2019 Nissan Leaf SV Battery Dead 40,000 miles

[cornbinder89]

It is supposed to charge 4 min out of every 24 hrs when it sits. I have witnessed this function happen. Whether that is enough to keep it charged, will depend. Esp if there is something left on (OBD dongle, light etc), as with any car it is possible to drain the battery in all the ways mentioned. The RAG (roadside assistance guide) from Nissan says to pull the HV disconnect between the seats, and after waiting 10 min disconnect the neg 12 volt lead when the vehicle is stored. Any vehicle I have that doesn't get driven in a month (or expected to not be driven) gets the battery disconnected. The risk of a critter damage on the wiring and possible fire from same. I have a few antiques that sit over the winter. I also have a 3 season road car that I don't drive in the winter, it has the same battery that the Leaf uses (gp 51R) and will deplete the 12 volt if left sitting all winter also.
4 min charge every 24 should do better than mine which has a ICE engine and will not do anything, although it is much older (40 years old) so has less key off loads than a modern car. Any car made in the last decade or so has more gadgets that draw a little power all the time and wouldn't fare much better if at all.
To sum up, I'd say if you plan on long term storage to follow the advice from Nissan in the RAG guide, or put a maintainer on the 12 volt, that will prevent the HV battery from needing to try and charge while sitting, It would wake up, see the 12 volt doesn't need a charge, and then re set the 24 hr timer. It will not save you from critter damage, but would allow but would prevent what you had happen.
Having said all that, many have reported going more than 2 months and not having a problem. If since you did, I would be looking for a draw and not just saying the 12 volt is defective.

 

[Steve52]

It is supposed to charge 4 min out of every 24 hrs when it sits. I have witnessed this function happen. Whether that is enough to keep it charged, will depend. Esp if there is something left on (OBD dongle, light etc), as with any car it is possible to drain the battery in all the ways mentioned. The RAG (roadside assistance guide) from Nissan says to pull the HV disconnect between the seats, and after waiting 10 min disconnect the neg 12 volt lead when the vehicle is stored. Any vehicle I have that doesn't get driven in a month (or expected to not be driven) gets the battery disconnected. The risk of a critter damage on the wiring and possible fire from same. I have a few antiques that sit over the winter. I also have a 3 season road car that I don't drive in the winter, it has the same battery that the Leaf uses (gp 51R) and will deplete the 12 volt if left sitting all winter also.
4 min charge every 24 should do better than mine which has a ICE engine and will not do anything, although it is much older (40 years old) so has less key off loads than a modern car. Any car made in the last decade or so has more gadgets that draw a little power all the time and wouldn't fare much better if at all.
To sum up, I'd say if you plan on long term storage to follow the advice from Nissan in the RAG guide, or put a maintainer on the 12 volt, that will prevent the HV battery from needing to try and charge while sitting, It would wake up, see the 12 volt doesn't need a charge, and then re set the 24 hr timer. It will not save you from critter damage, but would allow but would prevent what you had happen.
Having said all that, many have reported going more than 2 months and not having a problem. If since you did, I would be looking for a draw and not just saying the 12 volt is defective.

Thanks for the input. After my first experience of draining the 12 V battery, I now keep it on a maintainer and all is fine since we do this every winter. My son-in-law, who also has a 2018 Leaf, had the same thing happen at the airport after ~ 2 weeks; dead 12 V battery that had to be jumped. I don't know if we're flukes or there's something wrong with the extended 12 V battery maintainer algorithm. Neither of us trust our Leaf to be left unattended for more than a week or so.
Steve

 

[Ancient1]

The only time I have ever had a problem with the 12 volt battery dying after not using the car for a few days was shortly after I got my Leaf Spy and left the dongle plugged in. Apparently the dongle uses enough juice to run the battery down all by itself if you don't drive the car every day or so. I did have to replace the factory battery after just under 4 years - I got a Napa Proformer 6551 at a reasonable price. The Napa store told me the factory batteries are not really the best quality, and they were surprised mine lasted as long as it did.

 

[BillAinCT]

I wonder if software was changed from 2018 or later? I haven't read his happening on 2020's or later but this is something very difficult on this forum to count and verify. And if there was an improvement or change, why weren't MY effected owners notified to go in for an upgrade (or bug fix in this case)?

 

[Steve52]

I wonder if software was changed from 2018 or later? I haven't read his happening on 2020's or later but this is something very difficult on this forum to count and verify. And if there was an improvement or change, why weren't MY effected owners notified to go in for an upgrade (or bug fix in this case)?

Since my son-in-law nor I trust our 2018 Leafs to maintain the 12 V battery during our absence, neither of us leave ours without a maintainer so I don't know if anything has improved or not?

