2012--lost 3 bars since early this year

Who do I contact to discuss this? I purchased from a used car lot last July 2015 and am down to 9 bars and have to charge daily because I can't make two round trips (approx 36 miles) to work any more. So, I'm charging a battery that's not 'empty.' I'm sure that's not the best battery maintenance practice.

Your main 2 choices are to buy a new battery: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17168 or hope that you hit 8 bars before the 5 years/60K capacity warranty is up: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=13192.

It is also possible you were the victim of someone resetting the BMS before you bought it (http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2014/11/buyers-beware-this-is-must-read.html is one of several examples).

Mods: Please merge this into one of the battery capacity loss threads, perhaps http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802?

You were doing harm to the battery. Never fully discharge before charging it again.
It's too late now.

Deep discharge is not the issue. The LEAF will shutdown to protect the battery. The LBC (lithium battery controller also called BMS for battery management system) was likely reset and it took some time for capacity bars to drop back to actual capacity. I suggest you call the Nissan EV help line and exp!ain the situation--they probably won't do anything but you will at least have record of notifying them. Make sure you get annual battery check when due. Charge to 100% every day and try to deeply discharge once a month so the LBC has a better chance to update its estimated capacity as the battery continues to deteriorate. Get it to a dealer for verification as soon as the 9th bar disappears (hopefully before 5 years and 60,000 miles). There was a software update for 2011 and 2012 models (P3227) that improved the accuracy of the dashboad instrumentation so you might want to get that update if it has not been done.

Gerry

tmakinne said:

Who do I contact to discuss this? I purchased from a used car lot last July 2015 and am down to 9 bars and have to charge daily because I can't make two round trips (approx 36 miles) to work any more. So, I'm charging a battery that's not 'empty.' I'm sure that's not the best battery maintenance practice.

Click to expand...

I'd guess that you purchased a car where the battery bars were reset (unless of course you had only 10 bars when you bought it). This is pretty normal for a 2012 now. Your best bet, run it hard, fast, high temps, and get that down to 8 bars before the 60,000 mi, 5 yr warranty runs out. Read more on MULTIPLE threads all over this site.

Thanks, everyone, for your tips and advice on what to look for. My car only has approx. 25K miles, so the battery shouldn't be so bad so fast. I'm looking at the links you provided and checking my options.
Aloha!

tmakinne said:

My car only has approx. 25K miles, so the battery shouldn't be so bad so fast. I'm looking at the links you provided and checking my options.
Aloha!

Click to expand...

From http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=228326, when the Leaf had only been out ~21 months, one Phoenix Leaf was down FOUR capacity bars within ~29K miles. See the chart there for some other Phoenix based vehicles.

I guess you're in Hawaii.