Should I buy a 73k mile 2018 SL?

[Jerther]

How defective is your battery? I have been told the 2nd gen battery is much better as far as degredetion is concerned.

Mine would suddenly loose up to 10% in less than 10s when driving casually up a hill in cold weather, then gradually recover that sudden loss once atop the hill. It's fine in warm-ish weather though. It's been 10c all day today and I've done about 150 km with still 25% left.

I drive a motorcycle too (well, I used to... Haven't touched my toy since the day I became a father ) and a heated suit sounds like a really great idea! Sounds like a lot of hassle though. Might be worth it once in a while but every winter day?

However, @Bombastinator2 is right: Besides the L2 charging station you're talking about, you could also find yourself a 110v outlet at work and use the portable EVSE. It's slow but should give enough bump to complete the ride home.

Also, charging is not 100% efficient. Meaning 35kwh at the wall outlet does not mean 35kwh went into the battery. There's some level of loss in the car's charging system and for some reason L2 charging should be more efficient.

And last, you should ABSOLUTELY have the battery health checked by someone who knows his stuff before buying. And I'd venture to say that the SoH (State of Health) reported by Leaf Spy is just part of the equation. The deffective battery I have right now has a reported SoH of around 99% and still has bad cells, which could be detected by a test drive with low SoC (State of Charge).

 

[gozer]

Huh. Checking the soh with a low soc, what would I be looking for? will leafspy load onto a iphone 6s? (I know, ancient phone).

 

[Jerther]

When not under load, all the battery cells are normally within a couple of mv from each other. You should see a pretty flat battery graph, and leaf spy also tells the difference between the cell with mininmum voltage and the cell with maximum voltage. That diff should be in the tens of mv. Less is better.

under load (climbing a hill, pedal to the metal) that graph will become less flat and some cells will show higher voltage than others. This is normal, but the diff between min and max voltages should not excede I'd say 150mv. Again, less is better. Please do this safely

In both cases (no load and under load) look for individual cells or groups of cells that are obviously lower than the others. If there are any, those are weak/bad cells.

Having high diff and/or weak cells does not mean the battery pack is shot, but it does mean its capacity and reliability are reduced.

If you want to do comparisons, there are plenty of leafspy screenshots on this forum, and some other people might come with more accurate diagnostics. You could post your own screenshots here and have us comment on them

In any case, if you find the battery has hundreds of mv diff between cells, stay away or be prepared to enter a warranty claim with a dealer asap while the warranty's still on. You may get lucky and get a new (or most likely remanufactured) pack within a couple of weeks, otherwise I've seen people wait for more than a year.

 

[gozer]

Excellent, thanks for the detail!

 

[moapys]

12v Heated Blanket: I've posted elsewhere on this for we owners of aging LEAFs (me=2012) in the winter. That blanket is direct warmth ("taco'ed" with the heated seat), not trying to warm the cabin, and doesn't tax the accessory battery much. The fogging surely is a problem; I use anti-fog which, while not perfect, is better than either no-visibility, or miles lost with the HVAC.

 

[gozer]

Not going to get the 73k Leaf. Now looking at a 27k mile SV plus w heat pump. I do not like the elec parking brake. Just seems like an expensive brake job for the dealer or something that is more complex than it should be. Is there any record of probs with these? Also worried abt the heat pump. It gets used for most of the year one way or another. Is the resistance heater more reliable?

 

[TreacherousPath]

I have the same car and live in southern Ontario. I have over 100,000 miles and have all bars still. Your Leaf will not make your commute in winter if it’s 50 miles one way. Look for a newer Leaf+ for your ride. Also take a look at Leafs from Canada. The US dollar is much higher than ours so you might find a smoking deal up here.

Can you charge both at home and at work? If so then you shouldn't have a problem. But I agree with Kenny, if you only get one charge per day, no bueno. And you have to plan for the future with some battery degradation. As a reference, I drive a 2015 with the smaller battery and 10 bars and get about 50 miles per charge in the winter (partially 75mph, partially city driving)(northern Utah).

