Replaced my LEAF 12v battery after 4 years

[Randy]

My LEAF is 4 years and 1 month old...With my other cars that I have kept for quite some time, I have been proactively replacing 12 volt batteries approximately every 4 years with good results. No surprise 12v battery failures, no getting stuck at the wrong time, etc. So I thought I'd look around and see what is available for the LEAF at the various stores. Of course, there are a couple of threads on the forum about replacing the LEAF's 12 volt battery system with Lithium...However at double or triple the cost (depending on what you get), that just seemed a little bit out of reach for now.

After looking around, I decided to get an Exide Global Extreme Type 51RX lead acid battery replacement from Home Depot. It cost $89.00 + tax + a $12 core charge. It has a 40 month warranty (with free replacement). This is an exact size match for the LEAF (9.3" wide x 4.9" deep x 8.5" high), and fits the tray and hold down clamp perfectly.

I saw other batteries at various websites for as much as $129, but this model seemed to have a longer warranty than some and good specs (70 minutes reserve capacity, etc.)

It took about 30 minutes to install it, with no issues. After removing the old battery, I cleaned out the tray and then used a battery brush on the new terminals to burnish them. A 10mm extended socket can be used for the hold down arms, as well as both the positive and negative terminal screws.

After the install, I had to reset the driver's dash clock, but everything seemed to come up okay...So far, so good...

Here are some photos of the battery in case you're interested...

 

[Stoaty]

Thanks for posting this. At 3.65 years, I'm not too far away. Will probably wait a bit longer than 4 years, but pre-emptive replacement is probably good insurance to avoid getting stranded in my Leaf.

 

[LeftieBiker]

It's assembled in the USA, anyway...

 

[Randy]

Hey, c'mon...It's the official battery of NASCAR....

 

[mbender]

It's assembled in the USA, anyway...

We have to ship lead acid batteries across the oceans, too? Sad!

In 5-10 years time, I hope and almost expect to see all kinds of Tesla-brand(ed) batteries for sale, at competitive prices. Made in, and shipped directly from, one of many stateside gigafactories.

 

[DaveEV]

Pretty good price for a replacement battery.

I'd be tempted to replace with an Optima yellow-top deep-cycle battery for about double if/when my battery fails like I did with my Prius, but if you're going to replace every 4 years as preventative maintenance, probably no use in spending more.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/OBT1/YEL51R/03321.oap?ck=Search_C0423_1351594_-1&pt=C0423&ppt=C0005" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd really like to have a lithium battery that weighed half as much, though!

 

[Randy]

Drees,
In shopping around, I found a couple of reviews like this for the Optima Yellow Top battery...That, coupled with the higher price, and I just decided to go with a traditional lead-acid battery...

Amazon Review:
Not worth the extra money, and I won't buy another Optima battery. I bought it about 2 years ago for a 2008 Tahoe, and it has left me stranded 5 or 6 times. I thought I had a faulty battery but I've had it tested at 3 different stores, including the store I bought it from, and it test fine. I live in the south, so it doesn't get cold that often, but this battery is Very weak during cold weather. It does not work well with temperature changes during spring and fall when the daytime temp is 30 degrees different from nighttime. The only time this battery functions properly is when the temp is steady from May-Sept. The other 7 months is a gamble.

 

[JeremyW]

Charging timers will be turned off too after the battery swap (if you use those).

 

[redLEAF]

Still find it quite interesting that this 'advanced' propulsion 100% fully electric vehicle uses an old style lead acid battery ... I previously owned 2 Miata's that used an OEM Panasonic 'wet gel' type battery where the last one for my '99 didn't need replacing until '09 --- yes, 10 years of service without fail ! the only 'maintenance' that I needed to do was place a battery tender on it over the winters when it wasn't driven so it was ready to go once the salt finally left the roads here in the Midwest ... my other ICE's that I've kept longer than 4 years almost all needed a fresh lead acid battery almost to the day they turned 4 years old.

With the price posted for this replacement it would seem that it would be the lowest TCO versus other types; sorry to see that an Optima does poorly in cold temps as that would also have been a possible choice; my '12 LEAF will be 4 years old in about 10 months so will be time for me as well.

I would wonder what early warning signs you would get for the 12V battery is on its last legs ... I mean in an ICE you can hear the starter straining to turn over the ICE engine, not so with an EV?

My SL has the roof solar panel so perhaps that helps top it off a bit but would hate to get stranded ... the dealer does (I believe) check the 12V system (which was done in December) so I guess that's all we have to go by?

 

[garsh]

I previously owned 2 Miata's that used an OEM Panasonic 'wet gel' type battery where the last one for my '99 didn't need replacing until '09 --- yes, 10 years of service without fail !

I had a standard lead-acid battery (OEM) last 10 years in the car I traded in for my Leaf.

I would wonder what early warning signs you would get for the 12V battery is on its last legs

That's an excellent question. There have been several posts in this forum about people having strange problems with their Leafs. When they took it in for servicing, it was found to be due to a bad 12v battery.
Car's dead
Car's dead
Flashing dashboard lights

There are probably a few more.

 

[TomT]

Optimas are no longer what they once were before the company was sold. The quality has declined dramatically and there is now little to recommend them...

