Down Hill Overcharging?

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MAUICUDA

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Nov 20, 2022
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I live at 2300' above sea level, and my workplace is at sea level. If I leave the house with full charge (150 miles of range) - by the time I get to work the "range display" shows 165 miles. Am I overcharging the battery. Vehicle is 2020 Leaf EV, which has been perfect for my basic transportation needs.
 
Welcome. Rather than look at the range estimator's guess (and it is only a guess, based on recent energy efficiency), look at the percent of charge (SOC) display. That should read a number that is less than 100%. As long as you are parking it with less than 90% charge (maybe 80% in Summer), you're fine. If it has more than 90% charge left, then I suggest you estimate when to unplug it to get about 80% charge when you leave for work.
 
Thanks for the guidance. Long summer here on Maui, so will try to charge such that SOC while at work is less than 100%
This should be discussed in the Leaf Owners Manual, I do not think that I am the only one dealing with this situation.
 
GM called their full charge limiter something like 'Hill Mode' to deal with that, although it was also a convenient way to avoid the punishment that Nissan received for calling the original Leaf's roughly 88% charge option 'Long Life Mode."

You mention that you are in a tropical climate. In your case, I'd try to keep the state of charge lower - 50-60% or, so as long as you don't need more range than that. Hopefully there are at least cool night breezes where you live...
 
LeftieBiker said:
GM called their full charge limiter something like 'Hill Mode' to deal with that, although it was also a convenient way to avoid the punishment that Nissan received for calling the original Leaf's roughly 88% charge option 'Long Life Mode."

You mention that you are in a tropical climate. In your case, I'd try to keep the state of charge lower - 50-60% or, so as long as you don't need more range than that. Hopefully there are at least cool night breezes where you live...

What is Hilltop Mode?

https://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7338
 
MAUICUDA said:
I live at 2300' above sea level, and my workplace is at sea level. If I leave the house with full charge (150 miles of range) - by the time I get to work the "range display" shows 165 miles. Am I overcharging the battery. Vehicle is 2020 Leaf EV, which has been perfect for my basic transportation needs.

The reason the mileage goes up is because what little power it is using, it counts it as forward motion and is fooled into thinking that you are driving super efficient. You'll never have to worry about over-charging as it will cut off regen well before any battery damage would happen.

With that aside, as others have mentioned, there are ways to optimize your driving to have both your brake pads and battery last a long time.

As mentioned, only charge your Leaf to 80% or less at home. That way, when you are coasting down-hill, you can regen all that extra energy to save wear and tear on your brake pads. Also, you'll have an extra charge when you arrive at work to drive up-hill home with, guessing of course, you didn't mention how far away work is from your home?

If having full range isn't an issue, just keep the battery level below 80% SoC (State of Charge) as much as you can, it will help the battery last a lot longer. Once you make enough trips back and forth between home and work, you'll work out the mental math of how much you need to get around with another extra margin to avoid any range anxiety.
 
Less than 50 miles round trip so not anxious about range. Using "trickle charger"; the wife's Tesla got the 220 outlet. This has not been an issue either.
Daytime high's, winter: mid 70's, summer maybe mid 90's worst case. Thanks to all for your recommendations for an EV newbie. David
 
You're welcome. It's the warm tropical nights that tend to kill batteries, by not letting them cool off after the daytime heating. Hawaii is quite hard on the batteries of EVs with no active battery cooling.
 
Abasile wrote many posts addressing this issue. He lived in the mountains about 5000’ above San Bernardino. This was around 10 years ago. He had the first generation LEAF. Search for his posts or a thread.
 
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