should I skip a day of charging?

[Jwedd]

I am 2 weeks into learning this car (2013 SV with 450 miles).

The range has been gradually increasing, 82 from the dealer, today it started off at 90. I typically keep it on Eco A.

My daily commute is about 36 miles, with 25 of that being a steady 55-60mph. Lately, the range has been telling me I have between 50 and 60 miles left after the daily commute.

Is it better on the batteries to push them another 36 miles between charges, or top them off every day as I have been doing?

Temperature here in Fresno CA is quite variable, typically 50 degrees on the morning commute, and 95-100 degrees on the home leg. If I plug in at cheap power time, it is still 90-95 degrees out. This would be about 1 hour after arriving home.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Stoaty]

Best for the batteries is to have a shallower charge cycle centered around 50% state of charge. How much better, we don't know. I would recommend charging to 80% daily with the charge ending shortly before you are ready to leave. For more detail than you ever wanted to know, see link in my signature and surrounding sections.

 

[Jwedd]

Thanks! that's a lot to digest.

I'll need to scour my manual again to see if there is a way to set the charge to "off" at 80%...that should make a shallower cycle (about 30 miles range left when I arrive, and 70 miles at recharge: approximately 80% charged). I seem to remember that it was possible to change the default from 100% to 80%.

John

 

[pkulak]

Thanks! that's a lot to digest.

I'll need to scour my manual again to see if there is a way to set the charge to "off" at 80%...that should make a shallower cycle (about 30 miles range left when I arrive, and 70 miles at recharge: approximately 80% charged). I seem to remember that it was possible to change the default from 100% to 80%.

John

Yeah, it's right there in the energy settings (long life mode). And you can set charge timers to 80% as well.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i say it depends on how regular your life is. I frequently drive slightly farther (45 miles RT) but nearly always leave home with a full charge simply because I dont know whether or not I might want to take a side trip. so better to leave full and not use it than to not leave full and not do something because you did not have the range

FYI; over 4400 miles and no loss yet...not even a little

 

[Stanton]

I "top off" @80% every day whether it needs it or not. My Leaf batteries (sometimes) get a break on the weekend if I don't drive much and don't charge until Monday.

 

[Jwedd]

It's all set. 80% charge, beginning at 5am everyday. Tomorrow's charge will only need 50 mins to get to 80% (6.6kw input). I'll pay closer attention to ranges and percentages going forward. I'm guessing 65-75 miles.

One benefit of the 80%, full regeneration should be available from the start. With a 100% charge, I didn't get full regeneration until about 3 miles into the trip.

John

 

[RonDawg]

I too can go 2-3 days between charges for my given commute. However, I personally don't recommend that even if there is no difference on battery health. You never know if something comes up that would require more range than is left in the car, but would have been OK had you charged daily. Plus, you never know if the power goes out, especially during the peak summer months.

It's downhill from my house to most of the places I frequent, and as already noted above, you don't get immediate regen if you leave the house at 100%. I like having it for having some braking effect and preserving my pads and rotors (which based on previous Nissans I have owned aren't particularly long-lived).

 

[Stoaty]

You never know if something comes up that would require more range than is left in the car, but would have been OK had you charged daily. Plus, you never know if the power goes out, especially during the peak summer months.

Well, in almost 3 years I haven't ever run into that situation. If I ever do, I will take the ICE. Only problem I have had a few times is forgetting to plug the Leaf in when I get home at night.

 

[Jwedd]

different subject, but what does a missing bar look like (or not look like?). Do you have to keep count and remember how many should be there, or is the unusable bar faded out or red?

John

 

[Stoaty]

different subject, but what does a missing bar look like (or not look like?). Do you have to keep count and remember how many should be there, or is the unusable bar faded out or red?

Bar just disappears. See photo at this link: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss#Symptoms" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Jwedd]

Thanks Stoaty!

I'll have plenty of 95-105 degree commutes coming home. When I test drove a Fiat 500E (died on the freeway, "service propulsion error". They sent a Chrysler van out to get me :lol: ), the sales guy bragged about how the Fiat battery was heated or cooled as needed, but the Leaf's batteries degraded in the heat as there was no system for cooling.

Really glad about getting a 3 year 36k lease. Oh, I'll take care of the batteries, but this is definitely an emerging technology.

John

 

[LeftieBiker]

You should also avoid going below 20% charge regularly. So try to stay between 20% and 90%, however that works out for your charging schedule.

 

[cwerdna]

The range has been gradually increasing, 82 from the dealer, today it started off at 90. I typically keep it on Eco A.

My daily commute is about 36 miles, with 25 of that being a steady 55-60mph. Lately, the range has been telling me I have between 50 and 60 miles left after the daily commute.

Don't bother w/the useless GOM (guess-o-meter).

Sure, 100% charges at work usually give me 90-some miles on the GOM.

The other day, I charged to 100% at home and had 80 on the GOM. I drove 8 miles and my GOM went up to 88 miles, even though I know I obviously used the battery and the % SoC value went down.

Want to see silly numbers? Go up a steep hill for miles.... I recall the GOM dropping about "40 miles" after driving ~10 miles. GOM didn't increase after going many miles downhill. Was driving from Los Gatos to Capitola via highway 17...

 

[Jwedd]

looks like the recommendation will work fine for me. I started off this AM with 79% charge....arrived at work 20 miles later with 50% charge...back home, after 40 total miles, with 26% charge and 19 miles of range remaining on the GOM. 2.5 hours of charge to return to 80%, starting at 5am.

There is sure to be a little hiccup and deviation along the way, but so far this pattern looks do-able.

Thanks all!

John

 

[RVD]

looks good.

my only concern would be if you go to work and get a call from your wife along the lines of "hey i just got a call that mary is in town and wants to have dinner. she's going to pick me up and drop me off so i'll come back home with you. it's about 10 miles from work but not on the way home so can you meet us there tonight?"

you think "hmm, there's something about mary that makes me want to go...and i don't want to leave my wife stranded..."

but now you'd be too low on range. i have charging at work so i don't have this issue...

RVD.

 

[Jwedd]

hasn't come up yet. When I arrive at home, I have 25-30 miles of range, and all the possible "deviations" are towards home, not away.

The one issue that is likely to come up: unexpected evening trips somewhere, with only 25 miles of range until that 5am charge starts. It will have to be the ICE.

The way I figure it, the LEAF requires a 2 car family to work when someone needs to be commuting regularly. Or, something like the BMW i3 with REx could be made to work as a single car.

3 years from now, I expect the battery range will make all the current juggling unnecessary.

John

 

[RonDawg]

The way I figure it, the LEAF requires a 2 car family to work when someone needs to be commuting regularly.

There are very few people for whom a Leaf (or other pure electric besides a Tesla) would work as their only car. Those who do rely on it either have extremely good public transportation options, and/or have some sort of standby (can borrow a relative's or friend's car, or has convenient car-sharing options).

But since many, if not most, American households are of the 2+ car variety, the Leaf can be made to work as long as the usage fits within the range limitations.