A late hello! Also, hot weather advice?

[jacespades]

Hi everyone,

This forum has been so helpful because frankly Nissan provides almost no information on this car. I have a 2017 Leaf that I bought Nov 2023. Bought it from EVRides in Portland when my gas beater blew up and I decided I was sick of ICE cars. The original battery pack was 30 kWh but I requested them to put in a 24 kWh pack for me because it was cheaper and I only use it for commuting to work. Now, I'm in the Seattle area and my commute is 3 miles roundtrip. The car performs beautifully and I rarely ever fast charge except for longer trips around the city (or bringing it back from Portland and turning a 3 hour drive into a 7 hour one). In the winter, it got around 40 miles of range before it started flashing the low battery light. With the recent warmer weather I now get a proper 60-65 miles of range, but I haven't down any comprehensive tests.

I am moving to Phoenix this month. My partner and I will be towing the Leaf down there. My commute to work will now be 11-18 miles roundtrip depending on whether I take surface streets or highways. I know the battery health is going to be ticking down fast when I get down there so I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these cars in that kind of heat? Would it be better to drive surface streets and deal with more traffic lights or highways at faster speeds? Would ECO mode do anything? Also, we have chargers at our new place so don't have to depend on fast charging. Battery SOH is 10/12 bars on the display and 72% according to LeafSpy. Thanks in advance and it's nice to meet everyone!

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Honestly I think I’d sell it and get something with water cooled battery. But off you insist on keeping it I’d stick with the higher speeds avoiding sitting over hot asphalt, try to park in spots that are shaded already or were just occupied by another car so the ground may be a little bit cooler. I don’t think Eco would help do anything at all other than maybe slightly less heat generated in the battery honestly you can avoid that by not doing full acceleration. the difference is probably negligible anyway I would imagine. There isn’t much you can do to get away from the heat and from the history of these cars it sounds like they only last a few years and that type of environment for the batteries having issues. Do you know if your 24KWH battery pack is an old chemistry one or a new chemistry one?

 

[Stanton]

Thought I would correct some mis/dis-information.
An EV will always get better range at lower speeds (it's just physics), so I would avoid highways if time is not an issue. I drive in "D" 90+% of the time. You will extend the life of your battery pack if you can avoid charging in the heat and/or when the battery is hot; that might be difficult in Phoenix, but that's why it was the "canary in the coal mine" for early Leaf battery degradation.
You should be fine with a ~20 mile commute for several years (no more "winter" range hits).

 

[danelo]

Even when it is 118 in Phoenix my battery temperature gauge only gets up to about 80% of the first red dot.

 

[BillAinCT]

There are 12 temperature bars. If there is one white space before the red mark, you are at 9 bars. 11 and 12 are the last 2 red bars.

 

[danelo]

There are 12 temperature bars. If there is one white space before the red mark, you are at 9 bars. 11 and 12 are the last 2 red bars.

Can you point out the bars to me?

 

[BillAinCT]

Can you point out the bars to me?

Nissan should have added the tick marks. I can't imagine they thought that this was ok. Here I did my best to draw them in.

 

[jacespades]

Honestly I think I’d sell it and get something with water cooled battery. But off you insist on keeping it I’d stick with the higher speeds avoiding sitting over hot asphalt, try to park in spots that are shaded already or were just occupied by another car so the ground may be a little bit cooler. I don’t think Eco would help do anything at all other than maybe slightly less heat generated in the battery honestly you can avoid that by not doing full acceleration. the difference is probably negligible anyway I would imagine. There isn’t much you can do to get away from the heat and from the history of these cars it sounds like they only last a few years and that type of environment for the batteries having issues. Do you know if your 24KWH battery pack is an old chemistry one or a new chemistry one?

Unfortunately we are not in the position to get rid of it just yet. I'm not sure if the battery pack is old or new chemistry but so far it has actually done pretty well. It's never gone into the red but has come just below the red zone ~3 times. We keep the car in the covered parking spot at our apartment and I try to leave the car in shade when at work. Charge only at night. I also stopped using A/C and the fan completely since it drains the battery terribly and since then it has never gotten close to the red zone. I love this car and don't want to get rid of it when the battery gives out but the heat might force my hand.

 

[jacespades]

Thought I would correct some mis/dis-information.
An EV will always get better range at lower speeds (it's just physics), so I would avoid highways if time is not an issue. I drive in "D" 90+% of the time. You will extend the life of your battery pack if you can avoid charging in the heat and/or when the battery is hot; that might be difficult in Phoenix, but that's why it was the "canary in the coal mine" for early Leaf battery degradation.
You should be fine with a ~20 mile commute for several years (no more "winter" range hits).

I like the stronger regen from driving in B mode but I suppose it also heats up the battery more. What is your brake maintenance schedule from driving in D most of the time? Haven't serviced the brakes yet.

 

[Stanton]

What is your brake maintenance schedule from driving in D most of the time? Haven't serviced the brakes yet.

I haven't had to do the brakes in my Leaf yet (100k+ miles): that's beauty of regen. Doesn't matter what "mode" you are in.