LTLFTcomposite said:
I don't expect the batteries will be particularly affected by heat here in southeast FL; our summer temps here usually aren't as bad as lots of other places much further north. Humidity is higher but I haven't heard where that's an issue with the batteries. Maybe it will be with the lithium air batteries on the 2020 models.
A few things to consider with South Florida summer weather...
First, the bad...
Although daytime high temperatures don't get very high, it gets warm and stays warm for a much longer than locations further north. Summer temperatures start earlier in the year (April or May) and end later in the year (late October) and temperatures stay warm overnight. We think nothing of having the temperature stay in the 80s all night. The National Weather Service would be issuing heat advisories for just about anywhere else in the country if the temps were in the 90s during the day and stayed above 80 all night. My guess is a South Florida LEAF's battery temperature would hover around the 30C (86F) mark for six months out of the year.
The sun is almost directly overhead from mid May through early August. If you have to leave your car outside during the day and don't have some form of heatshield on the windshield, interior temperatures can easily climb to over 150F. Even with a heatshield, temperatures can get up to 110F. Fortunately, the battery is in the shade, under the car, but I don't know how well the battery is insulated from the car's cabin temperatures. In any case, it would be a good idea to park in the shade or use a heatshield to keep the temperatures in the car's cabin under control.
Now, the good...
We, usually, get a lot of clouds and rain during the summer. This has several effects: it cools the air off, it blocks out the sun, and if rain water splashes on the undercarriage of the car while you're driving, it should cool the battery off by direct contact and by evaporative cooling. Might even drop that 30C (86F) temperature down to 25C (77F), or so, with a long enough exposure.
There is a reason why Nissan LEAF leases have such low residual values (I recall it was somewhere around 45% for a 12,000 mile/36 month lease). I'm sure they wanted to hedge their bets in case the battery degrades faster than their models and preliminary tests indicate. I would hope my car is worth more than 45% of its original value two and a half years from now, even with one or two of the battery capacity bars gone. I had the misfortune of starting out with a little less than normal capacity on my battery from the start, so I expect to see the first bar drop before just about everyone else. But, fortunately, my modest, daily driving requirements give me to option of babying the battery, if I want to.