 

[atikovi]

Also take a look at Leafs from Canada. The US dollar is much higher than ours so you might find a smoking deal up here.

But then you won't get the 30% Clean Energy instant rebate buying from a U.S. dealer assuming you qualify.

 

[gozer]

That is true...

 

[gozer]

Can you charge both at home and at work? If so then you shouldn't have a problem. But I agree with Kenny, if you only get one charge per day, no bueno. And you have to plan for the future with some battery degradation. As a reference, I drive a 2015 with the smaller battery and 10 bars and get about 50 miles per charge in the winter (partially 75mph, partially city driving)(northern Utah).

I can charge in both places, but I have no idea the soh of its battery. The dealer will not do a diagnostic without $150. up front.
I told them my situation, no dice. Car is a one owner, package tray in the back, all the cool goodies.

It is native to buffalo ny, so....lots of winter. Is anyone in the Glens Falls area with leafspy?

 

[gozer]

I can charge in both places, but I have no idea the soh of its battery. The dealer will not do a diagnostic without $150. up front.
I told them my situation, no dice. Car is a one owner, package tray in the back, all the cool goodies.

It is native to buffalo ny, so....lots of winter. Is anyone in the Glens Falls area with leafspy?

Thats Glens Falls NY.

 

[atikovi]

What's your price range? I have a 2015 Focus EV that should go 60-70 miles a charge. And I can get you the 30% rebate.

 

[gozer]

What's your price range? I have a 2015 Focus EV that should go 60-70 miles a charge. And I can get you the 30% rebate.

Looking to top out at 14k.max.
but I'm not a fan of fords, sorry.

 

[atikovi]

Looking to top out at 14k.max.
but I'm not a fan of fords, sorry.

OK, I will have a 50,000 mile Chevy Bolt with a new battery that is under warranty until 2030 for well below your max.

 

[Bombastinator2]

I can charge in both places, but I have no idea the soh of its battery. The dealer will not do a diagnostic without $150. up front.
I told them my situation, no dice. Car is a one owner, package tray in the back, all the cool goodies.

It is native to buffalo ny, so....lots of winter. Is anyone in the Glens Falls area with leafspy?

They’ve already done it. They just won’t tell you what they found. Which is expected. Getting the app and the dongle will tell you anyway though. I know they’ve done one because they’re still in business. They wouldn’t have bought a used car in the first place unless they knew what they were buying. Otherwise they would wind up getting cars with used up batteries in them because people would find out and swap valueless dead batteries out of a junkyard and sell them cars for increased profit that won’t work for very long. It’s possible only the buying department has that information, and the people you are talking to are merely working on faith, but someone did it at some point. You can do your own for the cost of a dongle, which you will then either keep in the car if you buy it or use in another if you don’t. So long term cost is effectively zero. The point to complain at is if they won’t let you plug in the dongle. Then it’s time to worry.

 

[Jerther]

Not sure if the Bolt has an equivalent app to leaf spy? Or an equivalent community? 😉

 

[css28]

Not sure if the Bolt has an equivalent app to leaf spy? Or an equivalent community? 😉

Try the Bolt forums on https://www.gm-volt.com/forums/

 

[Bombastinator2]

Try the Bolt forums on https://www.gm-volt.com/forums/

The bolt has one big thing going for it: the high number of cycles of LiFepo4. They weren’t even available at all locally when I went looking so I never checked.

 

[css28]

The bolt has one big thing going for it: the high number of cycles of LiFepo4. They weren’t even available at all locally when I went looking so I never checked.

The other big thing it has is active battery cooling, like the Volt and just about every other non-LEAF.

 

[BillAinCT]

The other big thing it has is active battery cooling, like the Volt and just about every other non-LEAF.

They also cap the maximum DCFC power making charging stops potentially much longer than even for a Leaf.