jonathanfields4ever
Well-known member
Zythryn said:The implementation of a passive battery management system is questionable, at best.
2011-2012 Leafs in warm climates had horrible results. Even in cold climates, they haven’t been very good.
When the 2011s came out Nissan SAID the batteries had undergone extensive testing in hot weather environments and would be fine.
That turned out not to be the case.
The ‘warm weather’ batteries, from reports, seem to have done better, but still not as good as batteries with active battery management systems.
From what I have heard, the 2019 Leaf will have a larger battery and an active battery management system.
I don’t see how people can argue for a passive system. Unless they believe in 3-5 year disposable cars.
It’s far more likely that chemistry is the really important factor. Even ‘Lizard’ Leaf packs contained LMO spinel batteries. Magnesium batteries tend to have terrible lifespans. AESC claimed to have solved the heat issue with a new electrolytic solution, but it turned out not to work so well.
For the 2018 Leaf, Nissan went so far as to eat a ton of money to get out of an agreement with NEC and fit the car with NMC packs. This should lead to far higher longevity. It remains to be seen whether this chemistry will be as good as the NCA chemistry used in Tesla cars (I’m gonna say probably not...), but Tesla trusts NMC enough to put them in Power Walls, so I have high hopes.
The driving performance and charging speed of the new Leaf just isn’t enough to warrant a TMS. I can drive like a maniac through the mountains and then go charge at 50kW for 40 minutes in 25C weather with the sun beating down and battery temps don’t even hit the halfway mark. We’ll see how it does in summer when outdoor temperatures are 40C or so, but I’m thinking it will do well.