How far to let it go down?

[Jefe]

So I'm still getting a feel for driving electric. This is my first week with the Leaf, and so far I have barely let the battery drop below 50%. But I realize there has to be some benefit to letting it drop a little more than that between charges. Range anxiety aside, which for me gets better each day, how far should I let my battery go down? Are there any best practices around that?

 

[Tyger]

In general, the battery chemistry of the leaf is happiest in the middle of the charge range doing shallow cycles, something like 30% to 80% SOC. Keeping the charge in that range has some theoretical benefit to battery longevity. So ideal would be charge it to 80%, run down about to about 30%, then charge again.

In practice, calendar time and temperature have a far bigger impact on battery longevity than charging habits. So as long as you're not leaving it sitting around for long periods of time at high or low SOC, it probably won't make a huge difference. There also may be some benefit to charging to 100%, such as allowing the BMC to do cell equalization and learn the battery performance better.

 

[garsh]

I charge to 100% and hit Very Low Battery Warning every day. As Tyger says, the important thing is to not leave it full or empty for long periods of time. And if you can keep it out of summer heat, that will help too.

I have 57100 miles, and have so far lost only two bars.

 

[Jefe]

I charge to 100% and hit Very Low Battery Warning every day. As Tyger says, the important thing is to not leave it full or empty for long periods of time. And if you can keep it out of summer heat, that will help too.

I have 57100 miles, and have so far lost only two bars.

How many miles does that equal for you each day? And when you hit VLB warning, what happens? And what does that means in terms of how much farther you can go really?

 

[garsh]

How many miles does that equal for you each day?

My round-trip commute is about 60 miles. But I also use it for just about any errands that I can. I put on about 16,000 miles/year.

And when you hit VLB warning, what happens? And what does that means in terms of how much farther you can go really?

The progression is like this:

• Low Battery Warning. A chime sounds, and the information center above the steering wheel displays a message that can be dismissed with a button to the left of the wheel. This happens with ~8 miles of range remaining.
• Very Low Battery Warning. A female voice says "Very Low Battery Warning. Search for nearest charging station?", and a message pops up on the navigation screen with an option to initiate a search for charging stations, or dismiss. This happens with ~3-4 miles of range remaining.
• Turtle Mode. An orange light in the shape of a turtle lights up, and the information center above the steering wheel displays a message that says "Motor power is limited". It's quite variable, but you probably only have 0.5 mile of range left before the car shuts down.

I've hit turtle 3 times, and actually had it shut down twice.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Jefe, if you don't go below 50% much, you probably have a short commute or otherwise don't need many miles per day? You charge at home? Maybe work too? You could probably go a couple days between charges, let it get down to 20-30% and charge to 100% right before you drive it again. If your driving patterns are fairly routine you'll soon learn how to manage it.

 

[Jefe]

Jefe, if you don't go below 50% much, you probably have a short commute or otherwise don't need many miles per day? You charge at home? Maybe work too? You could probably go a couple days between charges, let it get down to 20-30% and charge to 100% right before you drive it again. If your driving patterns are fairly routine you'll soon learn how to manage it.

Right, my commute with errands is around 30-40 miles each day. I charge at work and/or at home. And I was thinking the same thing... let it go every other day to see how that goes. But there's still something in the back of my head saying I might need to have it ready to go.

Yesterday I ran it down more than I ever had to 24% battery.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Yes, that's one of the drawbacks to a short range EV. It's not a good car for emergency long range on short notice. In the 3-1/4 years I've had one, I haven't needed it for that, luckily, but if that situation ever does occur, I'd have to adapt somehow, use QC or rent an ICE if need be.

My usage is similar to yours, and by the second or third day I'll sometimes pull into work below LBW and charge to 100%, even though it'll finish in 5 hours and will sit for 3 hours at full, that's not too long. But if I had to leave fast, I want some charge on it anyway.

 

[aarond12]

My wife never lets the fuel tank of her Jeep get below 1/2 tank. That's what's she's comfortable with. There's no reason (other than helping the battery recalibrate itself) to run the battery down low.

