Phoenix Leaf Owners Range Chart

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BooKittyLeaf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2015
Messages
86
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I am looking to purchase a Leaf (probably used) and would like to gather info from other drives in Phoenix (owned or leased) to make a "chart" to track the average battery capacity loss in real world scenarios.

My goal is to see how fast/slow capacity loss is occurring to determine if a used leaf is a good idea.
So.... for PHOENIX drivers Please answer following:

- Year of the car:
- Average Miles driven monthly:
- Battery capacity bars as of this month:
- Average Charging method (100%, 80%, Level2,Leve1, etc...)

- Comments:

Thanks
 
BooKittyLeaf said:
I am looking to purchase a Leaf (probably used) and would like to gather info from other drives in Phoenix (owned or leased) to make a "chart" to track the average battery capacity loss in real world scenarios.

My goal is to see how fast/slow capacity loss is occurring to determine if a used leaf is a good idea.
So.... for PHOENIX drivers Please answer following:

- Year of the car:
- Average Miles driven monthly:
- Battery capacity bars as of this month:
- Average Charging method (100%, 80%, Level2,Leve1, etc...)

- Comments:

Thanks

Gee, I think we did that a few years ago!!!

LEAF Range Test links:

Planning for September 15, 2012 range test in Phoenix

Phoenix Range Test, Sept 15, 2012

LEAF-S San Diego Range Test on Feb 22, 2013

Nissan LEAF Side by Side Range Comparison, 2012 vs 2013, March 8, 2013
 
Incidentally, January 4, 2015 was the end of the road for Silver 679 in the Phoenix Range Test. I had a little over 50k miles and intended to keep it for a long time. I have a silver 2015 SL on order.

Gerry
 

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Gerry,
It is kind of sad to see Silver 679 all mashed up, but hope that the new 2015 will arrive soon and cheer you up.

It would be very interesting to see how your new 2015 SL battery compares with the 2011 as far as degradation in the AZ environment. Please keep us posted with your thoughts on this and any measurements you might do in this regard.

Do you know any other 2015 LEAF drivers in your area and if so how are they doing with the new Lizard battery?
 
Hi Guys - was interested in the Silver 679 Range study (sorry bout your Leaf!).

Im new to forums & tried to search for something like that but found nothing.

Was gonna try & PM but could find how to do that - yea, I dont do forums much! still learning that aspect - I just search & read.

We just got a 2015 Leaf SV & wanted to touch base with a few local (Phx) Leaf owners to talk about best practices & tips on getting most range & how to care for the Leaf in AZ - and also personal experiences with the Leaf that we can learn from.

We really like the car want to make it last.

Posts have been really helpful, but looking for conversation & Q&A

Thanks
 
Do whatever you can to keep the battery cool. If you can park in a cooled garage during the scorching Phoenix daytime, that would help a lot. In parking structures, park where the sun isn't beating on the car.

If you are parking the car for an extended time, for vacation or whatever, charge it to about 50% and over week, I recommend using a 12 volt trickle charger / battery tender.

That's it.
 
Also, regarding charging. I am putting Level 2. Have read lots about charging to 80% vs 100% - your thoughts?

My thought is
- Charge to 80% regularly as "standard procedure" plugging in each night - we use car regularly daily
- charge to 100% with timer so charge finishes at predicted time of departure if planning to drive more?
 
Regarding a battery tender--I doubt that it would hurt anything, although, in my opinion, it is not needed. The LEAF's DC-DC converter comes on periodically (every 5 days on 2011 and 2012, not sure about the timing on later models) to charge the 12-volt battery while the LEAF is parked. I parked my 2011 numerous times (as much as 3 weeks at a time) at the airport or my office without incident until I forgot to unplug the Bluetooth interface from the OBDII diagnostic connector and left the Android device running LEAF Spy Pro on the seat. That one time, I came back to a dead 12-volt battery after 6 days. I now double-check that I have unplugged the Bluetooth device from the diagnostic port when I park for more than a couple days.

Regarding charge level--I always charged Silver 679 to 100% because I needed the range every day. I will do the same once I get my new 2015. Based upon battery capacity reports on MNL, I don't think my battery deterioration was any worse that those who charged to 80%. Charge to 100% if you need the range, otherwise charge to a lower level. As Tony said, the most important things for battery life in our climate are to keep the battery as cool as possible and avoid having the car sit at a high state of charge level. Whenever I parked long-term, my battery was at about 60% SOC and there was never any noticeable loss of charge during storage.

If you want to track detailed information about your LEAF and it's battery, I highly recommend the LEAF Spy Pro application with a Bluetooth interface to the OBDII port. Just remember to unplug it for long-term storage.

