Another 12V Battery issue....

dmbshn41 said:

Any good things to say about a yellow top Optima or a blue top Bosch?

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dmbshn41 said:

First time poster, short time lurker...I have searched this issue thru the boards and feel this is a different take, hence a new post. Please don't flame me just yet...

Yesterday I was out and about, had 50 miles of range showing left on my 13 S, and had about 40 miles of driving to do. I hit a QC station and charged to approx 75% (10 min) and stopped charging. I went to my destination and spent about 2 hrs there. When I went to leave, I turned the car on, and placed into D. Immediately the car shifted to N, and displayed the 'battery' icon on the dash. I tried several times, but to no avail to get the car to move. One thing I noticed that I did that I don't normally due, is I plugged my iPhone 7+ into USB cable before turning car on. Phone had about 65% charge. On a random thought, I turned car off, unplugged my phone, then turned car back on. Placed into D and it worked. Got moving, then plugged phone in, no issues. Came home, plugged into normal L1 charger, and that was that. No issues today.

Reason I am asking, I purchased the car used on 10/3 at a local Carmax for a steal...and my 30 day warranty is about to expire.

1) Do I have some type of issue with 12V battery, or was it the random event of plugging phone in first that caused this? (Im guessing not, as there is no way the phone could ever pull enough of a load to not allow the car to turn on...)

2) Is it worth it to try and get a new battery from dealership before its too late?

3) Am I better off replacing the 12V lead acid battery with a Li-Ion battery?

First foray into EV car after being a long time fan, enjoying it so far. Just don't want to let this event sour the deal...Thanks!

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Oils4AsphaultOnly said:

dmbshn41 said:

First time poster, short time lurker...I have searched this issue thru the boards and feel this is a different take, hence a new post. Please don't flame me just yet...

Yesterday I was out and about, had 50 miles of range showing left on my 13 S, and had about 40 miles of driving to do. I hit a QC station and charged to approx 75% (10 min) and stopped charging. I went to my destination and spent about 2 hrs there. When I went to leave, I turned the car on, and placed into D. Immediately the car shifted to N, and displayed the 'battery' icon on the dash. I tried several times, but to no avail to get the car to move. One thing I noticed that I did that I don't normally due, is I plugged my iPhone 7+ into USB cable before turning car on. Phone had about 65% charge. On a random thought, I turned car off, unplugged my phone, then turned car back on. Placed into D and it worked. Got moving, then plugged phone in, no issues. Came home, plugged into normal L1 charger, and that was that. No issues today.

Reason I am asking, I purchased the car used on 10/3 at a local Carmax for a steal...and my 30 day warranty is about to expire.

1) Do I have some type of issue with 12V battery, or was it the random event of plugging phone in first that caused this? (Im guessing not, as there is no way the phone could ever pull enough of a load to not allow the car to turn on...)

2) Is it worth it to try and get a new battery from dealership before its too late?

3) Am I better off replacing the 12V lead acid battery with a Li-Ion battery?

First foray into EV car after being a long time fan, enjoying it so far. Just don't want to let this event sour the deal...Thanks!

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I've actually encountered this problem, and it's not the battery.

After the car is off, if you don't depress the brake pedal enough to register, pushing the power button boots the leaf in this "ACC ON" state (A/C's on, lights, instrument cluster, etc). If you press the brake pedal firmly at this point and then push the power button again, the leaf will cycle through its startup phase again and become fully "ON".

Encountered it a few times, because I was rushing and simply "rebooted" the car to get it back up and running. It wasn't until the 3rd time that I paid more attention to what I was doing. Anyway, your car's probably fine.

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dmbshn41 said:

Def not fine. Vehicle won't jump, unlock doors with remote, lights won't flash, panic button does nothing, brake pedal had no pressure whatsoever and sank to the floor, its def the 12V battery is dead. Question is why. Carmax has iced me today with no response, but digging on the title history, they 'owned' vehicle for about 28 days, and it only accrued 9 miles in that time. Wonder if that played into it.

When I called Carmax to let them know they're getting a tow bill and a non-working vehicle to service, they asked me to describe the charging cable to ensure that they could plug it in at the service area...not expecting much if anything to happen at Carmax...let this along with other countless tales of misery serve as a lesson not to deal with Carmax...I only bought there due to the low low price of the car that I was searching for.

Hoping to hear more tomorrow, but already spec'ing new battery to replace on my own dime.

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