Edit: How to search before posting a new topic in 109 heat

Today is the hottest day in Tucson since I've owned my LEAF for three months. Usually the battery temperature gauge has 6 bars when the temperature has been in the mid-90's. I just got home from driving for about 30 minutes through city traffic and it is 109 degrees. I am pleased to report that my battery temperature is only 7 bars. I was a little worried about our summers and the battery temperature. It seems to be ok.

Maybe some Phoenix owners could also report in with your 112 - 115 degree days - how many bars are on your battery temperature gauge?

You shouldn't see 8 bars until the battery gets over 50*C / 122*F.

From post: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=103134#p103134

Azrich said:

Maybe some Phoenix owners could also report in with your 112 - 115 degree days - how many bars are on your battery temperature gauge?

Click to expand...

If you would have looked/searched you would see that some of us AZ LEAF owners have already started a thread regarding driving in the heat (CA is chiming in as well):

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4479

drees said:

You shouldn't see 8 bars until the battery gets over 50*C / 122*F.

From post: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=103134#p103134

Click to expand...

Could we use this graph to determine the deterioration of the battery???

Say, at what ambient temp does 5 bars appear? 51 degrees vs 58 degrees?

Skywagon said:

If you would have looked/searched you would see that some of us AZ LEAF owners have already started a thread regarding driving in the heat . . . . . . . snip

Click to expand...

Oh, that's kind of funny . . . as it presumes the search tool doesn't suck major butt ... which it does ... and as it does on MOST boards.

hill said:

Skywagon said:

If you would have looked/searched you would see that some of us AZ LEAF owners have already started a thread regarding driving in the heat . . . . . . . snip

Click to expand...

Oh, that's kind of funny . . . as it presumes the search tool doesn't suck major butt ... which it does ... and as it does on MOST boards.

Click to expand...

Look maybe 1 inch above the default search area and find;

"Annoyed with the standard search on this forum? Use Google powered My Nissan Leaf search:"

Amazing to say the least.

Enough about the battery... how well does the air conditioner cool the car after being super heated in the sun?

Laptop cells (lithium cobalt) you dont ever want to charge once they get to 130° F, because they will combust at around 140.. I dont think manganese spinel are that sensitive but anything over room temp (77° F) will degrade the life of the battery long term. It gets more critical as the temp increases, thats why Nissan made the upper temp bars so narrow.

Time will tell how Leaf handles Phoenix, especially those that drive over 100 miles per day.. Nissan seems to be confident about Phoenix. Maybe you AZ Leafers could carry an insulation pad to place on the pavement before you park?

smkettner said:

Enough about the battery... how well does the air conditioner cool the car after being super heated in the sun?

Click to expand...

I'm in Fresno and have had a couple of 105 degree days recently. I've fiddled with the AC and found that it will cool the interior fine even after the car has been in the open sun.

After getting the initial cooling done, I find it best to set the AC kind of high (like 75 degrees) and set the fan to low or medium. This gives me the best compromise between battery usage and cooling. Of course, if anyone is in the back seat, they'll want more fan.

AmarilloLeaf said:

drees said:

You shouldn't see 8 bars until the battery gets over 50*C / 122*F.

From post: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=103134#p103134

Click to expand...

Could we use this graph to determine the deterioration of the battery???

Say, at what ambient temp does 5 bars appear? 51 degrees vs 58 degrees?

Click to expand...

Not with any accuracy for many reasons. The gauge on the car would be a better indicator.

AmarilloLeaf said:

Could we use this graph to determine the deterioration of the battery???

Click to expand...

No, that will be a closely held Nissan/NEC trade secret, mostly dependent on what electrolyte they chose to use.. usually weird (and expensive) organic liquids using hexafluoride .

This study says good life up to 131° F if you dont use a fluoride electrolyte:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378775303010735

http://www.mendeley.com/research/lithiumion-polymer-cells-for-military-applications/

Nissan is doing something different from LG to avoid using a liquid cooling system, and the associated coolant leaks. Apparently you dont want to be at bar 8, 122° F from that chart.

