80% Charging anytime, all the time

[smkettner]

Picked up my car on Memorial Day. I've tried twice to use L1 charger to 80%. No success. I set the timer to 12am start & 12am complete. Went to 100%. Am I missing some key step? So far CARWINGS is not reporting a thing. I get info from the Nissan Owner site, but Carwings is blank. Says it may take 2 days - so maybe I'm being impatient?

Try starting 12:10a and stop at 11:50p. Worst case it will have a 20 minute break.

 

[mgoleta]

Picked up my car on Memorial Day. I've tried twice to use L1 charger to 80%. No success. I set the timer to 12am start & 12am complete. Went to 100%. Am I missing some key step? So far CARWINGS is not reporting a thing. I get info from the Nissan Owner site, but Carwings is blank. Says it may take 2 days - so maybe I'm being impatient?

Try starting 12:10a and stop at 11:50p. Worst case it will have a 20 minute break.

Also make sure you don't press the charge now button. This overrides the timer and only charges to 100%.

 

[planet4ever]

And - though this may be too obvious - be sure you click "% Charge" when setting the timer, and choose 80%. The default is 100%.

Ray

 

[Stanton]

Try starting 12:10a and stop at 11:50p. Worst case it will have a 20 minute break.

Even better: flip the "am" & "pm" (12:10pm to 11:50am) which moves the break to the afternoon (when you're probably gone anyway).

 

[garygid]

I am using 11:00 AM for both Start and End, and selected the 80% mode.

The result:
1. No Timer Override: Starts charging immediately, to 80%

2. With Timer Override: Starts charging immediately, to 100%

 

[LEAFfan]

The other day I talked with Brendan Jones, Nissan VP of Sales, and he told me that charging to 100% EVERY day (topping off) will not degrade the battery pack. Also, he told me that using DC fast chargers less than 7 times a day will NOT degrade the pack. He said that these particular batteries have been extensively tested with a simulator that equals 8 years of use. So based on his testimony, I'm going back to 100% every day. The only downside I can see from 100% every day is no regen for awhile. When does regen begin...95% SOC, 90%, 85%?

 

[Stoaty]

The other day I talked with Brendan Jones, Nissan VP of Sales, and he told me that charging to 100% EVERY day (topping off) will not degrade the battery pack. Also, he told me that using DC fast chargers less than 7 times a day will NOT degrade the pack. He said that these particular batteries have been extensively tested with a simulator that equals 8 years of use. So based on his testimony, I'm going back to 100% every day. The only downside I can see from 100% every day is no regen for awhile. When does regen begin...95% SOC, 90%, 85%?

That is very interesting... but how does he reconcile that with the recommendation for 80% charge, not to use DC fast charger too much, etc.? Are those other recommendations from the attorneys? Or are they from the engineers?

 

[opencar]

i've setup 1 timer for 80% 24/7 from trickle as per this thread. during the charge, I've gotten 2 email notifications - first one is a "charging stopped, 8 bars of 12", and then a later a "charging stopped - 10 bars of 12". the result is fine (80% charge), but does anyone else see this stop-start type of behavior?

 

[davewill]

i've setup 1 timer for 80% 24/7 from trickle as per this thread. during the charge, I've gotten 2 email notifications - first one is a "charging stopped, 8 bars of 12", and then a later a "charging stopped - 10 bars of 12". the result is fine (80% charge), but does anyone else see this stop-start type of behavior?

Did it happen more than once? About what time did the stop occur? What time did you choose for the start/end time on your timer? What EVSE are you using? Without details no one can tell you much.

 

[opencar]

i've setup 1 timer for 80% 24/7 from trickle as per this thread. during the charge, I've gotten 2 email notifications - first one is a "charging stopped, 8 bars of 12", and then a later a "charging stopped - 10 bars of 12". the result is fine (80% charge), but does anyone else see this stop-start type of behavior?

Did it happen more than once? About what time did the stop occur? What time did you choose for the start/end time on your timer? What EVSE are you using? Without details no one can tell you much.

Has occurred for 3 consecutive days. Stop happened at 12:50am. Timer is 12am to 1150pm Trickle charge using 120v outlet (no evse). I was thinking others might have experienced it as well

 

[davewill]

Has occurred for 3 consecutive days. Stop happened at 12:50am. Timer is 12am to 1150pm Trickle charge using 120v outlet (no evse). I was thinking others might have experienced it as well

Odd. Given your setup, I'd expect a stop and restart, but at 11:50PM, not 12:50AM. Could the time zone somehow be wrong on the Carwings notifications and the interruption is actually an hour earlier? Anyway, if you're going to charge at that time all the time, I'd put the start/stop in the middle of the day, rather than at night.