 

[BillAinCT]

Believe me, I get you on this. Fool me once....

 

[Paulo]

I finally heard back from the dealer regarding my car. Apparently the battery was not bad. Rather there was an issue with the software that the dealer could not diagnose or fix. Someone from Nissan had to come out. Currently they are testing the battery to be as certain as they can that it does not have a discharge of battery like it was. I should get my Leaf back tomorrow. Which is a relief because I really don't like pumping or paying for gas when my Leaf would be charging on my solar power.

 

[knightmb]

Have you seen other examples of the Leaf failing to maintain the 12 V's SOC during extended absence?
Thanks,
Steve

Only every other topic that is created here.

 

[Joeaverage]

I recommend that if you are not driving the car, just unplug the 12V battery. Do not run a maintainer continuously. Just top it off with the maintainer once a month. A friend who uses maintainer to keep up his battery has had several batteries which have a correct 12.5V (or whatever) charge but there are no amps available if he tries to crank the engine (obviously ICEV). If the battery is topped off occasionally, you'll get 4-5-6 years out of the battery.

 

[GerryAZ]

I have owned a 2011 SL, 2015 SL, and 2019 SL Plus (all purchased new). The OEM 12V batteries each lasted about 2 years. I replaced the OEM with a Yellow-Top Optima (Group Size 51R) in each case. The 2011 was totaled with about 2-1/2 or 3 years on its Optima; the 2015 was traded for the 2019 with about 2-1/2 or 3 years on its Optima; and the 2019 has over 2-1/2 years and 50,000 miles on its Optima so far (with no sign of weakness).

The 12V charging algorithm has been changed over the years, but I routinely parked the 2011, 2015, and 2019 at my office or the airport for extended times (anywhere from a few days to 30 days) without incident as long as nothing was left plugged in to the OBDII port. I returned to a completely dead 12V battery in the 2011 after only 5 days when I inadvertently left a Bluetooth interface module plugged into the OBDII port with an Android device running LEAF Spy Pro in the car. That was the only time that any of the cars failed to keep the 12V batteries charged. I have never disconnected the 12V battery when parked and never connected an external 12V charger to any of the LEAFs. The 2011 charged the 12V battery for a few minutes every 5 days when parked without being plugged in. The 2015 seemed to monitor the voltage and charge when needed, but I never really confirmed the exact charging algorithm. The 2019 charges the 12V battery for 5 minutes every 24 hours when parked without being plugged in.

The traction battery in the 2019 has lost some capacity after 86,000 miles and has 11 (out of 12) capacity bars remaining. I routinely drive 120 to 140 miles between charges. I had to use a quick charging station today and left with the battery temperature at 11 bars (in the red zone). The highest battery temperature before charging was 117.9 F (9 bars on temperature gauge). The highest temperature was 132.0 F after charging.

 

[Bombastinator2]

This is not true; when the charge has completed the EVSE is turned OFF

So even if it is plugged in the battery will just run down and die? This belief is common enough that Some snow bird or something must have left their car plugged in while they went to Florida or something and one apparently has yet to come back to an unrecoverably dead vehicle, or we would have heard about it. This is just too dangerous and too easy to fix. Leafs have ghost power stuff going on for one thing. They never completely turn off.

 

[Bombastinator2]

The first mass produced EV was the Mitsubishi i-MiEV whose production started in 2009; the LEAF didn't start until the following year.

There were electric cars produced in Detroit before gas cars took over. There may also be crud from the 1970’s. There’s also stuff like the gee whizz. This one probably depends on what you consider “mass production” or “sold” and where. This is true of a lot of “firsts” it winds up depending on defining limitations and what not to include. A lot of vague words tend to get used like “modern“.

 

[Bombastinator2]

Hi, I found this site after my 2019 Leaf SV began having issues with the charge dropping by 50% and warning that the car battery was low and had less than 5 miles of range. The car has 40,000 miles. I took it to the dealer. They have assured me that the battery is under warranty and are now waiting for Nissan to give them the okay to order a battery. Here is where my problem comes in: the dealer told me it may take 9 months for a replacement battery. They would like me to take my Leaf and drive it until the replacement battery comes in to the shop. While the thought of being stranded is enough to bother me while I wait for a replacement battery, I wonder about charging my battery at home. Will this be safe? I fear that something may happen to short out the battery and my home electrical system, including my solar system. Does anybody have any insight on the wait and the safety of charging a faulty battery.

Is there a gfi breaker on your charger.? (I’ve got one . It’s a legal requirement a lot of the time in a lot of places)