Leaf charging

[Petmil]

I have read and been told I can charge my 2015 leaf to just 80% but for the life of me I can't find where that is to be done. I went to the timer settings but I can't find anything like that . Just hours and days.. thanks in advance..

 

[TimLee]

It is manual.
No timers to do it.
Nissan eliminated them in North America in 2014 to be able to publish a higher range number.

Once you know how long it takes to charge from various levels to 100%, you can set end timer to be in the 80% ballpark.

LEAF Spy Pro info can help a lot.
With WiFi adapter may be able to monitor SOC from inside home.

 

[RonDawg]

To further clarify the above post, Nissan eliminated the 80% "Long Life Mode" starting in model year 2014 for North American market cars. I believe it's still available for Leafs sold elsewhere.

 

[Petmil]

Thanks very much...

 

[LeftieBiker]

If you are using the 120 volt Level One (L-1) charging cable that came with the car, that will add 5% charge per hour. So if you plug in with 30% charge left and want to stop at 80%, you need to either stop charging manually after 10 hours, or set a timer to start or stop charging to get to that point. If you are using 240 volt Level two (L-2) charging, that varies according to the amperage rating of the charging station or cable. A 20 amp L-2 charging station like a Clipper Creek HCS-25 will add about 20% per hour, if I remember correctly. Others can give you charging times for L-2 charging at the car's maximum rate.

 

[cwerdna]

To further clarify the above post, Nissan eliminated the 80% "Long Life Mode" starting in model year 2014 for North American market cars. I believe it's still available for Leafs sold elsewhere.

Yep, it still exists on 2015 Leafs sold in Ireland, per http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=416013#p416013.

 

[pncguy]

THIS is the sort of thing that makes me SOOOOO crazy with government regulation. In order to get a higher number for marketing purposes, Nissan had to remove a useful feature from our vehicles that doesn't affect maximum range AT ALL. :?

I certainly can't afford a Tesla, but I have heard they have access to a slider that allows them to charge to any SOC they care to. Seems like a simple software fix to me. Instead of a "timer" you could put in a "SOC" target that the charger would charge to.

 

[TimLee]

... Seems like a simple software fix to me. Instead of a "timer" you could put in a "SOC" target that the charger would charge to.

Agree.
But for some strange reason Nissan does not seem inclined to do that

 

[GetOffYourGas]

THIS is the sort of thing that makes me SOOOOO crazy with government regulation. In order to get a higher number for marketing purposes, Nissan had to remove a useful feature from our vehicles that doesn't affect maximum range AT ALL. :?

Agreed completely. Give people some credit here - it should be obvious that charging an EV to 80% will not give you the full range as charging to 100%. I blame the EPA much more than I blame Nissan on this one. Of course, I drive a 2012 so I have the 80% setting (which I use almost exclusively)

 

[LeftieBiker]

Just to play Devil's Advocate: people expect to be able to park an ICE vehicle with a full tank of gas and leave it for a few days. Or weeks. Do that with a 2013 Leaf and you get battery degradation. Sine 80% was the recommended SOC for a common situation (the car sitting around unused) it makes sense to factor that in. I think that what they should have done was give the 100% range, with an asterisk, and give the 80% SOC range below it.

 

[tkdbrusco]

I think there's a lot of debate as to whether this is necessary on the newer Leafs. I think that Nissan probably figured that the negative impact was negligible. I think the only things you need to avoid with regard to charging is leaving it at a high state of charge for a long period of time and also topping off the charge (try not to charge it frequently if you are above 70%). Other than that, I think you're fine with 100% charging. Keep in mind that 100% isn't really a true 100%. There's about 5% of hidden capacity in there that cannot be used.

 

[Nubo]

THIS is the sort of thing that makes me SOOOOO crazy with government regulation. In order to get a higher number for marketing purposes, Nissan had to remove a useful feature from our vehicles that doesn't affect maximum range AT ALL. :?

I certainly can't afford a Tesla, but I have heard they have access to a slider that allows them to charge to any SOC they care to. Seems like a simple software fix to me. Instead of a "timer" you could put in a "SOC" target that the charger would charge to.

In this case I entirely agree with the EPA. Nissan were basically saying you were damaging the car by going over 80%. So it was right for them to have to limit their range estimates to reflect that.

 

[Jefe]

In this case I entirely agree with the EPA. Nissan were basically saying you were damaging the car by going over 80%. So it was right for them to have to limit their range estimates to reflect that.

Possibly they are now saying it doesn't really matter by lifting the 80% feature. Nissan did a lot of testing, but nothing compares to thousands of real world users bringing their cars in every year for battery monitoring. Maybe Nissan has concluded that the 80% charge vs. 100% charge didn't really make that much difference, that it was just theoretical based on battery technology.

 

[powersurge]

I have been living with my 2015 for the past year and 15K miles. I say F!@# that 80% "recommended" maximum SOC. I tried doing that when I just got the car, for 2 months and it made me CRAZY!! I used a timer to control how long to have my 120 volt charger run. Leaving the house with only an 80% charge each day WAS STUPID! Why should I limit my range AND have a daily headache to calculate SOC just because it "MAY HELP" my delicate baby battery last longer.

