GRA
Well-known member
IIRR, the ceramic separators are there for safety (to prevent thermal runaway), and have nothing to do with heat tolerance. See http://www.electrochem.org/dl/interface/sum/sum12/sum12_p061_065.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;LEAFfan said:RonDawg said:GRA said:27kWh, 360V/96 cells, 200Wh/kg Li-NMC polymer chemistry with graphite anode, gel electrolyte and ceramic separators, air-cooled.
Sounds like the Leaf might have some company in the premature battery degradation department.
If you remember, Nissan is going to have a 'hot' battery (ceramic separators) in Spring 2014. So Kia's pack should also be able to withstand high heat over time.
Whether or not Nissan has a 'hot' battery, in spring or any other time, remains to be seen. We don't know if their testing has shown any issues and even if it hasn't, AFAWK neither did their original battery in the accelerated testing they did back in 2009-2010. Talk, especially Nissan's battery talk, is cheap. Until Nissan warranties batteries to 80% of capacity for at least 3 yrs./36k miles and preferably 5 yrs./60k, it's not a hot battery, just more hot air.