Nissan Leaf 2018 Fast charging decreases after 40%

[JustinPhilbrow]

Hi all,

I have a Leaf Tekna 40kW from 2018. I bought it new and have had it for 2 years now. I charge both at home and using public CHAdeMO 50 kW.

I have noticed that the charging time using CHAdeMO takes more time than it should. I am not talking about Rapid gate, but charging in general, I have experienced and tested this both with the car being cold and after driving for 1 hr or so. According to the specifications I have seen, the charging curve should remain up to about 46 kW until the battery is about 60% then it declines. But with mine it starts to rapidly decline after about 40%. Is anyone else experiencing the same and does anyone know why this might be?

This has as such not been a problem (except waiting longer), but now the company is charging both by the kWh and my the minutes the car is tethered to the charging station, so now this "fault" is also costing me money.

Using LeafSpyPro I also see that the SOH is at 93% and over the last month it has "lost" .4% and the graph with the mV of the battery cells consistently show (I have checked both while charging, parked and driving over the last month) about 2/3 of the bars are red (not quite sure what this means). Is this normal?

 

[SageBrush]

But with mine it starts to rapidly decline after about 40%. Is anyone else experiencing the same and does anyone know why this might be?

The max current is also affected by the battery temperature -- both too hot and too cold. In the winter, try to use the DCFC after you have been driving a while. That should improve your charge rates, and it is also a good idea so that battery plating* is minimized.

The bar color of the cell histogram tells you which cells are shunting (balancing.) It does not mean anything in terms of battery health

*Battery plating is a cold weather associated battery damage phenomenon seen most at high charging currents.

 

[JustinPhilbrow]

Hi SageBrush,

Thanks for your fast reply. The temperature here in the Faroe Islands is has been between 7C and 14C, at least the times I have been charging of late. Should that effect it to such a degree that it slows charging already after 40%?
FYI I have some friends here with older and same age Leafs that are charging faster (according to them).

Understood about the cells shunting, I just though that something must be wrong if they are constantly shunting. I have an older Leaf (2012), when I look at the graph there it is mostly blue, with some read from time to time...?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Hi all,

I have a Leaf Tekna 40kW from 2018. I bought it new and have had it for 2 years now. I charge both at home and using public CHAdeMO 50 kW.

I have noticed that the charging time using CHAdeMO takes more time than it should. I am not talking about Rapid gate, but charging in general, I have experienced and tested this both with the car being cold and after driving for 1 hr or so. According to the specifications I have seen, the charging curve should remain up to about 46 kW until the battery is about 60% then it declines. But with mine it starts to rapidly decline after about 40%. Is anyone else experiencing the same and does anyone know why this might be?

This has as such not been a problem (except waiting longer), but now the company is charging both by the kWh and my the minutes the car is tethered to the charging station, so now this "fault" is also costing me money.

Using LeafSpyPro I also see that the SOH is at 93% and over the last month it has "lost" .4% and the graph with the mV of the battery cells consistently show (I have checked both while charging, parked and driving over the last month) about 2/3 of the bars are red (not quite sure what this means). Is this normal?

This is normal. To attain the best possible charging speed, you needed to have "started" the charge with batteries in the mid 80'sº F

https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2018/12/cold-verses-leaf.html

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Hi SageBrush,

Thanks for your fast reply. The temperature here in the Faroe Islands is has been between 7C and 14C, at least the times I have been charging of late. Should that effect it to such a degree that it slows charging already after 40%?
FYI I have some friends here with older and same age Leafs that are charging faster (according to them).

Understood about the cells shunting, I just though that something must be wrong if they are constantly shunting. I have an older Leaf (2012), when I look at the graph there it is mostly blue, with some read from time to time...?

Older LEAFs assuming they aren't too degraded suffer from neither RapidGate or IceGate but have always had a very low knee. My Gen One LEAF, the knee on a 125 amp charger was below 50% ALL the time. The best pack for LEAF charging was the 30 kwh pack which would charge full speed to 80% over and over. Did it many many times.

 

[SageBrush]

Hi SageBrush,

Thanks for your fast reply. The temperature here in the Faroe Islands is has been between 7C and 14C

That would be ambient ?
The charging rate is affected by battery temp

 

[JustinPhilbrow]

[/quote]That would be ambient ?
The charging rate is affected by battery temp
[/quote]

The battery temp reach about 24C, I am not sure if that is consider high or not. Sometimes it has averaged out about 17C.

A slight update on the shunting, I noticed when I plugged in the fast charger last time that all cells went blue. After I had finished charging and unplugged it went back to about 1/3 reds.

 

[JustinPhilbrow]

This is normal. To attain the best possible charging speed, you needed to have "started" the charge with batteries in the mid 80'sº F

https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2018/12/cold-verses-leaf.html

Thanks. I noticed that there is some correlation between batt temp and charging effect. But it seemed to be the opposite, when I started charging the batt was under 20C and the charge power was about 43kW, as the temp rose higher than about 25C the charge power decreased, by the time the temp was 27C the charge power was down to about 27 kW. When the Battery temp was reaching 30C the charge power was about 24kW. But this might be a coincidence.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

This is normal. To attain the best possible charging speed, you needed to have "started" the charge with batteries in the mid 80'sº F

https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2018/12/cold-verses-leaf.html

Thanks. I noticed that there is some correlation between batt temp and charging effect. But it seemed to be the opposite, when I started charging the batt was under 20C and the charge power was about 43kW, as the temp rose higher than about 25C the charge power decreased, by the time the temp was 27C the charge power was down to about 27 kW. When the Battery temp was reaching 30C the charge power was about 24kW. But this might be a coincidence.

That sounds like the normal charge curve as the SOC rises above the knee (the point at which the amperage starts to decline)