Today, I drive the car about 70-80 miles per day, use the free Chargepoint stations, and have a 30A level 2 charger at home. I plug the car in, let it charge to 100% (the chargers turn themselves off automatically), and each time I drive off in a fully charged car with NO HEADACHES. So, if charging the car to 100% (a value which Nissan themselves set) is bad for the battery, then if it fails "prematurely", I will let Nissan give me a friendly new replacement under warrantee. I would love to see headlines that Nissan refuses a warrantee battery because the owner charged the battery higher than 80%!! That would make news....

Personally, I feel like this owner-self-imposed 80% limit of charge is making people voluntarily get less car for the money that we paid for the car. Its almost like buying a mountain bike and not riding it in the dirt so as to not get it dirty, or buying new shoes and only walking "heel-to-toe" so they do not get scratched....

 

[LeftieBiker]

The 80% charge covers 90% of my driving easily. I'm glad the feature is there. As for Nissan replacing my battery happily if it degrades, or their decision to drop the 80% charge option being because they found that it wasn't necessary because of owner data, well, that's always possible, I suppose...

 

[RonDawg]

I have been living with my 2015 for the past year and 15K miles. I say F!@# that 80% "recommended" maximum SOC. I tried doing that when I just got the car, for 2 months and it made me CRAZY!! I used a timer to control how long to have my 120 volt charger run. Leaving the house with only an 80% charge each day WAS STUPID! Why should I limit my range AND have a daily headache to calculate SOC just because it "MAY HELP" my delicate baby battery last longer.

Today, I drive the car about 70-80 miles per day, use the free Chargepoint stations, and have a 30A level 2 charger at home. I plug the car in, let it charge to 100% (the chargers turn themselves off automatically), and each time I drive off in a fully charged car with NO HEADACHES. So, if charging the car to 100% (a value which Nissan themselves set) is bad for the battery, then if it fails "prematurely", I will let Nissan give me a friendly new replacement under warrantee. I would love to see headlines that Nissan refuses a warrantee battery because the owner charged the battery higher than 80%!! That would make news....

Personally, I feel like this owner-self-imposed 80% limit of charge is making people voluntarily get less car for the money that we paid for the car. Its almost like buying a mountain bike and not riding it in the dirt so as to not get it dirty, or buying new shoes and only walking "heel-to-toe" so they do not get scratched....

In my case, I live in the foothills, and simply driving to work is a 500 foot drop in elevation, with the steepest part nearest to my home. Charging to less than 100% means I have full regen the moment I set off. If I leave the house with a full battery, I am relying fully on the friction brakes, and the braking effectiveness isn't as good without regen. It also means I am putting more stress on the friction brakes, and my experience with Nissan cars is that their front discs tend to warp rather early. Someone here posted that their Leaf has noticeably warped rotors despite the relatively low mileage.

Nissan's warranty does stipulate that repeated charging to 100% from a very high existing SOC is a condition for voiding the warranty. Their exact verbage as stated on the warranty booklet of my 2012 Leaf:

Charging the lithium-ion battery full on a daily basis despite the lithium-ion battery keeping a high state of charge level (98-100%).

 

[keydiver]

Charging the lithium-ion battery full on a daily basis despite the lithium-ion battery keeping a high state of charge level (98-100%).

Yes, but I don't think that would ever hold up in court, seeing how all newer Leafs will ONLY charge to 100%. How would Nissan explain that to the judge?
On the other hand, I just can't believe that Nissan is so lasy or disinterested in the Leaf that they don't just put in a slider, just like my Tesla, so you could select any charge level you want. How hard could that coding be?? Once I get my new battery, I'll probably go back to 80% charging, but it would be nice to have the option for say 90% instead. 90% would be 12.5% more range than 80%, but will still be low enough SOC that it shouldn't harm the battery if the Leaf sits for too long.

 

[Jefe]

Charging the lithium-ion battery full on a daily basis despite the lithium-ion battery keeping a high state of charge level (98-100%).

Yes, but I don't think that would ever hold up in court, seeing how all newer Leafs will ONLY charge to 100%. How would Nissan explain that to the judge?
On the other hand, I just can't believe that Nissan is so lasy or disinterested in the Leaf that they don't just put in a slider, just like my Tesla, so you could select any charge level you want. How hard could that coding be?? Once I get my new battery, I'll probably go back to 80% charging, but it would be nice to have the option for say 90% instead. 90% would be 12.5% more range than 80%, but will still be low enough SOC that it shouldn't harm the battery if the Leaf sits for too long.

This is something that would surface in the annual battery report card. Topping off. If you do that repeatedly it would be reflected on your battery report card. Which is why Nissan requires you to get an annual report card. If the report card repeatedly shows that you failed to follow the manual and guidance given from last year's report, that WOULD likely hold up in court.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Yes, but I don't think that would ever hold up in court, seeing how all newer Leafs will ONLY charge to 100%. How would Nissan explain that to the judge?

The car only charges when you plug it in, and the decision when to plug it in rests with you, not Nissan or the car. It would hold up in court if they voided your warranty because you kept plugging it in with 90% charge or better. Unless of course, you needed a 100% charge to get the daily range that the nice salesman told you the car would easily provide...