Post Your Battery Degradation Results

[TomT]

I was told in Phoenix last month that nothing was specifically done to improve the temperature degradation characteristics in the 2013 pack... That doesn't mean that it might not be a side benefit, of course...

Keep in mind that the 2013 pack has had its chemistry tweaked to withstand the heat better.

 

[GregH]

I know others have seen this, but it's a first for me.. Today for the first time since getting this 2012 Leaf, my health and capacity went UP!
Not sure what's going on in that software.. haven't been below LBW in a week or so and the pack has been in 6TB range (26-33C) most of the time. Today's full charge resulted in only 94.26% SOC and 249 Gids. (still haven't updated the SW)
9/10/13 59.1384Ah 87.81%h
9/12/13 59.1580Ah 87.86%h
I know it's not much, but it was a refreshing change! Hopefully more to come as things cool down.

 

[vrwl]

I know others have seen this, but it's a first for me.. Today for the first time since getting this 2012 Leaf, my health and capacity went UP!
Not sure what's going on in that software.. haven't been below LBW in a week or so and the pack has been in 6TB range (26-33C) most of the time. Today's full charge resulted in only 94.26% SOC and 249 Gids. (still haven't updated the SW)
9/10/13 59.1384Ah 87.81%h
9/12/13 59.1580Ah 87.86%h
I know it's not much, but it was a refreshing change! Hopefully more to come as things cool down.

I saw something similar happen in my 2011 Leaf just a few of weeks ago. Normally, I am very consistent with 80% charges, I rarely charge to 100%. However, about once every 2 months or so, I need the extra juice, and so I charge to 100%. The last time I needed a 100% charge was about 1 month after having the P3227 update done. In this particular case, I went from LBW all the way up to 100%. After the 100% charge, I got a 2% boost in CAP%, much to my surprise. Ahr stayed the same, but the percentage CAP rose. No real change in battery temps or any other conditions, just the 100% charge that normally doesn't get done on my car.

 

[nosuchthing]

I lost my first bar yesterday after 28 months and 35.7k miles. Mostly charge to 80%, charge overnight and at work using L2. 32 mile one way commute.

We're on the same boat. I'm in Marin, lost first one at 38,700 at 22 months. We only differ that we charge 100% every night. Our range now is 63-65 miles. How is yours?

 

[Ready2plugin]

Lost my first bar at 29,797 miles and 29 months of driving. I charged for the first year at 100% until my work installed an L2, been 80% ever since. 3 fast charges and it's never seen turtle.

 

[Vuman]

Lost my first bar at about 12,000 miles. Lost 2nd bar at about 14,000 miles. Summer heat here in AZ killing my battery. Probably getting a new battery by next summer.

Brought my 2012 Leaf in Dec. of 2012.

 

[RegGuheert]

Lost my first bar at about 12,000 miles. Lost 2nd bar at about 14,000 miles. Summer heat here in AZ killing my battery. Probably getting a new battery by next summer.

Brought my 2012 Leaf in Dec. of 2012.

Wow! That's pretty fast! I'm sorry to hear that.

Can you tell us the date of manufacture and the dates when you lost your bars? Manufacture month and year can be found on a sticker on the pillar when you open the driver's door.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Ready2plugin: can you update your profile with your location information ? That is key to understanding your battery performance.

It is interesting to note that you charged 100% everyday for a year and that does not seem to have had much impact on your degradation. 15% degradation after 30K miles and nearly 2.5 years is not bad at all.

 

[surfingslovak]

Ready2plugin: can you update your profile with your location information ? That is key to understanding your battery performance.

It is interesting to note that you charged 100% everyday for a year and that does not seem to have had much impact on your degradation. 15% degradation after 30K miles and nearly 2.5 years is not bad at all.

Pleasanton, CA

 

[Vuman]

Hi RegGuheert,

Date of manufacture is 6/2012. So it may have been sitting in the AZ heat on the dealers lot for half a summer before I brought it in Dec., 2012. Lost my first bar in July I believe and then the second bar about 4 days ago. I don't fast charge often(1-2 times a month) and usually don't charge past 80 percent often until recently because of my decreased range.

 

[surfingslovak]

Date of manufacture is 6/2012. So it may have been sitting in the AZ heat on the dealers lot for half a summer before I brought it in Dec., 2012. Lost my first bar in July I believe and then the second bar about 4 days ago.