I only got down to 1 bar (out of 16) on my i-MiEV once, and that was intentional. I've never seen anything below 2 bars on my LEAF. Stick with what you're comfortable with. No reason to find yourself on the side of the road with the ICE vehicles that broke down. :mrgreen:

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Then again, my usage is mostly predictable. If I had a lot of variation, I'd set a timer at work and charge to full right before I left everyday. Luckily, with literally over 1000 cars in our work lot, I've had no competition for a plug for years now, and that could continue for a while, they all seem pretty resistant to EVs.

 

[garsh]

...I'll sometimes pull into work below LBW and charge to 100%, even though it'll finish in 5 hours and will sit for 3 hours at full, that's not too long. But if I had to leave fast, I want some charge on it anyway.

No, that's not very long.

I've set my Leaf to automatically charge to 80% immediately while at work. Then I'll manually turn on charging again via Carwings to get it to 100% a few minutes before I leave. I let it sit in my garage at home overnight at about 50% charge.

 

[dhanson865]

I charge to 100% and hit Very Low Battery Warning every day. As Tyger says, the important thing is to not leave it full or empty for long periods of time. And if you can keep it out of summer heat, that will help too.

I have 57100 miles, and have so far lost only two bars.

How many miles does that equal for you each day? And when you hit VLB warning, what happens? And what does that means in terms of how much farther you can go really?

I get LBW at about 15 miles remaining and VLBW at about 8 miles remaining. I can drive past 1 mile remaining to --- and a couple of miles after that.

Grab leafspy app and a OBDII adapter and you'll not worry about driving below 10 miles remaining on the GOM.

 

[Jefe]

Grab leafspy app and a OBDII adapter and you'll not worry about driving below 10 miles remaining on the GOM.

Definitely on my list. I plan to pick up a LELink Bluetooth adapter and purchase the iOS version of LeafSpy for my iPhone. That is unless there is a compelling reason to use the Android version instead and pick up a cheap dedicated android device.

 

[ksnogas2112]

For general purpose the previous posts are all good. However, you need to let it get down into the low and very low stages just so you can get a feel for your range when it's low. This will keep you from stressing out when you do have to make an usual trip and get into the bottom of the pack. You'll have the experience to know how much to slow down and make the last dribblets of energy last to a charging station.

 

[keydiver]

I'm not 100% sure that Li-Ion batteries follow the same characteristics as other chemistries, but most batteries get 10% more life for shallower cycles than deep ones. In other words, if the battery is good for 3000 cycles from 20 to 80%, you would get 6600 cycles from 50-80%. As others have said, what I have found is that I like keeping the battery fairly well charged all the time, usually 80%, because I never know when I might need to run an unexpectedly far errand, and don't want to wait for hours before I can leave (2012 Leaf with only 3.3 kW charger).

 

[LeftieBiker]

Lithium battery packs do indeed live longer when not deeply cycled. I think all of these folks who like to run below LBW regularly should add the disclaimer that they are shortening the pack life in their cars by doing so. Likewise the ones who suggest that Leaf drivers charge to 100% every day "and just drive it."

 

[asemeco]

The IOS version of LeafSpy works with a WiFi OBDII adapter, not Bluetooth. Right?

 

[Flyct]

The IOS version of LeafSpy works with a WiFi OBDII adapter, not Bluetooth. Right?

Yes and NO.

Currently testing is going on with a LE 4.0 Bluetooth Adapter with LeafSpy Pro on a iPhone. It works great.

You can buy the LELink Bluetooth Low Energy BLE OBD-II OBD2 Adapter http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QJRYMFC

It works great. You will need to get invitation from the developer to be part of test group. Send him an email with your email address.

I'll send you a PM with his email address.

 

[grandizer52]

Jefe, if you don't go below 50% much, you probably have a short commute or otherwise don't need many miles per day? You charge at home? Maybe work too? You could probably go a couple days between charges, let it get down to 20-30% and charge to 100% right before you drive it again. If your driving patterns are fairly routine you'll soon learn how to manage it.

Hea dirty new englandah...hows the leaf hold up out there this time of year?
If I visit MA, I'm 50/50 on renting a leaf to get around.
Do you let the charge sit lower when it's cold, or full/80%
what's this I hear Mount Tom is closed...I don't get out there much..

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

The ski area has been closed for years, but you can still hike it.
Think you can rent Leafs at UMass.
Record warmth here, so no range loss from cold so far. But it's coming, and I'll probably have to charge up a little more often, cause I like heat.