Reduced range after recent recall and software update?

Sorry if this was already posted, but it's hard to sift through all the forum posts and I didn't see anything specific to this.

We just updated the car at the dealer 1 1/2 weeks ago. We do the same 60-75 mile round trip all the time prior to the update and would easily make it home with 2-4 bars. I go about 45 mph both ways, slightly downhill on the way back and vice-versa the way home. I tested it twice now right after the update and I have barely made it home driving it exactly the same way. no heater, no nothing. In fact pushing closer to the 75 mile range forced me to go 15 mph for 6 miles crawling into the garage. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?

Thanks.

The range wasn't changed.

What were you observing for the last six miles? Had Very Low Battery popped up (the second warning)? If so, how many miles did you drive on VLB?

Please provide all the pertinent data that affects range:

Ambient temp
Elevation
Wind
Snow on road
Basically, what was different?
Miles per kWh for the trip

Please do NOT provide CarWings or GOM data.

What year is your car and is this your first update?

DurkaDurka said:

What year is your car and is this your first update?

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Good catch... he may have a pre-April 2011 car that was never updated. Wouldn't that be a shock!

TonyWilliams said:

DurkaDurka said:

What year is your car and is this your first update?

Click to expand...

Good catch... he may have a pre-April 2011 car that was never updated. Wouldn't that be a shock!

Click to expand...

Looking at his post history, his ETA was mid-March 2011, so almost certainly a pre-April 2011 car with the old bar readings.

Still - 75 miles at 45 mph should be easy. I've done 72 with most of those miles at 65 mph and only just got low battery warning.

Was it any colder outside or were you towing a bank vault home Sorry, I can not get the FastFive movie out of my head :lol:

Ranchleaf,

No one actually explained it, but in April 2011, Nissan updated the firmware. The upgrade was for a specific problem involving the AC, but they also recalibrated the bars so that a significant fraction of the battery capacity (approx 10-15%) is now BELOW the last bar. Therefore you have more battery left than the bars are leading you to think. If you follow the link to Tony's range chart, you can see exactly how the new bars behave.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293#p101293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hey Dave and all, thanks! This may be it as indeed I do have a pre-april car, however I could have sworn I have been getting the updates all along, including the issue for the ac problem, but the 10-15% seems about correct. I have a contact @ Nissan that is also checking for me.

I'll report back any info we find out.

Thanks.

davewill said:

Ranchleaf,

No one actually explained it, but in April 2011, Nissan updated the firmware. The upgrade was for a specific problem involving the AC, but they also recalibrated the bars so that a significant fraction of the battery capacity (approx 10-15%) is now BELOW the last bar. Therefore you have more battery left than the bars are leading you to think. If you follow the link to Tony's range chart, you can see exactly how the new bars behave.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293#p101293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

Old Bars: LBW is in 2nd to last bar, near its top.

New Bars: LBW is in the last Bar, near its bottom.

I had my 2016 Leaf in for recall on the battery connection plates and a software update. I had 8 bars when I went in and surprisingly, 11 bars after the repair. I was elated! However, I don't seem to have the increased mileage that 11 bars would indicate. Yesterday, I found myself near town with the battery down to 16 miles. (I had not thought I had driven that far to have been that low.) So I did a quick 25min charge at the dealership. I had 73 miles showing when I left the dealership. When I got home, 11 miles away and relatively flat terrain, I had only 45miles showing and after going another 10 miles today it was down to 23 miles. At 3 years old and only 8 bars it was almost due for a replacement battery under the 5 year warranty. Now showing 11 bars there would be no replacement. My concern: did the software upgrade just change the bars without affecting the mileage or am I just paranoid? Anyone else having a similar situation?

figdave said:

I had 73 miles showing when I left the dealership.

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Don't believe the range shown on the dashboard GOM (the guess-o-meter). It is not a representation of the real remaining range, but rather an wild guess based upon driving style, hvac, etc. Either use the %SOC display on the dash or (better) use LeafSpyPro to see the real remaining kWh in the battery.