Recycledoug
Active member
I saw an earlier post by someone asking how do you stop charging at 80% since 80% appears to be an optimal level for long battery life? Is there a fast answer to this (Other than look at the owners manual)?
Nissan removed the 80% option to get a higher EPA miles range rating, it went from 75 miles to 83 miles.Recycledoug said:I think I just found the answer from earlier posts... Leafs prior to 2014 had a software option where you could limit the charge to 80%.... In 2014 there is not such option... The charge is 100%... And I guess Nissan's rationale for this is that they have improved the "internal" cooling of the battery cells. IE battery degradation (less) has been improved and therefore Nissan does not see the 80% limit as being necessary especially in "hot" climates....
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong here....
The manual is incorrect for USA 2014 cars. They didn't update the language from the 2013 manual. So, no, there should be no 80% option for 2014 LEAFs.Recycledoug said:Well, I stand corrected... On page CH-30 of the 2014 Leaf Owner's Manual it shows how to move between 100% and 80% charging....:
How to set the long life mode (models
without navigation system)
1. Push the switchA on the left side of
the combination meter panel.
2. Push the switch B to highlight
“Charge %” on the dot matrix liquid crystal
display and then push the switch.
3. Use the switch to highlight “80%” or
“100%” and then push the switch to
finalize the selection.
We've had many instances of lack of dealer knowledge. It's funny how Nissan had all sorts of warnings before about leaving the car at high SoC for the '11 thru '13 model years and then changed their tune w/the '14+. As many of us believe, it was done in order to artificially boost their EPA range rating, to make it look more competitive/better than others.Recycledoug said:I asked my dealer if Limiting the charge to 80% is beneficial for better battery longevity? The service department stated that the 100% charge level will not adversely impact the life of the battery.
If you are charging the battery, and then going somewhere, then charging to 100% makes almost no difference with respect to battery health. It only matters if it sits at 100% without being used for an extended time.johnrhansen said:...set your charge timer to 2 hours after you really want to leave...
If you are going near 100% charge, then it is worth letting it go all the way. The time spent during the "nothing really is happening" part is used for balancing the battery....you could stop the charge at 95 percent or less you would be alright.
Nekota said:A smart EVSE would shutoff power when the state of charge reaches 80% . I expect we will see this capability in the future but it isn't available unless you want to decode the CAN buss data stream and implement it. I would think adding bluetooth transponder to the Open EVSE project to talk to the LEAF and decide when to stop the charging has some merits.
MountainTopLeaf said:And, here in June 2017, with a new 2017 Leaf in my garage - which is on top of a mountain... I sure wish there was a way to limit the charge percentage. If I don't monitor the charge and manually stop it before it hits about 95%, I get no regenerative braking effect at all when I leave the house. That's not only an efficiency issue. It may be an exaggeration to call it a safety issue, because the brakes do work. But certainly It's much less pleasant to have to pump the brakes going down the mountain, than to get the steady braking of using "B" mode. And it's wearing out the brakes. I also have a gas powered car and with that I can downshift to get engine braking. The B mode is much nicer that engine braking but it just doesn't work at all at 100% charge. When I take my foot off the brake, the car accelerates rapidly going downhill. And I hate to ride the brakes.
So it amazes me that there is no manufacturer option nor aftermarket software to put this charge limit in affect. Especially considering that they had it and took it away from us. I do not have a regular commuting schedule so the suggestions about "set the end time to after you will actually leave" are not practical for me.
Oh and speaking of monitoring the charge... I can do that with the Nissan Connect app but when I do, it takes several full minutes to connect, then almost always gives me old data. Then I check the charge again and it takes another 2-3 minutes, and still gives me stale data (often). And sometimes on the third try it connects and tells me the current charge state. So it takes maybe 6-10 minutes to just get the state of the charge. Or I have to go to the garage and turn on the car. Tips are appreciated for a better way to do this. I'm a newbie here.
Sigh.
MountainTopLeaf said:Thanks!
I can do that; at least mostly. I work from home and my driving tends to be spur of the moment. I don't always anticipate that I'll be driving in an hour. Right now I'm trying to get out of the habit of plugging in to charge every time I return home. I had only the trickle charger for a few weeks and would plug in right away upon returning home, for a slow recharge. Then I installed a Siemens EVSE, 30 AMP unit. With the faster level 2 charging, it's harder to stop it before it's full. And I'm still getting used to the general range/recharge-time rhythms. Loving the car - it's surprising how many little things are different.
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