Capacity Loss on 2011-2012 LEAFs

[omkar]

I had a SoCal 3 bar loser:

Car 222 omkar Irvine, CA
3 bars lost at 35 months (11/19/2013) / 33,700 miles
2 bars lost at 29 months (5/25/2013) / 29,500 miles
1 bar lost at 20 months (9/5/2012) / 19,000 miles

[cwerdna]

I had "street" encounter today at the Santa Clara County Water District (http://www.plugshare.com/?location=7989" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) which has 7 J1772 EVSEs for free charging. I talked to the guy who pulled up in an '11 blue Leaf (owned, not leased, he also mentioned the $5K CVRP, so he got his pretty long ago) to charge. He asked me what my range was... and I was like...err... that's a tough question to answer since it depends on so many factors. He mentioned his range seemed lower and that he had 40K miles. We conversed about the GOM and I told him about how it's virtually useless, etc.

Anyway, he wasn't a user on MNL yet and had never seen Tony's range chart that I pulled out. He didn't seem to know about the "fuel bars" vs. the capacity bars. I asked him if he'd lost any capacity bars and he thought he hadn't. My response was that I didn't believe him, after 40K miles in the South Bay (not sure where he lives). I looked and he was down 2 capacity bars (unless I counted wrong). I also pointed him to the pages in my manual re: capacity bars.

Anyway, I pointed him on my phone to a pic of the car w/3 capacity bars gone at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index. ... acity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (to which he reacted "ooohh!") and was able to find the Wiki entry on the table of capacity bars lost vs. % capacity lost that was taken from the service manual. He didn't know about this either. He did say he received a letter and from our conversation, it sounded like it was about the 5 year/60K mile capacity warranty. I briefly described to him the details about that...

From the table and his experiences now, he felt that being down ~20-ish% capacity is about right.

[xtremeflyer]

Lost 3rd bar today. 36997 miles, build date is 4/11. In Orange, CA. Only have 4 more months on my lease, so don't think I'll lose the 4th bar before then.

I now have to quick charge in Hawthorne to make my 76 miles RT commute, where as a year ago I could do the commute just fine.

[DaveEV]

I now have to quick charge in Hawthorne to make my 76 miles RT commute, where as a year ago I could do the commute just fine.

I'm impressed that you could do it a year ago - was that with 1 bar down? What kind of driving do you do on the freeway to make it?

[xtremeflyer]

I now have to quick charge in Hawthorne to make my 76 miles RT commute, where as a year ago I could do the commute just fine.

I'm impressed that you could do it a year ago - was that with 1 bar down? What kind of driving do you do on the freeway to make it?

A year ago I'd set the cruise control to 62 to work and 65 home. By the end of summer id set it to 58. I finally gave in about November when it got cold and I needed the heat in the morning. Now I just sneak out at lunch and QC. Everyone there knows me and no one gives me any grief. I am ready to turn it in, but we aren't ready for a new car.

[z0ner]

I am ready to turn it in, but we aren't ready for a new car.

As you know, our LEAF ownership and bar depletion has been very similar. Although I haven't lost the 3rd bar yet, I'm awfully close. I've got about three months left on the lease, and I'll be turning mine in early and getting another. Probably a MY2013 with SV + QC, depending on the how much I can deal. Maybe MY2014 if the cost isn't too far apart. Sure I've hated the limited range, but with the QC network expansion and me being 12 miles away from work it hasn't impacted me terribly. With the exception of only buying two tires, I haven't shelled out for any maintenance on this car in 33 months. With all things considered, it is the best car I've ever owned. Not the most fun, certainly not the fastest, but BEV is where this country needs to be.

So with all that - what are your plans for it's eventual successor when you turn it in?

[xtremeflyer]

I am ready to turn it in, but we aren't ready for a new car.

So with all that - what are your plans for it's eventual successor when you turn it in?

I love the Leaf and agree that BEVs are the way to go. Unfortunately, I don't see my commute changing anytime in the near future and therefor, I'm not willing to deal with what I'm dealing with today in 2 years, even with the QC. I bought the Leaf originally mainly for the HOV access, but any time savings has been completely wiped away with having to stop at the QC.

I'm leaning towards the Ford Fusion Energi. They just dropped he MSRP by $4k and I can lease one for the same monthly payment I have now. Only 20 miles on Electric, but HOV access is priority one, saving gas is priority 2. If you asked me 6 months ago, I would have jumped on the RAV4EV, because the range would have been a nonissue. Unfortunately just reading all of the probls and the nonsupport by Toyota had just turned me off. Why Toyota or Nissan haven't made their hybrid SUVs plug in I have no idea. A plugin highlander or pathfinder would be in my driveway no questions asked.

Hopefully when my next car's lease is up, there will be affordable options with the range I need in all electric.

[dhanson865]

I had a SoCal 3 bar loser:

Car 222 omkar Irvine, CA
3 bars lost at 35 months (11/19/2013) / 33,700 miles
2 bars lost at 29 months (5/25/2013) / 29,500 miles
1 bar lost at 20 months (9/5/2012) / 19,000 miles

Interesting, was only in the wiki for the 1st bar lost. I'll see if I can add you to the 2 and 3 bar lost lists.

I added them but left the case number and reported dates blank for the 2 bar and 3 bar entries, also the manufacturing date looks to be in a different format (yy/mm vs mm/yy) than the other entries but I'm assuming in your case it is Oct 2011.

edit: added extremeflyer as well

#24 Jan 18, 2014 xtremeflyer Orange, CA 36,997 miles 34 months 4/11 03294
#23 Nov 19, 2013 omkar Irvine, CA 33,700 miles 35 months 11/10 00222

taking the counts to something near

September 37
October 9
November 2
December 2
Jan 2
Feb 0
March 1
April 6
May 28

June 51 (+ several with no date that are likely in Jun based on order of entry)
July 50 (+ several with no date that are likely in July based on order of entry)
Aug 59 (+ several with no date that are likely in Aug based on order of entry)

[dhanson865]

#24 Jan 18, 2014 xtremeflyer Orange, CA 36,997 miles 34 months 4/11 03294
#23 Nov 19, 2013 omkar Irvine, CA 33,700 miles 35 months 11/10 00222

Oh, and so much for waiting for Spring to get 3 bar losers in CA. I sure got that one wrong.

Can some of you Californians give me an idea where Irvine and Orange are vs the list below

Palm Springs, CA 1.77
Ridgecrest, CA 1.37
Bakersfield, CA 1.23
Fresno, CA 1.17
Palmdale, CA 1.12
Van Nuys, CA 1.10
Riverside, CA 1.09
Visalia, CA 1.09
Modesto, CA 1.08
Burbank, CA 1.07
Anaheim, CA 1.06
Los Angeles Civic Center 1.00
Santa Ana, CA 0.97
San Diego, CA 0.97
Sacramento, CA 0.96
Santa Monica, CA 0.93
Santa Clara, CA 0.90
San Jose, CA 0.90
Oceanside, CA 0.85
San Francisco, CA 0.76
Big Bear City, CA 0.59


Is Irvine = Santa Ana and Orange = Anaheim or did I get that wrong?

[Weatherman]

Santa Ana (John Wayne Airport) is a little cooler than most of Irvine. Orange and Anaheim are very similar.