The graph mentions a "Deteriotation" that ranges from 100% when new down to 80%, it sounds like a number they track closely and perhaps if we ask the dealership will pull it out of the diagnogstic and tell us.

Herm said:

Nissan is doing something different from LG to avoid using a liquid cooling system, and the associated coolant leaks. Apparently you dont want to be at bar 8, 122° F from that chart.

Click to expand...

That is contrary to what the gauge says - only top 2 bars (bars 11-12 57.5*C / 135.5*F +) is when you should start worrying.

EVDRIVER said:

AmarilloLeaf said:

drees said:

You shouldn't see 8 bars until the battery gets over 50*C / 122*F.

From post: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=103134#p103134

Click to expand...

Could we use this graph to determine the deterioration of the battery???

Say, at what ambient temp does 5 bars appear? 51 degrees vs 58 degrees?

Click to expand...

Not with any accuracy for many reasons. The gauge on the car would be a better indicator.

Click to expand...

Enlighten me.

What gauge indicates battery deterioration? The SOC gauge could indicate 100% charge of a 70% deteriorated battery.

AmarilloLeaf said:

Enlighten me.
What gauge indicates battery deterioration? The SOC gauge could indicate 100% charge of a 70% deteriorated battery.

Click to expand...

Look at your charge gauge, your charge is represented with the long bars, now look next to it at the small squares that are on the right side of the charge gauge, those 12 dots are the representation of your battery capacity (or deterioration). It is in the owners manual if you want to check.

-Matt

Does anyone know why the battery temperature gauge levels are dependent on both temperature and battery degradation? It is not obvious to me why this is done.

Does anyone know why the battery temperature gauge levels are dependent on both temperature and battery degradation? It is not obvious to me why this is done.

smkettner said:

Enough about the battery... how well does the air conditioner cool the car after being super heated in the sun?

Click to expand...

I let the car sit in the heat (over 100*) with just the windows open a few inches, no shade screen, and no extra tinting for over 3 hours. It's amazing! When we got in, it wasn't that hot inside and we had instant cooling...not one sec of waiting for cool air like in my old ICE.

Randy3 said:

smkettner said:

Enough about the battery... how well does the air conditioner cool the car after being super heated in the sun?

Click to expand...

After getting the initial cooling done, I find it best to set the AC kind of high (like 75 degrees) and set the fan to low or medium. This gives me the best compromise between battery usage and cooling. Of course, if anyone is in the back seat, they'll want more fan.

Click to expand...

LOL, you think 75 degrees is kind of high? That's really low for me. Kind of high for me is around 86 at home (feels like 80 with the ohfs) and for the LEAF, 88. It was plenty cool in the car today at that auto set temp when the outside temp was 108. Do you put your home at 75 degrees too? Using the overhead fans, you can set your thermostat 6 degrees higher in the summer. So if you like it that cool, you could set it at 81, save energy, and feel the same. I've actually seen people have their A/C in the home below 70 and they're wearing sweaters! They just don't understand how wasteful that is I guess. I just saw the ave. of all the neighboring homes' bills and it was $180 for this month and last part of May. Ours was the minimum, $16. Last year it was $100.

113 Thursday..I thought the Leaf performed well in the heat all day..I did my 60 mile work trip with no problem..The car also sits out in the sun all day..I keep my eye on the battery temp gauge most of the trip..I believe Im looking at a 20% lost of charge from the AC now..

myleaf said:

Does anyone know why the battery temperature gauge levels are dependent on both temperature and battery degradation? It is not obvious to me why this is done.

Click to expand...

Its obvious the battery becomes more sensitive to heat as it ages, thats why the bars self adjust.. except the bars above 8.. those just have a hardcoded temp. Those are probably the ones where you pull off the hwy and park the car if you ever see them light up. In terms of a conventional car, 8 would be in the orange zone of a temp indicator.. 9 would be in the red.