2018 Leaf Charges at Half Normal Rate, Started This Month

My 2018 Leaf S, which I normally charge with the 110v cable provided by Nissan, began charging at about half the normal rate about a month ago. I had the exact same issue a year ago and they replacted the PDM which fixed the issue. I've taken it to 2 dealerships this month and both claim nothing is wrong with my car. They gave me a new charging cable which did nothing. Nissan corporate called me today to say the dealer says the car works according to specs. I can only use QuickCharge at the mall if I want to drive the car and get any range that is usable. I was getting about 5% per hour on the battery prior to the issue. I now get about 2% per hour. Has anyone else seen this issue? The PDM costs over $2500 to replace, and the mechanic told me straight up they can't just replace it again without a code or alert stating it is defective. They claim the car normally takes over 30 hours to charge. This is my second leaf, I've had this model for 2 years and know this car like the back of my hand. I cannot use this car in its current state without going to the mall everyday to charge. Any suggestions, or do I just need to get an attorney? Thanks

5% charge added per hour with the 120 volt EVSE is too high - that's more like what you get with the 24kwh Leafs. I get about 3% per hour with the Nissan dual voltage EVSE, plugged into 120 volts. I don't know what to say beyond that...

mbargeron said:

My 2018 Leaf S, which I normally charge with the 110v cable provided by Nissan
...
They claim the car normally takes over 30 hours to charge.

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That's about right. 120 volts * 12 amps = 1440 watts = 1.44 kW. For each hour, 1.44 kWh makes it out of the wall and from Leaf Spy, about (IIRC) 1.1 to 1.2 kWh gets added to the battery.

'18 Leaf is 40 kWh and has ~37 kWh usable (someone can correct me if they have better figures). 37 kWh / 1.2 kW = 30.833 hours, if you were to charge from totally empty to full. I know on level 2 charging, near the end, there's a ramp down and then up to 3 bounces, so it's not full speed near the end. See https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=490435#p490435. Pre-COVID, I've plugged in numerous 40 kWh Leafs into our ChargePoint L2 EVSEs and observed the same behavior. 40 kWh Leafs began with model year '18.

I can't speak to L1 in terms of ramp down and whether there are any bounces as I have no means of monitoring that.

That said, 5% per hour sounds too fast for L1 on a 40 kWh Leaf. 1.2 / 37 = ~3.2% 1.1 / 37 = ~2.9%. So, assuming there's no ramp down and bounces at the end, it should be about 2.9 to 3.2% per hour at 120 volts, 12 amps.

Do you have the charging timers and/or climate control timers enabled? They could be delaying, stopping or slowing down your charging.

Can you use Plugshare to find some suitable L2 EVSEs and maybe other DC fast chargers that are free or reasonably priced? Approximately where are you located? If you live in a place where it's WELL below freezing, the battery warmer might be kicking on and thus slowing down charging as L1 charging is very slow as it is. If you need faster charging, you should consider installing an L2 EVSE or finding a place to plug in a suitable L2 (240 volt) EVSE.

You could plug the EVSE into http://www.p3international.com/products/p4400.html temporarily to see it's pulling ~1440 watts. However, do NOT leave it permanently connected or connected for more than a few minutes (IMHO) as some of them have questionable build quality and may melt. There's been talk about that here on MNL before (e.g. https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=173372#p173372 and https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=173537#p173537). Kill-A-Watt is a great gadget but I've never had a high (1+ kW) continuous load plugged into it for very long.

Do you have a smart meter at your house? If so, can you see if the power draw of your house rises by ~1.44 kW when charging? You could check hours later and disconnect to see if it falls by 1.44 kW at that point.

Thanks for the feedback. Listen, I've had this car for 2 years, I know it very well. I charge ONLY with trickle. I charge at home overnight, and at work during the day. I NEVER have to visit DCFC to go back and forth to work, prior to this issue. The charging has definitely slowed down to about 2% per hour. I was getting somewhere close to 5% per hour, perhaps it was 4%, but it was double what I get now. In it's current state, I will need to visit the mall every day or 2 and use DCFC if this does not get fixed. I do not use any settings for charging like timers or climate control. I'll check and see if any of those are turned on. It was taking about 20 hrs to charge from 0 to 100, perhaps a couple hrs more. It will now take about 40 hours to charge to 100%. That just can't be acceptable. No one would purchase this car. I'll double check those settings which I don't even know where to find to be honest. I'll let you all know if I find anything. It's just really strange that last year the same thing happened and they replaced the PDM and all was good thereafter. Thanks

OP,
Cwerdna covered it all, and I'll also guess the underlying answer to your post is cold weather.