Gerry
 
GerryAZ said:
If you want to track detailed information about your LEAF and it's battery, I highly recommend the LEAF Spy Pro application with a Bluetooth interface to the OBDII port. Just remember to unplug it for long-term storage.

Gerry
+10. LEAF Spy Pro is worth way more than it costs.

I don't unplug the adapter and so far have not used charger for the 12V and have been OK.
But I usually drive at least every third or fourth day.

A lot of troubles with the 12V were caused by using On or Auxiliary modes.
Don't do that.
Just use Ready mode with vehicle in Park and emergency brake set.
My 12V was replaced at no cost under the 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty at two year mark.
I had used On mode a lot listening to radio in garden.
It sags the 12V all the way to 10.49V before it uses the DC to DC to charge it back up.
Extremely bad for it, especially in Phoenix heat.
 
I heard about Leafspy and I was gonna get it and the OBD2 USB to measure the GIDS & stuff - but I have an iPhone & it says its for Android - bummer.

Nice tip regarding the On/Auxiliary vs Ready Mode. Why is that? Does the drive battery "charge" the 12 continuously in ready as opposed to when its in ON / Auxiliary? Just curious. Sometimes Ill have it in Aux while I go through some settings & mess with the GPS & programming - 10-15 min tops.

We keep the Leaf in the garage, but its not air conditioned - still gets hot inside. Parking at work is the hard part - not much covered parking!

We both use the Lead daily - about 45+ miles - so 80% covers it. Weekends we run more errands & just drive around more because its fun - we grab a charge someplace & keep goin. We charge it up to 100% for Sat morning
 
BooKittyLeaf said:
Does the drive battery "charge" the 12 continuously in ready as opposed to when its in ON / Auxiliary? Just curious. Sometimes Ill have it in Aux while I go through some settings & mess with the GPS & programming - 10-15 min tops.
...
In Ready it first checks the 12V voltage, and if it is quite low will charge at 14.5V for some period of time.
But if it was 12.5V or higher it is very brief, and it drops back to holding about 12.95V on it.
Still low to really keep it full capacity but both the Prius and LEAF seem way too worried about overcharging the 12V.
So in reality they leave it about 80% or less.
If you go using Auxiliary or On much, is easy to get it below 50%.
At that point does not take much to kill it, and / or end up with a LEAF that will not start.

Best to use a battery maintainer on it once a week.
But I admit I have yet to take the time and diligence to do that.

Lead acid batteries have poor life in hot climates.
Some people report lucky to get three years.
In Phoenix a periodic battery maintainer may be much more important.
 
TimLee said:
BooKittyLeaf said:
Does the drive battery "charge" the 12 continuously in ready as opposed to when its in ON / Auxiliary? Just curious. Sometimes Ill have it in Aux while I go through some settings & mess with the GPS & programming - 10-15 min tops.
...
Lead acid batteries have poor life in hot climates.

Agree on the Lead Acid 12v.

I have always use AGM batteries in my gas cars & get 8+ years in Phoenix easy. I have an Optima AGM that thats 14 years old, still holds a charge & I use it for testing & messing around in the shop.. if I top it of with the battery tender it will still start a car - but I would not place to much reliability on it for that anymore

Ill probably pop an AGM in the Leaf when the time comes & be done with it.


Also, will the Leaf let me know when 12v battery is getting to low to start reliably?

And the user booklet said its OK to jump start, but the next page it said not to jump start the Leaf - can anyone enlighten me on that?
 
BooKittyLeaf said:
I heard about Leafspy and I was gonna get it and the OBD2 USB to measure the GIDS & stuff - but I have an iPhone & it says its for Android - bummer.
LEAFStat will run on iPhone and it will tell you about battery condition. Not all the detail of Leaf spy, but still a good app to have.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=16670" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am very curious as too see how well your 2015 does in the AZ heat.
 
BooKittyLeaf said:
TimLee said:
BooKittyLeaf said:
Does the drive battery "charge" the 12 continuously in ready as opposed to when its in ON / Auxiliary? Just curious. Sometimes Ill have it in Aux while I go through some settings & mess with the GPS & programming - 10-15 min tops.
...
Lead acid batteries have poor life in hot climates.

Agree on the Lead Acid 12v.

I have always use AGM batteries in my gas cars & get 8+ years in Phoenix easy. I have an Optima AGM that thats 14 years old, still holds a charge & I use it for testing & messing around in the shop.. if I top it of with the battery tender it will still start a car - but I would not place to much reliability on it for that anymore

Ill probably pop an AGM in the Leaf when the time comes & be done with it.


