How long 'til 4th bar drops?

[Zapped]

Hi everyone!
I currently have a 2013 SV, manufactured date is 3/13, in an "extended test drive", of sorts, until Monday. Aka 5ish more days to make a final decision. In service date is June of 2013, grew up in Davis, CA.

It is at 10 bars, 29078 miles. Just checked LeafSpy and it looks like it only recently dropped to 10. AHr is 49.25, SOH 75%.

I am in Austin, TX. My goal is to take advantage of a new battery under warranty- I am hoping I have heat on my side and can drop the battery over an extended Texas summer. It won't be parked in a garage, it'll be parked in the sun, on the road. My commute/errands will be covered just fine by its short range (40 miles @ ~75% SOC). I will also mostly be charging at public stations and/or work, if I can finagle a plug to use.

I'm already kind of in love with it, but I don't want to be too blind to a fruitless endeavor.

Any thoughts on how feasible it'll be to drop to 8 bars by June of 2018?

I see it's your first post, so welcome to the forum!

You didn't say that you had already called Nissan's 877-NO-GAS-EV number with your VIN number to confirm the warranty details. That's your #1 priority right now. A previous owner could have settled the class-action lawsuit for cash, voiding the capacity warranty.

When you wrote you would "be charging at public stations and/or work" does that mean you have no plug at your residence? Or was this just a side-comment about it being cheap to charge? I would definitely not purchase a Leaf without being able to count on using the trickle (110v) charger at home.

I'm also in Austin, purchased a 2011 Leaf SL this year, and had the battery replaced under warranty in early March. You can run the numbers against online predictors or bounce the idea off forum members, but I personally would shop around for one that's MUCH closer to dropping to eight bars. Maybe if it was in the high 60% SOH range with 10K and a year left on the 5yr/60K warranty AND the price was great you could consider it. Otherwise I'd pass.

[nela]

I see it's your first post, so welcome to the forum!

Thank you for the response and welcome! Happy to see another Leaf owner in Austin. I'd previously been reprimanded for even considering a Leaf in this climate. I didn't know about the Austin Energy $25/6 months chargepoint access, thank you so so so much!

I will definitely call Nissan ASAP in the morning to confirm. I had been under the impression from something I'd read that the 2013 Leaf(ves?)s were not included in that previous lawsuit, but that is pretty naive to assume it was correct info! Thanks for the number.

And yes, I'm currently in an apartment that does not offer a charge station or home charging option for me. (Then again, I still need to truly go argue my point vs. ask an office lackey if the option is available.) This will change in November, as my lease will be up and I will be looking to rent a house that provides the ability to charge at home. My commute to work is only 5 miles round trip, so I'm incredibly lucky. It also isn't on any major roads, so I don't have to worry about getting stuck in traffic. For any longer errand days or extended trips, I either have no issue with taking the time to charge in between, or I also have access to an ICE should I absolutely need it. I have been using public transit for the last 5 years of living in San Francisco and Austin as my sole mode of transportation, so the thought of perhaps waiting 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes at a fast charge station while I go for a walk or run doesn't bother me at all. The one downtown is barely a 2 mile drive from work, so it could become a routine of mine a couple days a week. I'm rather good at planning my transit options ahead of time, so it won't be much of a leap for me to be actively thinking about errands to run while I drop the car off to charge somewhere! Anything that is better than a 2 hour commute, one way, each day, with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs, is a step up. I actually see it as incentive to get myself out and about!

I'm pretty committed to making the above situation work, either with this Leaf or a different one. And I'd love for other people to get invested in charging options outside of their garage, so I'm willing to be a guinea pig showing it is more than possible in a metro area to survive with an EV.

[cwerdna]

Hi everyone!
I currently have a 2013 SV, manufactured date is 3/13, in an "extended test drive", of sorts, until Monday. Aka 5ish more days to make a final decision. In service date is June of 2013, grew up in Davis, CA.

It is at 10 bars, 29078 miles. Just checked LeafSpy and it looks like it only recently dropped to 10. AHr is 49.25, SOH 75%.

I am in Austin, TX. My goal is to take advantage of a new battery under warranty-

...
You didn't say that you had already called Nissan's 877-NO-GAS-EV number with your VIN number to confirm the warranty details. That's your #1 priority right now. A previous owner could have settled the class-action lawsuit for cash, voiding the capacity warranty.

I kinda doubt that could be an issue. The Klee class action suit only applied to 2011 and 2012 Leafs. 2013 Leaf already came w/the capacity warranty and it's in their warranty booklet.

