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highfyber

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2024
Messages
5
Location
SoCal
My first purchase back in March of this year was a bad one as I should have researched this site more. It's a 2016 SV with a 30kWh battery that's down to 57% SOH and 25% (yes 25%!!!) HX. It's also out of warranty (in service date Dec of '15) which explained the price I paid for it. While the battery is severely degraded, it doesn't have weak cells but I avoid freeway driving with it and get about 55-60 real world miles per charge. Instead of taking a loss with bad resell value I'll just keep driving it until it pays itself off.

I was able to secure a great deal on a 2017 S with a freshly replaced 40kWh pack last month and what a difference it is. This second purchase has helped me get over the bad purchase and then some. Anyway, just wanted to say hello and thankful to have this site around.
 
I have a 2015 (24Kwh battery) that has about the same range as your 2016. The key thing is if the car can do what you need it to do, or not. If it does, than the fact it is degraded is a moot point. It isn't what it once was, but it is what it is now.
I knew going in my 2015 had limited range, but really not all that much diminished, it never had much range.
As long as mine will get me to town and back year around, the fact that it can't go as far as it could when new doesn't make much difference.
I would like some day to get a LRN 40 kwh pack installed, for a 2nd life for the car.
 
freshly replaced 40kWh pack
Keep in mind that the new pack could be a remanufactured one with cells that are borderline good. Happened to me on my previous 2018. I then went for a 2022 SL+ and "what a difference it is" ;) Anyways no worry though. I had actual battery problems only in very cold freezing temperatures, which I guess don't happen in southern California ;)

The new owner of my previous 2018 is very happy with his purchase. I had fully disclosed everything I knew. I guess it all boils down to expectations :)
 
After reading through the buy back thread for the 30kWh models, it's very apparent now that the '16 SV was a buy back and resold after the warranty period expired as it was running the "C" version of the ECU. But yes, the car is what it is and I keep it to a 10 mile radius from home :).

Also on the buy back thread on this site I do realize that the replaced pack is a remanufactured pack given that the turn around time has improved for the warranty claims. No freezing temps unless I drive up to big bear during the winter but not brave enough to do that with the Leaf :) . Will keep checking the batteries with LS every month or so and follow the recommended charging habits. But best of all, happy to avoid gas stations and spending much less on transportation overall.
 
We have owned three first generation Leafs, a 2011 SL (returned at the end of a lease) , a 2013 S and a 2014 S and driven the 2013 and 2014 a total of about 160,000 miles with minimal battery degradation. The 2013 does not have CHADEMO capability, so it has always been charged on either 120 or 240. The 2014 had been charged on a CHADEMO charger once, for about ten minutes. The cars have rarely been below 20%. They are usually charged to 100%.

Both cars have 11 of 12 bars. High speed charging is probably the hardest thing on Leaf batteries. Our son drives the 2013. We planned to keep the 2014 for several more years until it was totalled in a low speed crash. Fortunately, no injuries.
 
I bought a 2012 Leaf thinking I could fix it by replacing a bad module or two. That didn't happen as the battery cells are evenly low at 37% SOH. The car would still go about 30 miles per charge on a 70 degree day. I enjoyed driving it the short distance it would go, but was always concerned if I would make it back home! I then found a good 2016 that will go 60 miles to a charge with a 85% SOH battery for three times the money. I then made the mistake of buying a battery out of a wrecked 2016 with 11 bars showing on the dash of the wrecked car to upgrade the 2012 Leaf. I was not able to run LeafSpy on just a battery at the time and the battery was three hours away. I thought it was cheap enough so I took a chance and lost because the battery is worse then the original in the 2012. I just use the car here in town running around short trips under 45 mph. Biggest difference is I charge the 2016 about every three days compared to everyday so that I could use the 2012. I have loved electric cars a long time! I drove a Elcar for two years where it used lead/acid batteries and you switched the voltage from 24 volts to 48 volts with a manual switch and field weakening to get a top speed of 35 mph in about two city blocks with a 30 mile range. When I left work everyone wanted to get ahead of me leaving the parking lot!
 
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I bought a 2012 Leaf thinking I could fix it by replacing a bad module or two. That didn't happen as the battery cells are evenly low at 37% SOH. The car will still go about 30 miles per charge on a 70 degree day. I enjoy driving it the short distance it will go, but am always concerned if I will make it back home! I then found a 2016 that will go 60 miles to a charge with a 85% SOH battery. And then I found a battery out of a wrecked 2016 with 11 bars showing before the seller had removed the battery. I was not able to run LeafSpy on just a battery at the time and the battery was three hours away. I thought it was cheap enough so I took a chance and lost because the battery is worse then the one in the 2012. I just use the cars here in town running around short under 45 mph trips. Biggest difference is I charge the 2016 about every three days compared to everyday that I use the 2012. I have loved electric cars a long time! I drove a Elcar for two years where it used lead/acid batteries and you switched the voltage from 24 volts to 48 volts with a manual switch and field weakening to get a top speed of 35 mph in about two city blocks with a 30 mile range. When I left work everyone wanted to get ahead of me leaving the parking lot!
There was an episode of the sitcom "Grounded for Life" in which the Brother of one of the characters acquired a Citicar, and brought a 100' extension cord to every place he visited, to plug in. Whenever I got into range trouble with my 2013, I just thought about that. ;-)
 
I bought a 2012 Leaf thinking I could fix it by replacing a bad module or two. That didn't happen as the battery cells are evenly low at 37% SOH. The car would still go about 30 miles per charge on a 70 degree day. I enjoyed driving it the short distance it would go, but was always concerned if I would make it back home! I then found a good 2016 that will go 60 miles to a charge with a 85% SOH battery for three times the money. I then made the mistake of buying a battery out of a wrecked 2016 with 11 bars showing on the dash of the wrecked car to upgrade the 2012 Leaf. I was not able to run LeafSpy on just a battery at the time and the battery was three hours away. I thought it was cheap enough so I took a chance and lost because the battery is worse then the original in the 2012. I just use the car here in town running around short trips under 45 mph. Biggest difference is I charge the 2016 about every three days compared to everyday so that I could use the 2012. I have loved electric cars a long time! I drove a Elcar for two years where it used lead/acid batteries and you switched the voltage from 24 volts to 48 volts with a manual switch and field weakening to get a top speed of 35 mph in about two city blocks with a 30 mile range. When I left work everyone wanted to get ahead of me leaving the parking lot!
I did sell the 2012 for what I paid for the car to someone interested in trying to fix it rather than selling it for scrap! I lost on the replacement battery and plan to harvest the good modules out of the pack. I gained a lot of good information in the process right here on this forum!
 
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