We had a LEAF, which has spent a year on dealer lots in Bakersfield and in Fresno. It was down about 7% of capacity at the time of purchase.

 

[gasmiser1]

At 36,428 miles on our 2011 LEAF and we have lost our first capacity bar.

We lived in San Carlos from 3/2011 when we leased the car to 5/2013. The Car was charged to 100% five days a week for a 72 mile round trip commute.

As of 5/2013, we live on the Central Coast and the charging has dropped due to retirement.

 

[nosuchthing]

At 36,428 miles on our 2011 LEAF and we have lost our first capacity bar.

It's right on the money (see mine below).

 

[Cinnabar]

I lost my first bar yesterday after 28 months and 35.7k miles. Mostly charge to 80%, charge overnight and at work using L2. 32 mile one way commute.

We're on the same boat. I'm in Marin, lost first one at 38,700 at 22 months. We only differ that we charge 100% every night. Our range now is 63-65 miles. How is yours?

My range varies too much depending on traffic. I do like to keep up with the flow on the freeway, I have a 64 mile round trip commute that I could probably do if I charged to 100% and slowed down a bit. But I charge to 80% and charge at work.

 

[hbleaf]

My 2011 w 24561 miles I normally charge to 80% and get a range estimate of 72 in D mode, gids about 234 or so. I just did a 100% level charge and recorded 241 Gids or 93% SOC and 89% gid. Seems I've lost some capacity?? is 11% loss correct. Car shows 82 miles in D mode.

 

[Stoaty]

My 2011 w 24561 miles I normally charge to 80% and get a range estimate of 72 in D mode, gids about 234 or so. I just did a 100% level charge and recorded 241 Gids or 93% SOC and 89% gid. Seems I've lost some capacity?? is 11% loss correct. Car shows 82 miles in D mode.

I would say you have 241/281 = 85.8% remaining capacity, or a loss of about 14.2%. I do not find it believable that you get 234 Gids on an 80% charge (that would be like a new Leaf) and only 241 Gids on a full charge. That pair of numbers doesn't make much sense; one of them must be wrong.

 

[derkraut]

I was surprised to note that I lost my first capacity bar today @ 15,600 miles on my 2011 SLE.
I would contend that my car has been the most "babied" Leaf out there, to wit:

I've Never QC'd; I've never seen more than 6 battery temp bars; My car has never been located where the temperature exceeded 90 degrees (I live 6 miles from the beach in San Diego); I've never driven it to turtle, or even VLBW; I've charged to 100% less than a dozen times since new. About 90% of the time, my battery SOC is between 4-7 bars when not driven for several days. I've done 95%+ of my charging at night in my garage with my level 2 EVSE, using the car timer. My car is almost always in a cool (65-75 degrees) garage when not being driven. I drive in ECO 100% of the time.
I'm technologically challenged, so I don't have any devices to measure battery capacity like a lot of you folks do. But, I'm surprised to have lost a bar with such low mileage.
Since my car is now 2 1/2 yrs old, I guess that time is just as detrimental (or more so?) than temperature, regarding battery degradation. I still intend to drive this car for at least another 5 yrs on my original battery. Of course, not having to commute (did that for 35+yrs) gives me lots of options.

 

[stanley]

I am sorry to hear you lost a bar. I too have lost a bar. It appears that time (age) is the dominant factor in capacity loss. I lost my first bar also at 2 1/2 years. I was upset when it happened as I babied my Leaf like you do and live in cool San Diego.

 

[KJD]

I am sorry to hear you lost a bar. I too have lost a bar. It appears that time (age) is the dominant factor in capacity loss. I lost my first bar also at 2 1/2 years. I was upset when it happened as I babied my Leaf like you do and live in cool San Diego.

How many miles on the car when the bar went away ?

 

[kubel]

58.21 AH (88.74%)
76.92% Health
22,650 Miles
48197 ZIP
2012 LEAF SV
1 Year, 5 Months old
49.4F, 49.4F, 48.3F, 49.4F Battery Temp
95.4F SOC

For the first year of ownership, I was careful to only charge to 80%. In the past 4 months or so, I've been consistently charging to 100%. It should also be noted that that I'm a very spirited driver.

My 1 year measurement (just before I started charging to 100%) indicated ~92% capacity, but this was pre-update, so I'm not sure how accurate that was.