Seven year report, 2011 LEAF.

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
DarthPuppy said:
I salute your dedication in undertaking such a long trip with a Leaf. You have more patience than I do.
Actually, with ample DC charge options now available, most of that 761 mile trip would have required little dedication in a "40 kWh" or even a "30 kWh" LEAF, which I would gladly have rented, if either were available.

It's very sad that so many billions of dollars of misplaced government incentives have been wasted to subsidize the sales of so many vehicles that cannot even use public chargers, PHEVs, Teslas, and DC-incapable BEVs, and most ridiculously, FCVs, while a fraction of those funds well-spent could have given us the basic DC infrastructure on every major highway in the USA, that we now have on The Arc.
 
My April 2011 LEAF has 40k miles on it. It has been at 9 remaining capacity bars for a couple of years. It only gets driven about 10 miles every other day so the decreased capacity hasn’t been a problem.
I just replaced the 12 V battery for the second time. The tires were replaced at 36k miles. The GPS died and I had to have it repaired for a cost of 500 dollars. It has been completely reliable.
We will,probably get a new HV battery when we lose out 9th bar. Then the car should be good for another 8 years.
 
It only gets driven about 10 miles every other day so the decreased capacity hasn’t been a problem.
The GPS died and I had to have it repaired for a cost of 500 dollars. It has been completely reliable.

Idle curiosity: Why did you get the GPS fixed? I suspect you know all the roads within 10 miles of home. Does the same module do something else which is more important?
 
Hello,
Our 2011 has 10 batt bars showing and ~75 miles on the GOM at full charge. Now that the weather has warmed up I have knocked out a couple of 60 mile days with range to spare,
AHr 48.83
SOH 74.44%
Hx 52.72%
68k miles
23 QCs
6216 L2s
18 mV cell balance
57*F batt temp
210 GIDs
 
My 2011 lost its ninth capacity bar yesterday, coincidentally on the same trip that I passsed 60 k miles on the odometer.

Overdue, as it's been ~twenty months since I lost #10, and this is the first time that I lost a bar on a local, rather than on a battery-heating Bay area trip.

For those of you who take the LBC seriously, it incorrectly reported 42.66 AHr and 64.39% capacity (considerably more than earlier this month) when I got home last night.


edatoakrun said:
Got Home from a ~761 (corrected) mile trip to San Francisco and lake Tahoe Saturday, driving my ~60k mile, ~7 year old (see post #1) LEAF.

I've been waiting to drive my LEAF on this trip since delivery day, and:

...The good news is that finally having a few fairly reliable charge sites both locally and on routes south, I can make most extended trips far more quickly and easily now with a seven-year-old pack, than I could when my LEAF was new...
A replacement for my factory pack would have been very handy for the first and last ~200 miles, but once I was on the 1-80 and I-50 corridors (where there is now probably about one DC charger installed per each 1,000 gas pumps!) my LEAF's ~20% range reduction from delivery doesn't matter too much.

Disappointingly, entering the eighth nearly-as-hot-as-hell North Valley Summer, my LEAF still hasn't lost its ninth capacity bar, displaying (erroneously) 42.09 AH (63.53%) when I left, and 42.80 AH (64.60%) on return.

RE thermal management on this trip, my main problem was keeping the pack temperature high enough to maximize capacity...
 
Wow, only 60,000 miles in 11 years? I would do about 154,000 miles in 11 years, I admit love having chargers near home and work, as well as pretty much everywhere else I go, nice to live in Southern California. I bought my 2013 Leaf in March of last year with about 24,000 miles on it and I am already up to almost 60,000 miles. The battery pack was degraded when purchased, but then it dropped enough to get replaced in December of last year, so I have a 2013 leaf with a new battery pack and I paid around $6,000 for the car.

When fully charged, the GOM claims I will only get about 80 miles, but in reality I get around 105 on a full charge, so really I don't rely in the GOM, I go solely based on the percentage, as it is roughly 1 mile per percent.
 
Wow $6K for a 2013 Leaf and a free replacement pack is really great deal.

My May 2011 lost its 9th bar at ~90K in Sept 2017. Now at 106000 miles, GOM shows 110 miles when charged 100%. Hppe this 2017 pack works better than 2011 pack. There are already know degradation of 30kWHr packs. :shock:
 
edatoakrun said:
My 2011 lost its ninth capacity bar yesterday, coincidentally on the same trip that I passsed 60 k miles on the odometer.
...
For those of you who take the LBC seriously, it incorrectly reported 42.66 AHr and 64.39% capacity (considerably more than earlier this month) when I got home last night.

I'm curious, why do you say it's incorrect? The a plurality (39) of 2011 4-bar losers lost the bar between 43.0 and 43.5; next highest (17) was 42.5 to 43.0 Ahr.
 
sandeen said:
edatoakrun said:
My 2011 lost its ninth capacity bar yesterday, coincidentally on the same trip that I passsed 60 k miles on the odometer.
...
For those of you who take the LBC seriously, it incorrectly reported 42.66 AHr and 64.39% capacity (considerably more than earlier this month) when I got home last night.

