downeykp said:
Ok, now you guys are starting to worry me. I didn't buy my Leaf to have to worry about all of this sh#t. If Nissan knew this was a bad product (battery) I want out. We all knew there were limitations and bought assuming we could live with these limitations. What I am reading here is that they put out a defective product. Therefore this is not what I signed up for. I want out.
My suggestion, for those concerned about the life of their LEAF's battery, is to think of it this way:
1) If you almost always see five bars or less on the battery temperature gage, and it only gets up to six bars a handful of times each summer...
Don't worry about it. Your car's battery is likely to perform far better than the quoted capacity loss of 20% at 5 years and 30% at 10 years. Essentially, you live in an ideal environment for very slow degradation of the battery. Feel free to rack up lots of miles and quick-charge when needed. The battery will, likely, perform very well for a very long time.
2) If you see five bars or less during the winter half of the year and, fairly often, see six bars during the summer half...
You, probably, are going to see the quoted loss (20% loss at 5 and 30% loss at 10). If your driving needs are sufficiently small that you can afford to lose 20% of your range at 5 years and 30% at 10 years, there's, probably, nothing to be concerned about. Of course, if you put a lot of miles on your car, the degradation rate will be faster.
3) If seeing six bars is common for a large part of the year and an, occasional, seventh bar pops up during the summer months...
Don't consider buying. And, only consider leasing if you can handle the possibility of only having 75% of your original range at the end of your lease. Things might be better, or they might be worse, but it's not worth taking the risk to buy the car.
4) If you spend a large part of the summer with seven temperature bars, or more, showing...
It's, probably, best to stay away completely, unless you only need to travel very short distances each day. Only consider a short-term lease, if that. Don't even think about buying. The car's battery (and by extension the car itself) is not likely to be worth much after a few years.
I would consider just about anywhere in western Washington to be in the first group. In other words, there's, likely, nothing to worry about and your car's battery is, likely, to perform very well for a very long time. The handful of times temps get into the 90s for a few hours on a summer afternoon, are not likely to have a significant impact.
