Battery percentage drops erratically on acceleration

[cornbinder89]

Next follow up. Nissan provided a new no cost loner (ice) Nissan Kicks car while I wait weeks to months for the battery. My service rep reports that Nissan USA is currently releasing about 500 batteries nationwide for warranty replacements. My service department continues to be very supportive.

I wonder what that 500 figure is? per day? per month? per year? total?

 

[hornstudio]

It was freezing for a while and we left the car at Nissan dealer with 15% SOC for a 2nd investigation.

When the Nissan dealer tried to do a test drive turtle came up and got out of the car right away.

Nissan has picked up the car for 2nd inspection of battery (note video above) today.

We assume Nissan has to exchange more cells to guarantee a stable drive.

Lets wait and be stay friendly.

 

[Jspec19]

just got an update from the dealership, they as well concluded that the battery pack in the vehicle needs to be replaced due to bad cells. Dealership stated they ordered the battery pack but do not have a timeframe of when the battery will be shipped or received. In the meantime I have a loaner car at no charge under the warranty. Next step is to find out if the new battery will have the same 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty or if it’s a continuation of the existing warranty.

 

[pweisel]

Next follow up. Nissan provided a new no cost loner (ice) Nissan Kicks car while I wait weeks to months for the battery. My service rep reports that Nissan USA is currently releasing about 500 batteries nationwide for warranty replacements. My service department continues to be very supportive.

Final follow up. I got my Leaf with new battery back today, and turned the loaner "rental" car back in. Zero cost to me for anything.

Only took about two weeks, which was a pleasant surprise given much of the US experienced an Arctic blast for about half of that time.

I asked about the new battery warranty. I was told the remainder of the original warranty remains in effect. There is not a new/different warranty for the replacement battery - which is what I would expect.

Overall I am satisfied with how Nissan treated me and how the whole matter was addressed.

Pete

 

[Jerther]

Got the same treatment here. Very well pleased. Nissan even gave me cheque for the towing I had to pay.

How is the new battery? Have you tested it's lower soc range, let's say down to 25%?

 

[dhyatt]

My 2018 Nissan Leaf SL (40KW battery) has been an excellent car for 5 years. I bought it in August 2018. For the last 3 months, there is an erratic behavior in battery. From 100% to about 65%, it is good. When it goes below that, a slight elevation, or acceleration drops the battery levels by 5% or above drastically. Sometimes, it drops nearly 30% in less than 2 miles. But, it recovers about some of it when slowing down. Overall, on an average, battery lasts for about 90 miles (down from 120 miles just about 3 months back before this problem started).
LeafSpy Reading (on most recent trip) : distance: 26.0, Energy: 6206, Gids: 76, SOH : 86.10%

I took the car to the dealer. They said my 12v battery is weak, and it was at 80% efficiency, and advised me replace the battery. I replaced the 12v battery. But, the problem persists. I lost trust in the dealer. Need advise please.

Your capacity is a computed estimate... so when you floor it on fast mode (not eco) up hill. The computer assume you will be doing that the whole time and calculate it.. want to have fun.. ALSO have the heater and front and rear defrosters on.. might have 20 mile range

 

[chk]

I guess that there are some cells worse than others. Then on acceleration, these drop with the voltage more than the better ones, causing the BMS to calculate a much lower SoC (as the SoC is the position of the worst voltage between max. and min. voltage). You might want to connect the Leaf Spy and watch the voltages of the cells when going uphill.

 

[dwl]

Your capacity is a computed estimate... so when you floor it on fast mode (not eco) up hill. The computer assume you will be doing that the whole time and calculate it.. want to have fun.. ALSO have the heater and front and rear defrosters on.. might have 20 mile range

The problem isn't a drop in predicted range which is expected under extended load but a rapid drop in the reported SoC remaining. For my example, the specific hill and load may have the SoC dropping 1% say every 20 seconds when battery was warm and could deliver sustained current, whereas when cold the SoC was dropping about 1% per second. If this is the same symptom it indicates weak cells which becomes much more obvious with cold conditions.

 

[dwl]

My 2018 Nissan Leaf SL (40KW battery) has been an excellent car for 5 years. I bought it in August 2018. For the last 3 months, there is an erratic behavior in battery. From 100% to about 65%, it is good. When it goes below that, a slight elevation, or acceleration drops the battery levels by 5% or above drastically. Sometimes, it drops nearly 30% in less than 2 miles. But, it recovers about some of it when slowing down. Overall, on an average, battery lasts for about 90 miles (down from 120 miles just about 3 months back before this problem started).
LeafSpy Reading (on most recent trip) : distance: 26.0, Energy: 6206, Gids: 76, SOH : 86.10%

I took the car to the dealer. They said my 12v battery is weak, and it was at 80% efficiency, and advised me replace the battery. I replaced the 12v battery. But, the problem persists. I lost trust in the dealer. Need advise please.

There are some positive stories in this thread with Nissan finding weaknesses in the battery and replacing. It seems important to get a Nissan tech to experience the condition which I believe is much more obvious at cold battery temperatures (not too late in season yet) and medium to lower SoC like 30-40% (but don’t expect sympathy if too low).

 

[pweisel]

Got the same treatment here. Very well pleased. Nissan even gave me cheque for the towing I had to pay.

How is the new battery? Have you tested it's lower soc range, let's say down to 25%

Got the same treatment here. Very well pleased. Nissan even gave me cheque for the towing I had to pay.