One thing is for sure:
1% of 40 kWh is 0.4 kWh
5% is 5*0.4 = 2 kWh per hour, or 2 kW
That is beyond the ability of L1 charging with the supplied NIssan EVSE so your story is inaccurate. That does not mean your impression of a drop in charging rate is wrong, but it does mean that we cannot easily guess what is going on with wrong numbers.

mbargeron said:

Thanks for the feedback. Listen, I've had this car for 2 years, I know it very well. I charge ONLY with trickle. I charge at home overnight, and at work during the day. I NEVER have to visit DCFC to go back and forth to work, prior to this issue. The charging has definitely slowed down to about 2% per hour. I was getting somewhere close to 5% per hour, perhaps it was 4%, but it was double what I get now. In it's current state, I will need to visit the mall every day or 2 and use DCFC if this does not get fixed. I do not use any settings for charging like timers or climate control. I'll check and see if any of those are turned on. It was taking about 20 hrs to charge from 0 to 100, perhaps a couple hrs more. It will now take about 40 hours to charge to 100%. That just can't be acceptable. No one would purchase this car. I'll double check those settings which I don't even know where to find to be honest. I'll let you all know if I find anything. It's just really strange that last year the same thing happened and they replaced the PDM and all was good thereafter. Thanks

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The problem is that what you are claiming isn't really possible - not without a combination of flukes like a defective EVSE that provides 16 amps instead of 12, PLUS a defective house breaker that doesn't trip when it does. Even if that were the case, it would be quite dangerous. You are correct about L-1 charging taking a very long time. This is one of the reasons that Nissan doesn't recommend its use except as a backup. You need a 240 volt circuit to charge the car for your use, just as most people do. I get by on 120, but I'm retired and inactive.

Sagebrush may have the right idea here. Are you basing your numbers on actual observation of the charge rate, or instead on how long it takes to recharge the car after use? The latter figure is going to go up in Winter. You seem to be saying that the same car has experienced either a drop in charge rate (which is likely not the case) or an increase in energy use. The math points toward the second possibility. To reiterate: you should definitely NOT have been getting 5% charge added per hour with a 120 volt, 12 amp EVSE. What was the reason given for the replacement of the PDM?

To be sure, you're looking at the % state of charge and not the guess-o-meter (the silly thing that says miles next to it), right?

mbargeron said:

Thanks for the feedback. Listen, I've had this car for 2 years, I know it very well. I charge ONLY with trickle. I charge at home overnight, and at work during the day.
...
It was taking about 20 hrs to charge from 0 to 100

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The bolded part is physically impossible with the stock L1 120 volt EVSE at 12 amps, 120 volts and a 40 kWh Leaf. See my earlier reply about the calculations. About 20 hours is about right for a 24 kWh Leaf ('11 to '15 model year and '16 original S trim).

See below about climate and charging timers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2XX0R5jqG8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR80TENMJ30

The heater can be quite a power pig and draw beyond the 1440 watts that can come out of the wall, thus causing a net drain on the big battery while the heater and/or AC is running.

Also, it looks like you didn't answer about approximately where you are. Per the '18 Leaf manual on page EV-5, the battery warmer will turn on if below -1 F (-17 C) and shut off at 14 F ( -10 C). If you were falling below -1 F and plugged in, then surely charging will slow down while the battery warm is on. It was stated at least back with the '12 Leaf (https://www.cars.com/articles/2012-nissan-leaf-battery-warmer-more-details-1420663161727/), it would draw under 300 watts. But, we already told you that 1440 watts is the most that can come out of the wall at 12 amps, 120 volts and probably 1100 to 1200 watts makes it to the battery, so taking off 300 (when the warmer runs) from that would slow things down.

I was getting somewhere close to 5% per hour, perhaps it was 4%, but it was double what I get now

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Sorry, but to be blunt you are in denial. As others here have stated, 5% of 37 kWh is 1.85 kWh per hour, or a charging rate of 1.85 kW. At 120v, the amperage would have to be 16A to get that high of a charging rate, which the stock EVSE won't even draw on a 120v supply...

If you need faster charging at home, you'll need to install a 240v circuit - nothing else will help.

Assuming you are able to full rate L2 charge at home, you'll be able to add about 18% charge per hour, at least until it starts to slow down at the top end.

Paying an electrician to install a 240v circuit will likely cost $400 - $1000, and you can get an L2 EVSE (aka "charger") for as little as $175, but for full rate charging you'll need to spend a bit more.

