods of cold like an airport stay.

I see the author of the article at our local EV club meetings here in Chicagoland. I'm sure he will write about his winter experiences.

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/06/2012-nissan-leaf-battery-warmer-more-details.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wish I had a heated steering wheel.

 

[surfingslovak]

As far as I know, no one's been able to detect a rise in battery temp during L2 charging.

I have seen this regularly. If the ambient temperature was in mid to high 60s, the battery temperature gauge would move from five to six bars after an hour or so of L2 charging. I would not see similar temperature increase when driving, with the exception of longer freeway trips. I believe that this behavior is consistent with an observation made in an old thread: more heat is generated when charging than during operation of the vehicle.


Click to enlarge

 

[kmp647]

The battery warmer does operate when plugged in to an evse according to the owners manual

 

[rumpole]

I had similar thoughts about laying a heater on the garage floor. My idea was to use a waterbed heater, which is adjustable and has a large area. But, since I've ordered a 2012, it won't be an issue anyway.....

 

[surfingslovak]

I had similar thoughts about laying a heater on the garage floor. My idea was to use a waterbed heater, which is adjustable and has a large area. But, since I've ordered a 2012, it won't be an issue anyway.....

As was noted earlier in the thread, the battery warmer will only kick in at temperatures below 14°F when the vehicle is not plugged in. If this does not cover your use case, you might want to have a look at Tom Moloughney's blog. Tom was one of the MINI-E pioneers and has gone through similar motions during the winter of 2009. Although Leaf's battery pack seems to have much better thermal properties than the MINI, Tom's blog post about his garage heater could be relevant to Leaf owners as well.

 

[Herm]

Heating a garage sounds expensive.