2011 Regeneration not working properly or at all

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The 2011 charges at a maximum of 3.3 kW from the wall so the LBC (lithium battery controller) usually does not limit charge rate from the wall except when the battery approaches full charge. The LBC limits charging current (from regeneration, from DCQC, or from the wall) to keep voltage of the highest cell from going too high. Internal resistance of the cells increases as the battery ages so maximum charging current decreases. The increased internal resistance is especially noticeable in colder temperatures. I first noticed significant loss of regenerative braking when temperatures cooled in the fall after the original battery in my 2011 was down to 10 capacity bars. Regeneration returned to normal after Nissan replaced the battery the next fall. The LBC in my 2015 seemed to allow more regeneration than the 2011 even when it was down to 8 capacity bars before I traded for the 2019.
 
GerryAZ said:
The 2011 charges at a maximum of 3.3 kW from the wall so the LBC (lithium battery controller) usually does not limit charge rate from the wall except when the battery approaches full charge.

Is there anything that would prevent Nissan from having at least allowed charging at 3.3kW, under regen. Is there any reason it seems to be zero, on degraded packs? Lack of charging of course leads to additional deep cycling of the battery...
 
brycenesbitt said:
GerryAZ said:
Internal resistance of the cells increases as the battery ages so maximum charging current decreases.
Is there anything that would prevent Nissan from having at least allowed charging at 3.3kW, under regen. Is there any reason it seems to be zero, on degraded packs? Lack of charging of course leads to additional deep cycling of the battery...
You ignored the relevant quote from @GerryAZ...which I have re-inserted above.
Your previous post stated you are down to 5 capacity bars...which is degraded well beyond most people's claim of "useful" battery life. Nothing you do will restore regen, short of replacing your pack (which was also mentioned).
 
Both Dala (Finland) and/or Mux (Netherlands) have been active on this forum delving into modifying the car. They probably have a way to intervene.
 
91040 said:
Both Dala (Finland) and/or Mux (Netherlands) have been active on this forum delving into modifying the car. They probably have a way to intervene.
Not without installing one of their CAN-bridges, which is a lot of time and expense to go to unless you are going to replace/upgrade the battery pack...and you can only do so much for a 5 CB pack.
 
Stanton said:
You ignored the relevant quote from @GerryAZ...which I have re-inserted above.
Your previous post stated you are down to 5 capacity bars...which is degraded well beyond most people's claim of "useful" battery life. Nothing you do will restore regen, short of replacing your pack (which was also mentioned).

Not ignored at all. The internal resistance of the battery goes up, sure.
The wall charger still works just fine. The leaf is not even charging at that Level 2 rate when energy is available.

The car is "useful", and regularly "used".
 
Maybe 3.6 kW of regen is less than one regen bubble, so maybe you actually are getting regen equivalent to AC charging, just that it doesn't show on the dash.

Does Leaf Spy show any regen?
 
brycenesbitt said:
dgpcolorado said:
My experience is essentially identical to yours, including being near to dropping the first capacity bar. (Although my temperatures are even lower at present, mostly teens and twenties in recent days with lots of snow.)
Sure wish I hadn't had the P3227 update done.

I have a 2011 Leaf, with 5 capacity bars. It charges from the wall at a normal speed (does not take long, due to low battery capacity). I get about 30 miles of range.... and essentially zero regen.

Today for example: 65F going downhill
I was able to get one regen dot on a steep hill by slowing to 13 mph, then I could generally get up to about 19 mph and keep the dot going. I can feel the difference between friction and regen brakes, and yep it's turning off regen.

When regen is not working, it's the equivalent of "N" mode, and switching from D->ECO->N does nothing, thus I've also lost that characteristic of letting off the gas to slow down in traffic (it's disconcerting and probably unsafe).

  • Can anyone explain the physics of WHY Nissan would do this?
  • What is different with wall charging vs. regen?
  • And can a dealer revert a car to older software (legally, morally or actually)?
  • Would a LeafBox https://evtun.com/leafbox.html do anything?

As the battery has steadily degraded, so has the car's willingness to regen. It was a slow frog boil, not a sudden matter.

What does Nissan have to say?
One of the LEAF’s most important features is its regenerative braking. It can add power back to the battery and enhance the LEAF’s range. It also makes e-Pedal driving even more efficient compared to a petrol or diesel equivalent. https://www.nissan.co.uk/owners/nissan-ownership/technology-explained/leaf-regenerative-braking.html




Keywords: 2011 Nissan Leaf degraded battery regen regeneration regenerative braking energy efficiency range carwings, SOH, State of Health, battery capacity, rage.

I have the same questions myself. I bought a 2011 Leaf not too long ago and would like the regenerative braking back.
Question: How can you tell that the P3227 update was done without having to go back to the dealer? In my opinion going back to the dealer and asking questions is useless because if they are making money on servicing your car they will not assist.
I'm looking to getting the LeafSpy Pro and possibly Thunderstruck but geez to put so much money into buying these tools just to get the regenerative braking back seems quite a costly investment and if it's really worth it. Event he EVtun cost a pretty penny.
 
My earlier reply explains the situation. The internal resistance of each cell increases as the battery pack ages. The LBC controls charging and regeneration to keep cell voltages below a maximum threshold so the regeneration will drop as the battery ages. This is especially noticeable in cold weather because colder batteries have even higher internal resistance. The maximum 3.3 kW L2 charge rate of the 2011 is low enough so that it does not develop too much voltage across the cells (so the charge rate appears normal and just tapers near full charge). It is unfortunate that you have lost regeneration, but the only fix is to replace the traction battery.
 
It's unfortunate that Nissan chose to do zero regen on an old battery, not even the nominal 3.3kw regen it clearly could do.
 
brycenesbitt said:
It's unfortunate that Nissan chose to do zero regen on an old battery, not even the nominal 3.3kw regen it clearly could do.

Agreed, but Gerry is correct. I have a 2011 that lost most Regen with a 7 bar battery and it instantly came back when I swapped in a 11 bar pack.

Dala doesn't even have a fix for 2011/2012 (as of a year ago). The first gen limits charging both at the battery pack and on board computer, so some of his 40kWh retrofits have limited Regen in the cold. This issue does not exist on the 2013+. So I would hesitate to buy a MITM device from him to fix this issue. It's probably related to the recall linked in the first post.
 
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