This unit is reasonable and of good quality:

https://amzn.to/37fe55i

If you need faster charging at home, you'll need to install a 240v circuit - nothing else will help.

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They have one other option. If a more or less empty 20A circuit is available, then they can get a 120 volt EVSE that can charge at 16 amps. That is the cheapest option if that circuit is there, but it might also fall a bit short...

LeftieBiker said:

If you need faster charging at home, you'll need to install a 240v circuit - nothing else will help.

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They have one other option. If a more or less empty 20A circuit is available, then they can get a 120 volt EVSE that can charge at 16 amps. That is the cheapest option if that circuit is there, but it might also fall a bit short...

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For sure, I just personally wouldn't bother with a 120v@20A circuit as, although it would increase the charging rate by about 33%, the OP would still be waiting over 24 hrs for a full charge with a 120v@16A rate (just under 2kW) vs 6ish hours for full rate charging.

Agreed. I'm just noting that there may be a way to charge at the rate the OP believed he was getting originally, for not much money.

https://store.clippercreek.com/level2?sort=p.price&order=ASC also has some cheaper L2 EVSEs. If price and electrical capacity are limitations, then one could look at their 16 amp EVSEs. 240 volts * 16 amps = 3,840 watts = 3.84 kW which would be ~2.67x faster than charging at 120 volt, 12 amps,

There are also 12 amp units like the LCS-15. At 240 volts, that would only be double the speed vs the stock L1 12 amp, 120 volt EVSE.

The units have no connectivity nor app though.

mbargeron said:

Thanks for the feedback. Listen, I've had this car for 2 years, I know it very well. I charge ONLY with trickle. I charge at home overnight, and at work during the day. I NEVER have to visit DCFC to go back and forth to work, prior to this issue. The charging has definitely slowed down to about 2% per hour. I was getting somewhere close to 5% per hour, perhaps it was 4%, but it was double what I get now. In it's current state, I will need to visit the mall every day or 2 and use DCFC if this does not get fixed. I do not use any settings for charging like timers or climate control. I'll check and see if any of those are turned on. It was taking about 20 hrs to charge from 0 to 100, perhaps a couple hrs more. It will now take about 40 hours to charge to 100%. That just can't be acceptable. No one would purchase this car. I'll double check those settings which I don't even know where to find to be honest. I'll let you all know if I find anything. It's just really strange that last year the same thing happened and they replaced the PDM and all was good thereafter. Thanks

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It sounds like the only plausible explanation for this is you don't live in the United States. Maybe you're in a country where the default voltage is 208 Volts. That's why you are charging at 4%-5% per hour.

OP did not come here for faster charging solutions, he wanted affirmation that his car is broken. And although I am skeptical that is the case, it remains possible. It's just impossible to voice a useful opinion based on data that cannot be accurate.

OP: Hit pause on the lawyer button until you have better data to substantiate your allegation.

It sounds like the only plausible explanation for this is you don't live in the United States. Maybe you're in a country where the default voltage is 208 Volts. That's why you are charging at 4%-5% per hour.

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That makes sense, but the OP claims the EVSE he uses is 110 volts (likely 120).

LeftieBiker said:

It sounds like the only plausible explanation for this is you don't live in the United States. Maybe you're in a country where the default voltage is 208 Volts. That's why you are charging at 4%-5% per hour.

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That makes sense, but the OP claims the EVSE he uses is 110 volts (likely 120).

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Yeah, I saw that but I thought the trickle charger provided by Nissan in a country where the default voltage would be 208V as well.

I've also seen some claims that some other countries outside the US have voltages that aren't 240 or 208 volts but rather 220 or 230. I've not looked into whether 220 or 230 are (in many/most cases) correct or are just errors/sloppiness in the same way many in the US incorrectly talk about 110 and 220 volts.

In Japan, they do have and use 100 and 200 volts.

That said, OP talks about "110" volts, uses $ and refers to "trickle" charging which is the verbiage Nissan uses in the US Leaf manuals to talk about 120 volt charging.

cwerdna said:

I've also seen some claims that some other countries outside the US have voltages that aren't 240 or 208 volts but rather 220 or 230.

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Yes, the international standard is 230VAC, and most countries are moving towards that (if they were at 220 or 240V). The logical thing would be for the USA to move to 230V and 115V, but that doesn't seem to be likely.

Let's recap what we think we know about the OP with confidence:
He owns a LEAF


After that, things get fuzzy