MikeMilzz wrote:I tried to read a bunch of the posts in this thread but didn't get through them all, so I apologize if this has been addressed already.
I bought my 2013 Leaf in July of 2015 with about 16000 miles on it. I live in Phoenix but the car came from the San Francisco (previous owner didn't clear their home address out of the GPS) with 12 bars. I figured the car would have a rough time adjusting to the Phoenix heat but what I saw was some pretty serious battery degradation.
I drive about 55mi a day so when I first got the car I was charging to 80% (read that was good for the battery) but running the AC in July and August on highway home was using more juice and left battery really low so I quickly switched to 100% charge nightly. The car is in my garage and charges during the middle of the night using a Clipper Creek charger attached to a 30Amp outlet.
I dropped the first bar in November 2015, and the next one in March 2016. I started to get nervous but figured I'd hit 8 bars well before the 5 year warranty was up so at least there was that. Then in August I dropped my third bar and today I dropped the 4th. The range has been a concern the last few weeks as the gauge is typically 65-70miles when I start it in the morning, but with the Summer heat, AC needs, etc I've been driving in Eco mode and still get the low battery warning before I get home.
My questions are:
1) Is this to be expected? I want to make sure there isn't something else going on that's killing the battery faster than the PHX heat typically does.
2) Is now a good time to get a replacement battery? Is there anything on the horizon that would make me want to delay?
I don't have LeafSpy or any technical details of the battery, so I can't share that data.
I appreciate the knowledge on this board and your advice.
*I don't think there is a more misleading statement than that "80%" You drive waaaay more than enough to charge to 100%. The key is minimzing the time at 100% AND at very low SOC. you can mess with timers but I found the easiest way is to plug in when I go to bed. FYI; not using timers reduces 12 volt battery strain
*If I freaked out every time I was 10 miles from home when Low battery warning came on, I would have hit the funny house over 5 years ago.
*get LEAF Spy. it will tell you within a mile or two how far you can really go.
*when driving that far, it really sucks to go slower but go slower. I travel EVERY day to my client's location and some destinations simply don't have convenient charging options. I much rather drive at 60 mph (which is the MAXIMUM speed limit anyway...) and not have to stop than stop somewhere which I used to do but realized its a 10 min detour from my route for 10 mins of charging which dependent on traffic could cause me to be 25-45 mins later getting home. Driving 55 meant getting home 10 mins later...
your choice
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deceased. 29,413 miles. 2018 S40; 2483 miles, 490 GIDs, 38.2 Ahr available, SOH 99.30, Hx 114.37
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