I'd be tempted to replace with an Optima yellow-top deep-cycle battery

 

[Stanton]

I had a standard lead-acid battery (OEM) last 10 years in the car I traded in for my Leaf.

I would wonder what early warning signs you would get for the 12V battery is on its last legs

That's nice, but I sure wouldn't advise anyone to wait 10 years (or even 5) to replace a 12v lead-acid battery

In an ICE car, you might get a clue that the 12v battery is going bad from (poor) starter cranking, etc., but in an EV, the warning signs may not be so obvious. In fact, they may not even make sense (difficult to troubleshoot)! Bottom line: if there was ever a car worth spending a few extra $$ to replace the 12v lead-acid with a Lithium, the Leaf is it. See my blog post for more details about my experience.

http://stanton.myevblog.com/2012/01/16/getting-the-lead-out/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Nubo]

Optimas are no longer what they once were before the company was sold. The quality has declined dramatically and there is now little to recommend them...

I'd be tempted to replace with an Optima yellow-top deep-cycle battery

They sold out to Johnson Controls and the manufacturing was moved to Mexico. I have also read complaints and personally had an Optima Yellow-top that did not provide very good service. I switched to an Odyssey battery on that car; they are still highly regarded.

For the LEAF I didn't see an Odyssey solution fit well, so I eventually came up with the battery below. Since LEAF has no need for "starting current" I selected a full-on deep-cycle design that is used for solar power installations.

http://www.solar-electric.com/batteries-meters-accessories/batteries/concorde-sun-xtender-pvx-solar-deep-cycle-batteries/12voagmba/concorde-sunxtender-pvx-420t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Bob]

...Bottom line: if there was ever a car worth spending a few extra $$ to replace the 12v lead-acid with a Lithium, the Leaf is it. See my blog post for more details about my experience.
http://stanton.myevblog.com/2012/01/16/getting-the-lead-out/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stanton,

Thank you for the write-up and suggestion.

My uneducated opinion is that the Lead-Acid battery market has gone very competitive, to the extreme of all batteries coming with superlatives in the name, but the same basic cost-cutting construction, as little lead as they can get by with and not have too many warranty returns. "Extreme" "Deep Cycle" "Commercial" "Everstart"? "Baloney" :-(

The replacement Lithium battery market is not so mature, so they should be better. But we don't have much history on Lithium replacement batteries used in 12V car systems. We've seen what can go wrong with first-generation Leaf Lithium batteries in hot climates. I'd hope that these replacement Lithium batteries are more mature, but we just don't have the history. If we're paying 2X the price of a lead-acid battery for a Lithium battery, it would be nice to hear of people who have >4 years of trouble-free service from them. It could be that some people are selling perfect batteries and others are selling batteries that are not appropriate for long-term use in our cars. We just don't have the data yet.

Again, this is just one person's opinion.

Bob

 

[Randy]

Thanks, Jeremy...I looked, and thought that all the timer settings were still in place, but I'll check it again before charging tonight...

 

[DaveEV]

I switched to an Odyssey battery on that car; they are still highly regarded.

For the LEAF I didn't see an Odyssey solution fit well, so I eventually came up with the battery below.

Looks like the Odyssey PC925MJT should drop in, though perhaps mounted on it's side:
http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-PC925MJT-Automotive-LTV-Battery/dp/B00249CQUM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like the popular Miata AGM battery should also fit and is half the price of the Odyssey/Optima and well reviewed:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038N1VD6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Nubo]

I switched to an Odyssey battery on that car; they are still highly regarded.

For the LEAF I didn't see an Odyssey solution fit well, so I eventually came up with the battery below.

Looks like the Odyssey PC925MJT should drop in, though perhaps mounted on it's side:
http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-PC925MJT-Automotive-LTV-Battery/dp/B00249CQUM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think that just missed on one dimension on my 2012 and side-mounting would have been problematic because of the complicated positive terminal attachment. And the 27 amp-hours is less capacity than I wanted.

Looks like the popular Miata AGM battery should also fit and is half the price of the Odyssey/Optima and well reviewed:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038N1VD6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I considered it. It's what Miata owners settled for when they discovered they could no longer get the original Panasonic that was OEM on the earlier Miatas. It's what I used in my '90 Miata after the original battery finally gave out. It got weak after about 4 years whereas the OEM Panasonic lasted nearly 10. Not a bad car battery but true deep-cycle capability was my primary consideration for the LEAF application, and "cranking amps" was not a consideration at all. A solar storage battery fit the bill perfectly by my way of thinking.

http://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/techmanual.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[hill]

Charging timers will be turned off too after the battery swap (if you use those).

I suppose you could keep a 12v source up during the swap . . . . . for those of us who hate resetting things ~
.

 

[Randy]

I thought about that, but just didn't want to go through the trouble...Everything turned out fine...

 

[joeriv]

For the LEAF I didn't see an Odyssey solution fit well, so I eventually came up with the battery below. Since LEAF has no need for "starting current" I selected a full-on deep-cycle design that is used for solar power installations.

http://www.solar-electric.com/batteries-meters-accessories/batteries/concorde-sun-xtender-pvx-solar-deep-cycle-batteries/12voagmba/concorde-sunxtender-pvx-420t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any issues installing this? Looks like a perfect solution.