2015 Leaf, 42K Miles, 12 Bars?

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erco

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
110
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Leaf wannabe here. Looking at a 2015 Leaf on a used car lot. Is that possible to still have 12 bars at 42K miles, or has someone tricked the battery? Southern California, hot area. Salesman says the guy was fast charging at both ends of a 50 mile (each way) commute for 2 years.

Any thoughts? TIA.
 
Yes, it's possible it was a victim of a BMS reset but it's not totally impossible for it to be legit. Can you be more specific about that hot area?

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=499072#p499072 has a '15 in crazy hot Phoenix and is at 11 bars. I've posted crazy Phoenix temp examples before at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=307296#p307296.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=499663#p499663 has pointers to opposite extremes.

My 5/2013 built '13 Leaf ("lizard" battery didn't exist yet) is past 46.6K miles and I'm still at 12 bars, just as I had when I bought the car used in July 2015. I work and stay in a hotter part of the SF Bay Area. I am close to losing a bar though, per LeafSpy stats.
 
I would not guess about that particular car's past life. However, it is very possible that the car still does have 12 bars.

My 2015 Leaf has 35K miles on it, and it is still at 98% health on the battery.... I am finding that if you run the car gently (don't discharge too low, don't store it with a high degree of charge) the battery has been amazing.
 
rmay635703 said:
Why would he need to quick charge every 50 miles on a good pack?

I thought the same thing...but different charging habits for different people.
The only way to know for sure is put a GID meter on it (like LeafSpy).
 
erco said:
Leaf wannabe here. Looking at a 2015 Leaf on a used car lot. Is that possible to still have 12 bars at 42K miles, or has someone tricked the battery? Southern California, hot area. Salesman says the guy was fast charging at both ends of a 50 mile (each way) commute for 2 years.

Any thoughts? TIA.

It is likely that the 12 capacity bars are correct, but that there has been some loss of battery capacity in 2 years and 42k miles. I had 29936 miles on 10/22/2016 (manufactured 01/2015 and purchased 2/7/2015) when I lost the first capacity bar and anywhere in Southern California (except Death Valley) would have significantly cooler average temperatures than Phoenix. I still have 11 capacity bars at 45095 miles. If you like the car, make your purchase decision with the assumption that the first capacity bar may drop soon.

The original driver probably took advantage of Nissan's NCTC (no charge to charge) program which allows 30 minutes of DCQC for each charge session for the first 2 years of use without cost. The commute was probably on the freeway so it was necessary to charge at each end (no chance to go 100 miles on the freeway on one charge). Since battery AHr, SOH, and Hx numbers for my 2015 (as reported by Leaf Spy) improve after DCQC and drop after gentle driving, you may see those numbers drop some during the first couple weeks of suburban use and charging at home (especially if trickle charging at 120 volts) but they should stabilize. For example, my commute is 52 miles round trip (26 each way with about 21 on the freeway) and most of my charging is at home using my 30-ampere, 240-volt EVSE. My Leaf Spy numbers will drop temporarily if I drive gently without highway use or charge slower (lower rate at 240 volts or trickle charge at 120 volts), but return to normal after a couple days of normal use. I use DCQC if I need to drive extra miles during the day and my Leaf Spy numbers always improve for a period of time.
 
42k miles and 12 bars is definitely a possibility. Here's my latest stats:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B41myyT78HLMamJjZlNUSUFhTjQ/view?usp=drivesdk

This is a PNW vehicle and stats like this for PNW Leafs is pretty common. 87k kms is roughly 55k miles.
 
I am finding that if you run the car gently (don't discharge too low, don't store it with a high degree of charge) the battery has been amazing.

You are correct on not storing with a high SOC, but I don't think we have any evidence at all that running the battery low (between LBW and VLBW) harms it, as long as it gets recharged soon afterwards. We do have evidence that it causes no harm.
 
Just posting here to keep records, along with others with a similar year, etc.

2015 Leaf SL -- purchased in late Feb 2018, with 33k miles, 12 bars.. I just lost bar #1 at 36636 miles.

Just today I've ordered an OBDII device so I can run LeafSpy and get better stats to post, etc. Should be here by Sunday.

I've used an L3 charger about 8 times so far with this car, most of which were on a road trip I took to Seattle and back. I've got a Bosch L2 charger in my driveway that I've been using just over a month. Before that it was mainly overnight L1 charging. From what I've read, this shouldn't have much of an impact on my battery life. Near as I can tell, this was a northern California / SF car before it came to my neck of the woods.
 
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