Will software update bring 4-bar 2016 SL capacity over 8 bars?

[EVPowers]

I found a 2016 30 kWh Leaf for sale.
Capacity gauge shows 4 bars. (2 red, 2 white)
I confirmed through dealership that it has not had the battery software update.
It is from a hot climate.

What are the chances that the software update will bring it over 8 bars?

Has anyone else waited for capacity to show this low before getting the update?

What was your result after the update?

[goldbrick]

Wow, that is tremendously low. Can you post a picture? Are you sure you are looking at the correct set of bars?

What is the real life range of the car as-is? That should give you an idea of the true SOH of the battery. The firmware update only changes how the car reports its capacity, AFAIK, it doesn't affect the actual real life range of the car.

For my 2017 S, I was at 92% SOH after 6 months before the update. I'm now at about 91.5% SOH at 5 years/31k miles after the update.

[EVPowers]

I'll have to figure out how to post a pic.
It is definitely at 4 capacity bars.
In the pic it will show SOC at 4 bars as well, with 17 mile range.

[alozzy]

What a smart buy, congratulations on finding a 2016 30 kWh pack with that level of degradation. As I'm sure you know, the 30 kWh packs have an 8 year capacity warranty (or 100k miles - whichever comes first), so you should qualify for a free 40 kWh replacement pack. The software BMS update does apparently reset the capacity bars to 12, so you'll have to wait awhile for the BMS to relearn the true state of the pack before your LEAF can qualify for the new pack.

[EVPowers]

I should mention that it has 45,000 mi, so plenty of miles to go before the warranty is up.

So the update actually sets it to 12 bars no matter what, and then it takes a little bit of time for it to recalibrate to the true capacity bar reading?

Dang.

I was hoping it would immediately go to the true capacity reading. That way I could bring it in for the software update and immediately begin the battery warranty process without ever having to have the car leave the dealership.

[goldbrick]

I'd just add that the current reading is completely bogus, so there is no way to absolutely determine the real SOH.

But....I've never heard of one that low so chances are good that the battery already qualifies for a warranty replacement. Still there is also a chance that it will settle in at 10 bars or something after the update.

[EVPowers]

One person suggested that the photos may be misleading if taken during the Leaf's startup sequence.

Which is exactly what looks like happened.
Here is a link to a few pics. https://imgur.com/a/qoLUJ5E

[timgross]

Does anyone have an idea how big the change to capacity is after the firmware update? I have a 2016 with 60K miles and about 2 years left on the warranty. It currently has 9 capacity bars. I live in a very hot climate, so plenty of heat on the battery. How likely am I to get it to drop to 8 bars in the remaining 2 years?

It already had the PC6300 service done, but the local dealership told me there is another service that needs to be done. What is the Nissan service code for that firmware update? PCXXXX? I don't really trust the competence of the service advisor that told me there was different service required. I asked him what the code was for it, but he didn't know. Seems odd.

[alozzy]

In leafspy pro, turn on the service screen in settings then read the ecu versions - specifically "HV Battery". If it ends with an A, then it doesn't have the BMS firmware update. Unless things have changed lately, it should end with a C, but I don't know the current firmware version.

This screenshot should help...

[LeftieBiker]

Does anyone have an idea how big the change to capacity is after the firmware update?

There is no change in actual battery capacity. If you mean apparent capacity, the BMS reset that is part of the update will restore it to reading 12 bars - for a while. As the BMS relearns the actual capacity, those extra bars will drop, over days, weeks, or in some cases, months. Then the display will show what the updated BMS thinks is the actual capacity.