I have a current thread "Help Me Read My LeafSpy". My 2015 SV is 10 bar, SOH 74% w/ 77 mile on guess-O-meter range at 99% SOC. I no longer charge to 100% ever (except yesterday I charged to 99% to check cell volt delta, got 12mv).
We can all lement (complain) about the tiny 24KW/Hr air cooled battery in Gen 1 with predictable battery degradation. Later Gen Nissan LEAF's are still air cooled. Sad. The Nissan SUV EV is liquid cooled and ditched CHAdeMO. Yet not the LEAF?
Yes LEAF is NOT a XC machine, local driving at least with a degraded 24Kw/hr Gen 1 LEAF. When you subtract short charging 20% (to 80%) and person min limit of getting home w/ 15% or 15 mi minimum, before charging, in my case that gives me about 40-46 mile useful range. Sure I can charge 100% and go to 0% no range or percentage showing on dash. However that's a hard no for me. Not scared.
One time in 7 years I went into degraded or limp mode (no acceleration, top speed limited). I was 2 miles from home. Dispite claims it is fine to charge 100% and drive to 0%,, I'm going to stick with my "protocol" of under charge and avoiding very low SOC. Charge more often in narrow range.
Yes 46 mi range works for groceries and hardware store runs. However I have one 78 mi round trip I take as needed, 1 to 3 times a week. Even LEVEL1 charging at destination for a few hours, this is no longer practical for my LEAF. 7 yrs ago, doable. Have to take the slower back road route. Freeway route at faster speeds uses more energy. Also it's 5 mi more distance. I have to break out my diesel VW now, or motorcycle, both are a joy to drive. Bike gets 45mpg and VW gets ++50 mpg. Not complaining. An EV with a real absolute 150 mi range and practical 100 mi range (lights, heater or AC at freeway speed with reserve miles to home) would suit me better. My 77 mile range is not great. 100 new was marginal. Nissan set bar low. If yiu don't have 250 mi range you are not competitive in market.
Based on fuel alone both my diesel VW and LEAF are about $0.07/mile in energ cost. One is a clean diesel the other is an EV being charged by coal produced electricity. Ha ha. However add the oil & filter change at 8K, air/fuel filter at 15-20K, the VW cost more. However the VW has 700 mi range, 5 min "empty to full 100% charge" (fill up), and there are 5 "charging stations" at every off ramp. I take XC drives a handful times a year, from 400 to 1600 miles RT. I drive to get there. Hanging out in shopping/ strip mall / business park parking lots is not my jam. Fuel and go.
I got my 2015 LEAF SV used in late 2017 with about 95 mile range and 25K on odometer, 12 bars going to 11 within 4 mo's. Paid about $13k including shipping from California to Tennessee, tax, liscence. Ironically if that's the word, a used 24KW/hr battery with 80% SOH, is about $13K. Battery replacement is not cost effective. I'll drive "Lucy" until range is useless.
On average losing 2 to 2.5% capacity a year or about 2 to 2.5 mi/yr. However it seems to have slowed by charging to 60% to 65% max. With the 30 mile buffer (under charging and not going below 15% or 15 mile before charging my useful range list Approx 40 miles. I find myself also going lower before charging with 9% or -- -- -- and yellow low battery light more and more.
As far as 100% charge and driving to super low SOC.... that goes against the physics and chemistry of Li Ion batteries. Hey it works for you... I found under charging (60%) I slowed/stopped loss of capacity, dare I say even gained a few percent capacity. I will stick to way under charging with 100% on occasion. Personally I find my battery at 100% loses the first 10% fairly quickly. Where say 70% rate of drain is more linear.