 

[garygid]

Most likely you have set the clock in the eyebrow, but I suspect that it "does nothing" except a poor job of tracking time.

The important one in "in" the nav screen. It is GPS set, but you should:

1. check that you have daylight savings set properly (it is a manual setting).

2. select showing the "nav" clock (on the top right of the nav screen). For some reason that default is "do not show".

Your timer is not set for "charge anytime", but for "after mignight" charging. Remember, 12 AM occurs in a day's early morning.

 

[LEAFfan]

I charged to 80% (83%/10 bars) today and received 106 miles on ECO. :mrgreen:

 

[opencar]

Most likely you have set the clock in the eyebrow, but I suspect that it "does nothing" except a poor job of tracking time.

The important one in "in" the nav screen. It is GPS set, but you should:

1. check that you have daylight savings set properly (it is a manual setting).

2. select showing the "nav" clock (on the top right of the nav screen). For some reason that default is "do not show".

Your timer is not set for "charge anytime", but for "after mignight" charging. Remember, 12 AM occurs in a day's early morning.

you were right that the daylight savings time was not set correctly; you're also correct that the eyebrow time has no influence on the timer. altho timezone was set correctly (pacific) so i'm not sure why the timer seemed to be working 3 hrs in advance. anyway, I setup the charger on/off times to happen at noon so now there is no interruption of charging at night. thanks for all the feedback people!

 

[leafme]

The other day I talked with Brendan Jones, Nissan VP of Sales, and he told me that charging to 100% EVERY day (topping off) will not degrade the battery pack. Also, he told me that using DC fast chargers less than 7 times a day will NOT degrade the pack. He said that these particular batteries have been extensively tested with a simulator that equals 8 years of use. So based on his testimony, I'm going back to 100% every day. The only downside I can see from 100% every day is no regen for awhile. When does regen begin...95% SOC, 90%, 85%?

That is very interesting... but how does he reconcile that with the recommendation for 80% charge, not to use DC fast charger too much, etc.? Are those other recommendations from the attorneys? Or are they from the engineers?

That's funny. When I spoke with a Nissan VP of product planning (electrical engineer) in January after I bought my LEAF he indicated that they were concerned about the driver who wanted to go from San Francisco to San Diego using QC the whole way. Seems Nissan has quite a lot of VP's. Seems we are each hearing a mix of conflicting stories. Seems to me those of us on this forum will write the real story in time...

Malcolm

 

[hanz64]

Does anybody from Nissan read this forum? It would be great to get an official confirmation that it is better to charge to 80% rather than 100% which is the default. It seems strange to me that Nissan would leave the default at 100% if they recommend 80%.

/Hanz - 1000 miles and counting

 

[jrlieber]

Here's what I can't figure out: I have had my Leaf 5 months now. We have 4,000 miles on it. We drive it 20-50 miles/day on average. We charge it whenever we are home, to 100%! The car is leased. The dial shows dI can get about 100 miles per charge, and this seems fairly reliable. So why have a car battery that is only supposed to be charged 80%? They should just call it an 80 mile car. I don't want an 80 mile car, because that's really a 60 mile car, so you have some emergency power. The dealer where we bought it, Campbell Nelson in Seattle, said it's ok to charge 100%. But some of my friends charge only to 80% based on what other dealers say. The concept of charging seems vague and theoretical, but the 100 miles is reality now. Thoughts?

 

[surfingslovak]

The dealer where we bought it, Campbell Nelson in Seattle, said it's ok to charge 100%. But some of my friends charge only to 80% based on what other dealers say. The concept of charging seems vague and theoretical, but the 100 miles is reality now. Thoughts?

Welcome to the forum and congrats on purchasing the Leaf. This is an important topic and there is no shortage of opinions, interpretations and even speculation on the topic. And I may have participated in those as well. However, if we just wanted to stick to the facts, please open the Nissan Leaf owner's manual on page EV-22. There is the following paragraph in the middle of the page. Please use this information, and anything else that's been discussed on this forum, at your discretion.

*NISSAN recommends charging the batteries using the long life mode unless the vehicle is going to be driven a long distance.
See “Charging timer” in the “CH. Charging” section.

If vehicle will not be used for long period of time:

* NISSAN recommends charging with long life mode.
* Charge once every 3 months.

The power of the Li-ion battery can be checked on the Li-ion battery available charge gauge.
See “Li-ion battery available charge gauge” in the “2. Instruments and controls” for details.

 

[Stoaty]

My thoughts: the manual says 80% charging is "long life mode". If you want (or don't mind) shorter battery life, charge to 100% whether you need it or not. Lots of threads on this on the forum, for example: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1029&start=45" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;