How Old is YOUR 12 volt Battery?

[SalisburySam]

I still have the original Japanese 12v in my purchased 2012SL, and it seems to be working just fine. I do check fluid levels (flashlight from rear to see through the case) and I added some distilled water about a year ago just to top off to MAX line. I do use a battery tender occasionally when I’m not going to use the vehicle for awhile both for charge and for desulfation if the latter is really a thing (I don’t pretend to understand it, just that the tender says it does it). At any rate, it will be 7 years old in Feb, 2019.

[Clueless]

Wait, why do you have to put water in your 12v battery? Our 2013 Leaf has had the ev system warning light on (car symbol with exclamation point) for the past two days but has been driving fine. I work 25 miles away so I drive the whole range everyday. Drove it to a Nissan dealership today in Carson after work and said it’d take a whole day and $150 for diagnostics. I’ve been reading that this might be caused by a low voltage 12v battery. Any advice? I’m terribly clueless about cars much less EVs. Thanks in advance.

[jjeff]

Wait, why do you have to put water in your 12v battery? Our 2013 Leaf has had the ev system warning light on (car symbol with exclamation point) for the past two days but has been driving fine. I work 25 miles away so I drive the whole range everyday. Drove it to a Nissan dealership today in Carson after work and said it’d take a whole day and $150 for diagnostics. I’ve been reading that this might be caused by a low voltage 12v battery. Any advice? I’m terribly clueless about cars much less EVs. Thanks in advance.

Not sure about the battery in your Leaf but some do require occasional water being added but not so much on a Leaf where if anything the battery is undercharged. No adding water was more with ICE vehicles that overcharged the battery and even then not all batteries let you add water.
No if the ! is on your dash I might suspect the 12v battery is going bad, that or something else. Easiest way to check is either take it in to a battery shop who may do a free test or with a $12 VOM(volt meter) measuring the battery after it's sat for a while and it should be over 12v.

[LeftieBiker]

The 2013 Leaf also uses a non-sealed 12 volt battery - just not the better Japanese model found in 2011-2012 cars. Add distilled water once a year if needed.

[nlspace]

Here's a page from a Yuasa battery guide that explains about when the sulfation occurs. The guide is geared toward smaller batteries such as motorcycles and ATV, but the guide information applies to all lead acid and can be downloaded.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/48788 ... =15#manual

An interesting paragraph from the guide, emphasis mine:

"There's a simple rule of thumb about batteries, and if you're a dealer or a mechanic, you know that people ignore it all the time: for a battery to operate the way it's supposed to, it has to be fully charged before it's used...and kept fully charged throughout its life."

That is the secret to getting extended life out of the aux battery.

[webb14leafs]

Just replaced the battery in my 2014 for the first time last month.

[jjeff]

My early '12(spent it's first 4 years in sunny so Cal, started out with 10 bars but now 9) had to have the battery replaced the first cold snap this past fall) my '13 still has the original 12v that I occasionally(every 4-5 wks since new) hook to a battery tender with desulphication. I now always carry a 12v lithium battery jump starter in the back of my '13 just in case it decides to die but so far haven't had to use it. I did use it once or twice on my '12 before I replaced the 12v battery with a 51R Optima yellow top and the little jump starter was able to let my start the '12 and worked very well for that.

Update:
Almost 2 years later and my '13 still has the original battery
Wow! 6+ years old, not too bad. Of course my '94 Geo Metro(and after that '04 Scion for that matter) got close to 9 years on their original batteries so hopefully I've still got a couple years left on my '13 Leaf. Not sure why but like the OEM exhaust systems of ICE vehicles the OEM batteries seem to always last much longer than the aftermarket ones. I'm hoping the replacement Optima in my '12 lasts as long, it was almost double the price of a standard 12v battery.

[gncndad]

Here's a page from a Yuasa battery guide that explains about when the sulfation occurs. The guide is geared toward smaller batteries such as motorcycles and ATV, but the guide information applies to all lead acid and can be downloaded.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/48788 ... =15#manual

An interesting paragraph from the guide, emphasis mine:

"There's a simple rule of thumb about batteries, and if you're a dealer or a mechanic, you know that people ignore it all the time: for a battery to operate the way it's supposed to, it has to be fully charged before it's used...and kept fully charged throughout its life[/b]."

That is the secret to getting extended life out of the aux battery.

I think this requires some clarification. I'm going to modify this (bold) statement. "...kept in a properly operating charge/discharge environment..." On ICE engines, the voltage regulator doesn't ever charge the 12V to capacity, usually stopping at 80-90%, to avoid overchargin. . I assume the same for hybrids/electrics. IIRC, 12V, like our HV batteries, function best between 20-80%. Constant charge/discharge outside of this range isn't healthy.

Hopefully someone more expert will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

(I'm really NOT shouting, for some reason, I can't un-bold my post!!!)

[powersurge]

Here's a page from a Yuasa battery guide that explains about when the sulfation occurs. The guide is geared toward smaller batteries such as motorcycles and ATV, but the guide information applies to all lead acid and can be downloaded.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/48788 ... =15#manual

An interesting paragraph from the guide, emphasis mine:

"There's a simple rule of thumb about batteries, and if you're a dealer or a mechanic, you know that people ignore it all the time: for a battery to operate the way it's supposed to, it has to be fully charged before it's used...and kept fully charged throughout its life[/b]."

That is the secret to getting extended life out of the aux battery.

I think this requires some clarification. I'm going to modify this (bold) statement. "...kept in a properly operating charge/discharge environment..." On ICE engines, the voltage regulator doesn't ever charge the 12V to capacity, usually stopping at 80-90%, to avoid overchargin. . I assume the same for hybrids/electrics. IIRC, 12V, like our HV batteries, function best between 20-80%. Constant charge/discharge outside of this range isn't healthy.

Hopefully someone more expert will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

(I'm really NOT shouting, for some reason, I can't un-bold my post!!!)

The 12 volt battery in any car is a Lead Acid battery, which for the longest life needs to be charged to 100%.

The 20-80% rule is ONLY for the Leaf's large battery because it actually lasts the longest at 50%.

If you kept the 12 v battery at 50%, you would need a new batter VERY FREQUENTLY.

[knightmb]

Both my wife and I have a leaf, same model same year (different colors of course!)
2013 SV

I changed out my 12 v lead with a lithium 5 years ago, still going strong. My wife had her 12v die after only 3 years (2016), warranty replaced it with another lead. 3 years later, it has died again (2019). Guess what is getting a lithium replacement instead now?

Some folks just get lucky I suppose. I think Nissan should stick with all lithium for the Leaf, ditch the lead. Also, my wife had all kinds of acid rust under her battery holder, mine is as nice as it was years ago.