My 2nd year Battery report.

[rawhog]

So I got the second one done yesterday. 23509 miles. Charge daily to 100% using EVSE Upgraded rev2 Nissan EVSE. Scored "Very High" in all categorys and still have 12 bars battery capacity. I got the technician to give me a print out of the HV battery cell voltages. Most of the cells are in the range of 4013-4027mV. One at 4007mV and one at 4036mV. So, all you EE's etc. out there. What do you make of this info?

 

[toasty]

whats your normal usage? always 80% charge? or 100%? miles per month?

thnx

 

[rawhog]

I charge to 100% unless the car is going to sit for the week undriven, then 80%. For the fist year and a half I charged to 100% exclusively, drove anywhere from 1600 minimum miles to ~2200 miles per month. Since I lost the ability to charge at work, I drive in the evenings and weekends mostly. My wife commutes in it some times. When she drives it to work 100% charge and about 60 miles per day.

 

[Bassman]

Had my second battery test a couple weeks ago. 5/5 stars for capacity and also had the cell pair test, but my lowest was 3745 mvolts. Today at 228 Gid on a 100% charge and a 83.44% total capacity showing (based on the android phone Leaf Battery App that Turbo3 developed), I just lost my first outer bar with 35,456 miles on the car. Now down to 11 bars. Pretty much charge to 100% all the time, but haven't been driving the LEAF much the last couple months since I bought the Rav4 EV. Hopefully the capacity degradation slows down to a crawl now.

 

[TomT]

My experience has been otherwise but hopefully YMMV...

Hopefully the capacity degradation slows down to a crawl now.

 

[abasile]

Got 5 stars in all categories for my LEAF, and at 34k miles there's still a good amount of life left in the 12th, topmost capacity bar. Cooler mountain temperatures seem to help the battery more than frequent mountain climbs and descents hurt it.

 

[EVDRIVER]

My leaf has a VIN below 400. I have no loss of capacity and I drive it very hard. I don't worry about charing to 100% and IMO pack life is all about heat since mine is usually very cool.

 

[surfingslovak]

My leaf has a VIN below 400. I have no loss of capacity and I drive it very hard. I don't worry about charing to 100% and IMO pack life is all about heat since mine is usually very cool.

Yes, as someone famously said: "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

 

[LEAFfan]

My leaf has a VIN below 400. I have no loss of capacity and I drive it very hard. I don't worry about charing to 100% and IMO pack life is all about heat since mine is usually very cool.

By no loss of capacity, if you mean you still have 12 CBs, that makes sense. But there's no way that your BP has not lost at least 1%.

 

[TomT]

Yep, remember that the first bar is gigantic compared to the others; 20% versus 6.25%... I believe that Nissan did this on purpose to try and hid battery degradation. When Gid meters came out it rather threw this charade through the window...

My leaf has a VIN below 400. I have no loss of capacity and I drive it very hard. I don't worry about charing to 100% and IMO pack life is all about heat since mine is usually very cool.

By no loss of capacity, if you mean you still have 12 CBs, that makes sense. But there's no way that your BP has not lost at least 1%.

 

[DeaneG]

I'm at 93% after 23 months and 20.5K miles, happy with that.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

This is my first post. I am in the process of trying to convince my wife to let us get a Leaf as our next car.

I have read a number of the forum posts talking about battery loss. Some after 2 years are at 10 bars, others still have 12 two years later.

Besides the pages of tips in the Leaf Manual, has Nissan made any improvements in the 2013 to the battery pack to reduce degradation?

Also, beyond your local temps, which are out of your control, has anyone had their battery yet repaired (restored) by Nissan yet?

Thank you

 

[Stoaty]

Besides the pages of tips in the Leaf Manual, has Nissan made any improvements in the 2013 to the battery pack to reduce degradation?

Maybe. There was a change in the electrolyte, but Nissan hasn't said whether it will reduce degradation.

Also, beyond your local temps, which are out of your control, has anyone had their battery yet repaired (restored) by Nissan yet?

For everything we know about battery capacity loss, see:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Give special attention to the Battery Aging Model:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss#Battery_Aging_Model" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Thank, yes I read all about the degradation and loss models.

The challenge I am struggling with is buy or lease. We are generally a buy family, but the rate of change in the electric space would lean me towards lease.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Thank, yes I read all about the degradation and loss models.

The challenge I am struggling with is buy or lease. We are generally a buy family, but the rate of change in the electric space would lean me towards lease.

if you drive 15,000 miles or less per year, then lease. get a two or three year lease then see what is available in 2016.

if you drive more than that, you might have to consider a RAV purchase which is the only other car worth buying (assuming you don't have a mountain of cash)

 

[johnqh]

Thank, yes I read all about the degradation and loss models.

The challenge I am struggling with is buy or lease. We are generally a buy family, but the rate of change in the electric space would lean me towards lease.

It depends on you driving needs.

If you commute 20 miles per day, who cares if The EV has range of 90 miles or 300? Buy it and it will serve you for 15 years easily.

If you drive 60 miles daily, lease, especially if you have a hot weather.

 

[RegGuheert]

Besides the pages of tips in the Leaf Manual, has Nissan made any improvements in the 2013 to the battery pack to reduce degradation?

I asked one of the lead battery engineers that question and his answer was that any changes in battery life would be purely incidental since the changes to the LEAF battery chemistry for 2013 were focused on reduced cost. Changes to the module packaging were intended to reduce the overall weight of the battery by 30 kg.

All that said, they also indicated that changes to the battery chemistry can be made at any time, even in the middle of a model year. I expect such changes would tend to be very minor tweaks rather than major improvements, but who knows?

It also seems possible that battery chemistries could be tweaked slightly differently at the three different battery factories that are now operating, but since NNA is licensing the battery chemistry directly from AESC for production in the US, I'm not sure how that would work.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Thank, yes I read all about the degradation and loss models.

The challenge I am struggling with is buy or lease. We are generally a buy family, but the rate of change in the electric space would lean me towards lease.

It depends on you driving needs.

If you commute 20 miles per day, who cares if The EV has range of 90 miles or 300? Buy it and it will serve you for 15 years easily.

If you drive 60 miles daily, lease, especially if you have a hot weather.

you forgot to add in "and pay $1040/year in mileage penalties when you turn it in"

 

[QueenBee]

My leaf has a VIN below 400. I have no loss of capacity and I drive it very hard. I don't worry about charing to 100% and IMO pack life is all about heat since mine is usually very cool.

By no loss of capacity, if you mean you still have 12 CBs, that makes sense. But there's no way that your BP has not lost at least 1%.

EVDriver, you are still getting 281 GIDs after every 100% charge?? I doubt that is even possible on a brand new car....

 

[asinclair]

I have a very early Leaf (vin 302) delivered 2/5/2011 and I have been getting a consistent 92.5% 260 gid 100% charge over the last two months. I still have all 12 bars showing and am coming up on 39,000 miles.