Also, will the Leaf let me know when 12v battery is getting to low to start reliably?

And the user booklet said its OK to jump start, but the next page it said not to jump start the Leaf - can anyone enlighten me on that?

The yellow top Optima AGM is ideal for the LEAF. The low internal resistance allows it to recharge quickly while the DC-DC converter is charging at 14 volts. The 13.1-volt float level of the DC-DC converter is also ideal for long life of the Optima.

There is not much warning when the 12-volt battery gets weak. You may have it start up fine one day and have it fail with all sorts of errors and warning lights the next. When my original 12-volt battery failed, I had a bunch of warning lights and the computers failed to initialize properly. I turned it off and on several times and finally got a successful start. I then drove straight home without turning the car off. I bought a yellow top Optima the next day.

As long as you are very careful with polarity, there is no issue with jump starting in either direction with the LEAF. The Nissan 12-volt battery has relatively high internal resistance and low capacity so it might be marginal to start a big V-8 with a really dead battery.

Gerry
 
BooKittyLeaf said:
I heard about Leafspy and I was gonna get it and the OBD2 USB to measure the GIDS & stuff - but I have an iPhone & it says its for Android - bummer.
...
Jim is working on an iOS 7 version of LEAF Spy Pro.
Not available yet, but should be available for tester use soon.
See:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=18917&hilit=iOS+Version+of+Leaf+Spy&start=0#p407233" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
GerryAZ said:
BooKittyLeaf said:
And the user booklet said its OK to jump start, but the next page it said not to jump start the Leaf - can anyone enlighten me on that?

...
As long as you are very careful with polarity, there is no issue with jump starting in either direction with the LEAF. The Nissan 12-volt battery has relatively high internal resistance and low capacity so it might be marginal to start a big V-8 with a really dead battery.

Gerry
The key to properly jump starting an ICE with the LEAF is that the LEAF should be in Ready mode so you are using the DC to DC converter for the jumping of the ICE and not using the LEAF battery.
The LEAF battery is very small and NOT suitable for jump starting an ICE by itself.
But the DC to DC converter is very powerful and excellent for jump starting an ICE.

Ingineer provided excellent instructions on how to do this correctly with LEAF in Ready mode using the LEAF DC to DC converter.
See:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6707&hilit=jumping&start=50#p283646" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Follow the instructions.

Lots of good explanation on the previous three or four pages in the thread explaining why this is the correct way to do it.

Nissan recommends not jump starting because they presumed most people would do it wrong and be bad for the LEAF 12V battery, instead of doing the correct thing and providing instructions on how to do it right.

Follow Ingineer s instructions and you won't have problems.
 
KJD said:
LEAFStat will run on iPhone and it will tell you about battery condition. Not all the detail of Leaf spy, but still a good app to have.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=16670" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am very curious as too see how well your 2015 does in the AZ heat.

Great - I looked in Apps Store & found it - $10 not bad. last update was July 2014, says it works with 11-14 Leafs. Any reason why it wouldn't work with 2015? Probably just haven't updated the description.

So, What is the best way to go for the OBD Blue Tooth thing (OBDC?) I saw quite a few. Any recommendations for what works best, like to get LeafSpy when it comes to iPhone, so would need to work with both. I understand to get one with v1.5, and NOT v2.1 Looked at some of the units descriptions - none listed v numbers - how would I tell before purchase?

I plan to get the 90* extension so I can have the OBDC in the cup holder.

I am favoring the Vgate ELM327 as I have read it can be easily modified to turn on/off with the car. I like that.

OBDC I found are:
• V1.5 Super Mini ELM327 Bluetooth OBD2 OBD-II CAN-BUS Diagnostic Scanner Tool - At least one confirmed to use v2.1 :-(
• BAFX Products (TM) - ELM 327 Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool
• AGPtek® Super Mini ELM327 V1.5 Bluetooth OBD2 OBD-II CAN-BUS Auto Diagnostic Scanner Tool
• Simvalley™ Mini ELM327 Bluetooth OBD2 Auto Diagnostics Scanner with Power Switch for Android
• Excelvan ELM327 v1.5 Bluetooth Mini Small Interface OBD2 Scanner Adapter Torque Android
• Newest Elm327 Bluetooth V1.5 OBD2 OBD II Auto Diagnostic Scanner Mini Adapter
• PLX Devices Kiwi Bluetooth Wireless Trip Computer and OBDII Scanner
• Vgate ELM327 Bluetooth Scan Tool OBD2 OBDII Scanner for TORQUE APP ANDROID - At least one confirmed to use v2.1 :-(- Can be taken apart easily and modified

Thanks
 
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