Lack of "regen" on 2011 Leaf with degraded battery

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brycenesbitt

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
151
I get almost no regen dots when driving.
On my 2011 Leaf I can tell the difference between the friction brakes and the dynamic brake, and it matches the regen dots in the spedometer.

If the car is any where near full charge, no regen dots.
If the car is going to fast, no dots. Once it slows to maybe 15mph I get some dots for a bit.


The car has 7 bars of battery health. Looks basically fine on leafspy.
It gets just under 3 miles per kwh based on a JuiceBox.
Effective range to (almost) turtle is 30 to 35 miles in mixed city driving, relatively flat.

Is this normal? Is the lack of regen normal and can anything be done, such as swapping electronics from a newer Leaf?
 
brycenesbitt said:
Is this normal? Is the lack of regen normal and can anything be done, such as swapping electronics from a newer Leaf?
Completely normal. The only thing that can be done is to replace the battery pack.
 
Yes completely normal, my 8-bar '12 acts the same way :(
It's really too bad as with it's short-range I could really use more regen! A while back someone posted something about the ability to give maximum regen even with a degraded battery but I did respond I'd be very interested in such a product but the OP never posted back, vaporwear?
 
This was the thread I was thinking about, I think Piro has gone MIA, no activity since April :(
It was a nice idea though.....
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32111&p=603767#p603767
 
Regeneration is based upon maximum allowable cell voltage. Since internal resistance goes up as the battery deteriorates and in cooler temperatures, regeneration (and DCFC charging speed) are reduced. I noticed it with the original battery in my 2011 first in cooler temperatures once I lost two bars. Full regeneration (and faster DCFC charging speed) returned when the battery was replaced. The internal resistance of the battery in the 2015 was lower so the drop in regeneration was less noticeable as its battery deteriorated. The 2019 battery has much lower internal resistance than the 2015 and is still at 12 bars after two years in Phoenix so there has been no loss of regeneration yet.
 
Update: as the battery ages, it becomes more and more resistant to regen.
However, it still charges at L2 or Quick at the same rate as ever.
Something is fishy.

See also https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=18822
 
GerryAZ said:
What charge rate do you see on DCQC?
Not sure about brycenesbitt but on my 8-bar '12 with basically no regen, the last time I QC'd(which was in the winter a couple years ago but was still 8-bars) I only got about double the speed(12k) I get with my '13 on L2(6k). which I guess is still 4x I get with L2 on my '12(3.3k).
I like my '12 but the lack of regen really sucks, especially since I mainly use it for local driving and frequently charge it to near full as the battery is so degraded and at anything above 60% I get no regen bubbles :(
 
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