I think a lot of us with '11 and '12 LEAFs who live in the South Bay (SF Bay Area) are going to be concerned about being qualified for battery replacement before 60K.
I've just crossed 40K miles at 25 months (lost 1 capacity bar at 35K). I started charging the car at L1 overnight during the past summer, and only started putting the car back in the garage again during the past 2 weeks to charge at L2. The car mostly sits in the shade on weekdays in Cupertino.
The car is still mostly useful, though Blink's demise (along with poor reliability of the Blink DCFC units) and uncertainty of when/if those existing units will be replaced and repaired have put a damper on trips to SF from SJ on the 101 corridor.
I have mostly charged to 100% overnight on a daily basis during the past summer (on L1), drive-off within 2 hours after 100% charge. Only QC'ed once during the past summer (ambient temp at ~65 in each case). Before summer 2013, I had QC'ed at least 2 to 3 times per month.
At this rate, I will likely hit 52-55K by 36 months (lower than the 1600 miles/month I've been averaging, given more trips needed on the ICE). Forecasting possible 2 bar loss at 60K--2 bars short of the 4 bar minimum.
Will be interesting on what Nissan presents for options (if any) on the battery lease plan, battery purchase, T&C/exit on battery lease, etc.
I'm sure I'm echoing a lot of people here--the LEAF had surpassed our expectations in many ways, and met 90% of our needs (EXCEPT on the battery capacity issue). Never would have thought that our South San SJ climate would even be remotely "severe" enough to degrade the battery. Or made me paranoid about how hot the battery gets during the day (even in early autumn or late spring), or paranoid about how hot the garage gets in 3 out of 4 seasons of the year (garage gets to the 80s in the summer and ICE in garage keeps garage in the 70s in spring and autumn). Guess I wasn't paranoid--it truly is the reality.
I don't have Android, and I decided to get the LEAF DD unit instead. I probably should have done that earlier, but better now rather than later.
Ivan Jue
ChipsLeaf said:
Bay Area Leaf
Lost first bar Oct 9, 2013
Mileage 28,600
Received vehicle May 12, 2011
It doesn't appear that I will have 80% capacity at 5 years and 70% capacity at 10 years even in the relatively mild Bay Area climate.
Anyone have a guess if I'm on track to qualify for the battery replacement before 60,000 miles?