Cold Weather Nissan Leaf info! ($930 MSRP, can order now)

Just saw this about the leaf in Cold weather and gives a good detailed explaination about the new cold weather pack! Heated seats and wheels sounds sweet!In the midwest we will need this!

Cold Weather Nissan LEAF™New battery and comfort features Buyers in cold climates now have another reason to choose Nissan LEAF.

Nissan has introduced Cold Weather Spec models with features that help enhance battery performance and passenger comfort in cold climates.

Cold weather models include a battery heater for the lithium-ion battery. It helps prevent the lithium-ion battery from freezing in extremely cold weather and helps prevent significant reductions in battery output. Warming the lithium-ion battery increases the effectiveness of the chemical reactions within the battery and improves battery performance.

The heater turns on automatically when the temperature of the lithium-ion battery becomes extremely low (approximately -4º F). It turns off automatically when battery temperature increases to about 14º F.


The battery heater helps prevent the
lithium-ion battery from freezing.

When the vehicle is connected to an external A/C power source, the battery heater draws its power from the external source. This will slightly increase the amount of time needed to charge the lithium-ion battery. When the vehicle is not connected to an A/C power source, the battery heater draws its power from the lithium-ion battery.

Also included in the cold weather models are these comfort features:

Heated steering wheel
Heated front and rear seats
Heated outside mirrors
Rear HVAC duct

If it does not have it already, an insulating blanket on the outside of the battery case may help.. like the ones you put around hot water heaters. Either that or move to a decent place.

It's too bad that you can't include this on your car order today. It also has been reported that the cold weather package won't be a dealer installable option. But hey - it sounds good on paper!

Can you give us a link to where this info was found please!

Hmmmm.....so let's say it's January in Chicago and you leave your Leaf unplugged at the airport for 4 or 5 days while you are out and about. During that entire time period the battery heat could be cycling on and off, draining the battery, until it is dead?

Ualdriver said:

Hmmmm.....so let's say it's January in Chicago and you leave your Leaf unplugged at the airport for 4 or 5 days while you are out and about. During that entire time period the battery heat could be cycling on and off, draining the battery, until it is dead?

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Well it sounds like your other choice is letting the battery freeze, which is no choice at all. Better use alternate transportation in that case, and leave the LEAF plugged in safely at home.

davewill said:

Ualdriver said:

Hmmmm.....so let's say it's January in Chicago and you leave your Leaf unplugged at the airport for 4 or 5 days while you are out and about. During that entire time period the battery heat could be cycling on and off, draining the battery, until it is dead?

Click to expand...

Well it sounds like your other choice is letting the battery freeze, which is no choice at all. Better use alternate transportation in that case, and leave the LEAF plugged in safely at home.

Click to expand...

I guess my concern is that I did not realize that the Leaf (and maybe the Volt?) battery became unusable and/or damaged if exposed to the temperatures commonly seen during Midwest winters. I just thought (extremely) low temperatures degraded their performance by around 40% or so. I didn't realize that they HAD to be plugged in or operating during low temperatures or risk getting frozen solid.

be nice if we could find the source of this info

anyone?

Anyone has an experience from Prius or other hybrids?
Do they have some radically different battery that do not freeze?

I'll be buying the heated seat switches if reasonable and installing third party heated seats. This should be standard on al LEAF models, duh!

heated seats are easy to add. plenty of good aftermarket kits no bid deal

the rest.......... needs to be factory installed

Might those -4º and 14º temperatures been "C" instead of "F"?
[edit: Forget this. Sorry, my brain went "dislecxic" and I got C and F reversed!]

In Alaska or Montana-type winters, the battery heater might run all winter?

What wattage are the various heaters, especially the Battery Heater?

first time we have seen this detailed info on the cold package function of battery heater

course we dont know where the info came from yet

UkrainianKozak said:

Anyone has an experience from Prius or other hybrids?
Do they have some radically different battery that do not freeze?

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It's a different battery chemistry for the Prius. I leave my Prius out in the cold for days on end and never had any problems with the traction battery.

garygid said:

Might those -4º and 14º temperatures been "C" instead of "F"?

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No - I think they mean F. -4º C should be easy for the Li battery without heating. Even in Seattle we are hitting 14º C this sping only now.

aciochetto said:

Also included in the cold weather models are these comfort features:

Heated steering wheel
Heated front and rear seats
Heated outside mirrors
Rear HVAC duct

Click to expand...

Same seat material?

The original copy starting this thread came from a Nissan Virtual Academy (dealer training site) article.

Thank you

Anyone know if cars with these features are being produced?

kmp647 said:

Thank you

Anyone know if cars with these features are being produced?

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They are orderable, Nissan is listing LEAF SV CW, and LEAF SL CW, on the Dealer Order Management System, and I have fielded one RAQ for a "Cold Weather" LEAF. I don't know whether any production models have actually come out of the assembly plant yet though.

Good to hear , thanks again!

There isn't any pricing info yet?