How is the new battery? Have you tested it's lower soc range, let's say down to 25%?

The battery is operating just like a new Leaf battery does. I have a 98 mile round trip 65-70 mph commute, and have put 150K on two Leafs over 11 years. With this new battery, I'm arriving home with about 25% remaining. But - The weather is unseasonably warm right now w/ highs in the 50's. 15-20% SOC left has been more common for me for Portland winters with the 40kw battery - with temps in the 20's to 40's. Haven't had a lower SOC yet, but noticing none of % fluctiations on hills during my commute home. All seems good and normal to me.

 

[gwscheil]

It appears that three things are happening as the battery SOC drops below about 50%.
First, the GOM is probably showing the voltage based on the WEAKEST cell, and no stack of about 100 cells will ever have a perfect match throughout. That weak cell will drop faster as you increase the load - so baby that throttle!
Second, at about 50% the GOM starts reserving capacity to provide a little more emergency cushion.
Third, the voltage vs charge curve starts getting steeper as SOC drops but the GOM apparently does not correct for that.

 

[Lucky]

I have exactly the same issue, as described by OP: my Nissan Leaf was sold to me, with an mileage of 171.000km. The ad stated, that the car has always been fully dealer maintained. But I think, Nissan doesn't do thoroughly battery checks?

These are done, when the car are idling: almost all of us, only experience these use when the car is under heavy load. German Autobahn, or a big climb. So their is definitely, one or more faulty cells in the battery pack.

However, Nissan and especially the dealerships who sell them used: aren't that snappy, on acknowledging these issues. They basically say, it's normal for the amount of mileage, and even state that they think it would be the case with other high mileage as well.

I already challenged this: told them, when you wanna trade my car to another high mileage. That's fine? Just let me read out the car with Leafspy, and I could make a good assessment.

But it's nuts, they are saying these issues are normal. As everyone knows they aren't.

Of course it's not normal. You are on the edge of warranty so you need to be persistent. They are trying to avoid your rightful claim. If you have time, check my other replies and some explanation why this happens. I have two Nissan Leafs with graphs and I even recorded a video of how it behaves.
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/leaf-30kwh-2017-any-opinion-on-those-graphs.34961/#post-638635

 

[Jbechtold]

My 2018 Nissan Leaf SL (40KW battery) has been an excellent car for 5 years. I bought it in August 2018. For the last 3 months, there is an erratic behavior in battery. From 100% to about 65%, it is good. When it goes below that, a slight elevation, or acceleration drops the battery levels by 5% or above drastically. Sometimes, it drops nearly 30% in less than 2 miles. But, it recovers about some of it when slowing down. Overall, on an average, battery lasts for about 90 miles (down from 120 miles just about 3 months back before this problem started).
LeafSpy Reading (on most recent trip) : distance: 26.0, Energy: 6206, Gids: 76, SOH : 86.10%

I took the car to the dealer. They said my 12v battery is weak, and it was at 80% efficiency, and advised me replace the battery. I replaced the 12v battery. But, the problem persists. I lost trust in the dealer. Need advise please.

Beware, they "fixed" mine by turning off that module because I had an immediate drop to below 80%. I've loved all my Leafs except that 2018 40kw. Their response to complaint (even before I forced them to drive it) was " It charges, it drives, no error codes... No warranty. Nissan does such at the while customer service thing. And cars with only a 60k power train warranty!? If it wasn't for the Leafs, I would've never owned a Nissan. But I do love my 20 SL+!

 

[kindred]

I have a 2017 with a 40kw (replacement) battery. I just noticed this issue, I was driving on the freeway at 77%, 10 miles into the trip, and I saw the battery drop to 20% miles. I had to find an L3 charger nearby before I completed the last 18 miles of my trip.

Is Nissan acknowledging there is a problem, and will they have a fix?

 

[Jerther]

I have a 2017 with a 40kw (replacement) battery. I just noticed this issue, I was driving on the freeway at 77%, 10 miles into the trip, and I saw the battery drop to 20% miles. I had to find an L3 charger nearby before I completed the last 18 miles of my trip.

Is Nissan acknowledging there is a problem, and will they have a fix?

How old is your replacement battery?

In any case, you'll have to bring your car to a dealer and have them diagnose your problem. If they replicate the behavior, it should be covered by the warranty. Of course, do this before your battery warranty runs out

 

[kindred]

the 40kwh battery is about 2+ years old. What does the dealership do to fix the problem?

 

[Jbechtold]

That's the question isn't it? I ended up trading mine in for my current '20 SL+ after whatever they did to stabilize it dropped my percentage below 80%. It was stable, but they (3 dealerships) wouldn't even talk to me about replacing it for low capacity, and disqualified Leaf Spy data as "aftermarket". BTW, the dash still showed 12 bars capacity...pretty sure they rig those.

 

[Jerther]

They replace the battery pack. But only once they replicate the problem, record it with their tools, and get an acknowledgement from Nissan that the battery is indeed faulty.

I mean, I'll soon be on my 3rd battery pack in 10 months on my 2018. I know the drill Your problem could very well be something else also, and someone with more experience could chime in. I'm just adding my two cents.

 

[kindred]

My 2017 battery is out of warranty, and we noticed the problem after 100,000 miles. Does anyone know of a 3rd party vendor that can fix the issue or at least someone who can disable the bad cells?

I live in Southern California.

 

[cornbinder89]

Well, without a general location I doubt anyone can give you a recommendation.
Green-Tec does used cells, and Leaf Repair Network does new.