I'm curious, why do you say it's incorrect? The a plurality (39) of 2011 4-bar losers lost the bar between 43.0 and 43.5; next highest (17) was 42.5 to 43.0 Ahr.
Read my first post on this thread, and those following.

The LBC's fluctuating over-report of capacity loss is incorrect.

The only possible oddities about the ninth bar loss were that it occurred soon after the LBC incorrectly reported a spontaneous capacity increase, and ~20 months after the loss of bar ten.
 
2011RedLeaf said:
It only gets driven about 10 miles every other day so the decreased capacity hasn’t been a problem.
The GPS died and I had to have it repaired for a cost of 500 dollars. It has been completely reliable.

Idle curiosity: Why did you get the GPS fixed? I suspect you know all the roads within 10 miles of home. Does the same module do something else which is more important?
We are spoiled and sometimes use the GPS to go somewhere new instead of using a map. Nothing else was wrong besides the dead GPS.
 
Hit seven years of ownership a month ago with 156k miles on the car. Full charge with the second traction battery is ~240 Gids. It hasn’t lost a capacity bar yet.

Significant repairs were replacing the traction battery, climate control fan and the failed diode in the onboard charger. Otherwise, it has been just the usual wear and tear items. Didn’t bother to update the telecommunication module. The struts will probably need to be replaced soon.

Adding the Brusa charger was and is crucial in having this car meet my driving needs.
 
Wow that is a lot of miles for a 7 year old car. Glad to hear the 2nd battery seems to be holding up better than the 1st if my math is right.

Were the fan and diode covered under warranty? If not, how big of a hit were those?
 
The climate control fan was covered by Nissan out of warranty. It was within the warranty’s time limit but beyond the mileage limit.

I added a diode to the pilot line to avoid replacing the onboard charger. I was far beyond the warranty and replacement is quite expensive.
 
Reached 7 years today.

Ah 45.21
SOH. 68.92
HX 46.92
80277 miles

I can still squeeze 60 miles out of it, but 50 is more comfortable.

With the warmer weather, and more regen available, I now hear clicking at the axle when accelerating after regen goes over 25 kW. I am wondering if I can clean and lube myself or I have to take the car to the dealer. It will be the first paid dealer work on the car. No other issues.
 
2011 LEAF SL, QC ,April 21,2011

Current mileage, 40.1K, 10/12 bars, only around town driving. Only L1 charging to 80% first 4 years, last 3+ years L1 charging to 100%, Never ended up using QC or L2.

The first set of tires wore out at 20K miles (3-1/2 years). Replaced at Costco ($470). These tires also lasted 20K mi, 3-1/2 years but they had 60K warranty. As a result Costco replaced all 4 tires for a net of $165.
Otherwise service costs have been quite minimal, total of 3 brake fluid changes, yearly battery check (first 2 years were free), tire rotation (free after getting Costco tires). Touch-up paint for small nicks and scratches, $26, 12V battery replacement after 7 years ($81 from Costco), yearly replacement of windshield wipers from Costco ($7).
Unplanned costs, $200, upgrade of telematics after ATT retirement of 1G service.
This year I had some intermittent operation of the backup camera caused by loose cable.

The car has been solid and reliable.

We just replaced the 2011 LEAF and our 2007 Prius with a 2018 Bolt Premiere and a 2018 LEAF S with winter package (ie. heated seats in both cars). Now we are a completely EV household. Gave up on our reservation for a Tesla M3 standard range after it became apparent that it would not be delivered until after the federal tax credit starts phasing out (2019 Q1 or 2019 Q2).

Total electricity costs for entire house net $120 over 7 years (monthly service charges minus energy buy back at end of each year). Total cost of original solar installation, $12.5K. Projected yearly cost going forward with 2 electric cars, $90/year for entire house.

Our original 2011 LEAF will continue on with one of our friends.
 
LeftieBiker said:
OrientExpress said:
I think it will be hilarious if the issues with the 30kWh cars turn out to just be software and not anything to do with chemistry.

Hilarious for whom, exactly? And do you really think that Nissan programmed these cars to appear to drop capacity bars and lose range even though the actual capacity doesn't drop rapidly? You need to pick and choose your talking points a bit more carefully.
I think tragic would be a more apt description for those people that bought a 107 mi car and have suffered the anguish and frustration of watching the capacity degrade to less than a 24kWh car in less than 2 years and have been stuck with an expensive car that does not meet their needs.
 
Purchased in Sept 2011 (Manufactured in March).

LeafSpy currently shows a 60 ~ mile range (miles to 1 kWh). All 12 bars intact.

Will post more details shortly.
 
Back
Top