Leaf range dropped substantially

[Peterch]

Hi all
Thanks for allowing me to join the forum.

I don't really believe the "battery bars" as they seem to change for no real reason!

I usually rely on the range that I am shown after charging overnight although I do understand that thsi changes due to terrain, weather heater/ac use.

I previously would have 120 miles range (No heater or A/c) in eco range and now have only 90.

I have used the leafspy app and dongle and have the following stats

It is a 2016 30kw/h version 75900 miles

AHz 63.44
SOH = 78.33%
HX= 66.03%
9mV
SOC 96.1
min/avg/max 4.110 4.115 4.119
Temp F 59.7

I am not really sure what all this means Especially the HX bit is this good/bad/average

Any ideas suggestions etc would be appreciated

Peter

 

[cwerdna]

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "kw".

The guess-o-meter (silly number on the right side) is not worth wasting your time on: https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=271853#p271853.

 

[LeftieBiker]

There is a known issue with the 30kwh Leaf packs. You need to get the Battery Management System software update that Nissan has created. This will do one of two things:

* Genuinely increase your range by correcting a programming error in the BMS.

* More likely, your capacity and apparent range (as shown by the range estimator, not by actual miles driven) will temporarily increase, with the capacity bars returning to 12. Those bars will then likely drop away again, and you will, in a matter of roughly three to twelve months, end up where you are now again. The good news is that if that happens, once you're down to 8 capacity bars, and if your odometer mileage is under 100,000, Nissan will replace the battery with a free 40kwh pack.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "kw".

The guess-o-meter (silly number on the right side) is not worth wasting your time on: https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=271853#p271853.

The LeafSpy reading, however, indicates a fairly large drop in capacity.

 

[cwerdna]

True.

The update in question is at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10143139-9999.pdf and https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10143483-9999.pdf (PC630, NTB18-039).

 

[Peterch]

Hi all

thanks for comments I am based in the original Washington (England) where my leaf was made so not sure if the recall/ update is applicable over here but other comments are welcome Does the BMS reset have any real affect or does it just show readings more accurately?
Peter

 

[LeftieBiker]

Does the BMS reset have any real affect or does it just show readings more accurately?

In some cases it helps. It seems more often to not help.

 

[PrairieLEAF]

Is this your first winter with your LEAF?

Outside temperature has a pretty big impact on range.

Has anything else changed about your driving (routes, time-of-day, etc.)?

Have you checked your tire pressure? Cold temperature can significantly reduce tire pressure.

I usually rely more on the battery percentage (a selectable option in the center of the lower instrument area) than the indicator on the right. In summer, each percentage point is a little more than a mile. In the winter, a little less (unless mountain driving).

 

[Oilpan4]

Welcome to winter.

 

[LeftieBiker]

It's quite true that Winter weather saps range. I had assumed that it wasn't the OP's first Winter with the car, and was also looking at the 5%+ drop per year average.

 

[Peterch]

hi
this is my second leaf, the first one i had for 2 years and 40000 mls, this one is now 4 years old and has 75900 miles so we've been through a few winters with different conditions. I appreciate the cold weather affects range but i haven't had this before. The range seems to have changed since I ran out of battery yards from a charger resulting in the 12 volt battery failure. (the one and only time in 100k ev use)Could this be the issue and would a BMS help. I'm clutching at straws as reading comments I don't think Nissan will leap at providing a new battery.
everyone seems to talk about bars. Mine has 12 bars available if you count the two red ones. it shows 10 when charged to 100% with a range of 90 miles (no heater or a/c).

If I do the maths 10/12 = 83.3% leafspy shows soh 78.35%

would I need to get to 9 bars 9/12 = 75% before a replacement would be considered?

 

[goldbrick]

The first bar drops after roughly twice the capacity loss of the rest of the bars so 12->11 bars occurs at about 85% SOH. I'd guess you are at the lower range of 10 bars and might soon lose another bar.

In the US, Nissan will replace the battery under warranty when it hits 8 bars but you must have the BMS firmware update done first. 30kWh batteries have a 8 year/100k mile warranty period so you must reach 8 bars before that.

90 miles of range for you battery sounds about right so it sounds like everything is working as intended. Using LeafSpy, what is the max/min difference in battery cell voltage? One bad cell can have a large effect on range since the BMS must manage the pack based on the worst case cell.

 

[Driver8]

Just to clarify you were originally getting 120 mile range when the car was new? If you were recently getting that with 76% SOH and 76K miles, I would be really surprised.
Has the drop to 90 mile range been gradual over time?

 

[SageBrush]

The photo is from the user manual

Look at #14 and #15. Both scales are in 'bars'.
The #14 bars vary from 1 to 12 bars based on the amount of charge (SoC) in the battery
The #15 bars represent the battery capacity. This does not change from day to day and is not affected by charging.
As capacity is lost, bars drop off from the top of the capacity scale. A new car has 12 capacity bars.
You would be forgiven for guessing that each capacity bar is 100/12 but the scale is not linear:
Bar 1 and bar 12 are 16%. Bars 2 - 11 are 6.5% (approximately)

 

[Peterch]

hi goldbrick
the leaf spy graph shows the lowest cell no 35 at 4.110 with the highest at 4.119 so not a massive difference?

driver8
the range seems to have dropped following a completely discharged battery followed by the 12volt battery failure mid summer 2019.

the battery capacity bars indicator sits at 10 bars

hope this explains a bit more

 

[goldbrick]

the leaf spy graph shows the lowest cell no 35 at 4.110 with the highest at 4.119 so not a massive difference?

Yes, that is normal and isn't an issue.

the range seems to have dropped following a completely discharged battery followed by the 12volt battery failure mid summer 2019.

Bringing the battery down to 0% SOC and leaving it there for a long time can cause extra degradation. I don't think the 12V battery problem is related but if the main battery sat at 0% SOC for a long time it may have degraded then although a 90 mile range at 78% SOH seems just about right to me for a 30kWh pack.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Fun fact(?): if the main pack is drained it will pull all the power from the accessory battery just to try to go a few more feet. That's been reported before.