[Zapped]

Hi everyone!
You didn't say that you had already called Nissan's 877-NO-GAS-EV number with your VIN number to confirm the warranty details. That's your #1 priority right now. A previous owner could have settled the class-action lawsuit for cash, voiding the capacity warranty.

I kinda doubt that could be an issue. The Klee class action suit only applied to 2011 and 2012 Leafs. 2013 Leaf already came w/the capacity warranty and it's in their warranty booklet.

Sounds like @nela suspected that all of the 2013's would have the warranty, and @cwerdna confirms there's no risk of a previous 2013 Leaf owner settling the lawsuit for cash thereby invalidating the capacity warranty. Thanks for correcting me on that.

[briman]

The 4th bar dropped today in my 2012 SL, manufacturing date 5/12. LeafSpy Stats are:

AHr = 41.87
SOH = 63%
Hx = 42.59%
odo = 34,119
2 QC's and 1526 L1/L2s

I bought the car less than a month ago with 9 bars and knew it was close to dropping the fourth bar. The car spent the majority of its time in Georgia, and then about a year in Vegas. So no surprise that the battery has degraded. Now I just have to decide if I should get the battery replaced now or wait until after the summer. I live in Southern Utah, with weather that's similar to Vegas, but always about 10 degrees cooler. Still pretty hot in the summer, though. My warranty is good until late December of this year.

Ahhh, I live in Phoenix with a 2013 SL (01/13 manuf.) Today I hit 41.54 AHr. Still only at 37k miles so I'm sure it'll hit before the warranty is up, especially when summer fully hits here. I'm just getting impatient though

[briman]

The 4th bar dropped today in my 2012 SL, manufacturing date 5/12. LeafSpy Stats are:

AHr = 41.87
SOH = 63%
Hx = 42.59%
odo = 34,119
2 QC's and 1526 L1/L2s

I bought the car less than a month ago with 9 bars and knew it was close to dropping the fourth bar. The car spent the majority of its time in Georgia, and then about a year in Vegas. So no surprise that the battery has degraded. Now I just have to decide if I should get the battery replaced now or wait until after the summer. I live in Southern Utah, with weather that's similar to Vegas, but always about 10 degrees cooler. Still pretty hot in the summer, though. My warranty is good until late December of this year.

Ahhh, I live in Phoenix with a 2013 SL (01/13 manuf.) Today I hit 41.54 AHr. Still only at 37k miles so I'm sure it'll hit before the warranty is up, especially when summer fully hits here. I'm just getting impatient though

I finally hit the 8th bar after the temp hit the 90s, though my AHr went back up slightly to 41.66. Have an appointment next Thursday for them to run the necessary tests, then they will send the information to Nissan who will then decide if I can have a pack or not? (This is what the tech said), then it will take 3-4 weeks for it to get here and 2 days to install. They won't offer me a loaner car, so I'll have to use my ICE.

[GerryAZ]

I finally hit the 8th bar after the temp hit the 90s, though my AHr went back up slightly to 41.66. Have an appointment next Thursday for them to run the necessary tests, then they will send the information to Nissan who will then decide if I can have a pack or not? (This is what the tech said), then it will take 3-4 weeks for it to get here and 2 days to install. They won't offer me a loaner car, so I'll have to use my ICE.

It is a warranty repair so you should get a loaner car if it takes more than a day. I dropped off my 2011 in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon (but I assured the service advisor that I just needed enough charge in the new battery to get home).

[briman]

I finally hit the 8th bar after the temp hit the 90s, though my AHr went back up slightly to 41.66. Have an appointment next Thursday for them to run the necessary tests, then they will send the information to Nissan who will then decide if I can have a pack or not? (This is what the tech said), then it will take 3-4 weeks for it to get here and 2 days to install. They won't offer me a loaner car, so I'll have to use my ICE.

It is a warranty repair so you should get a loaner car if it takes more than a day. I dropped off my 2011 in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon (but I assured the service advisor that I just needed enough charge in the new battery to get home).

Yeah, perhaps it's the dealership. Midway Nissan on Bell (I am assuming from your name you are in AZ as well) apparently doesn't have loaners, but they have Enterprise on-site.

[Gorge]

How likely is it that I will hit 8 bar before my warranty is up?

• Current AHr: 43.466
  Mileage: 54,916
  AHr Drop Rate: About 0.373 AHr/Mo over a 1 year period of logging
  Approximate AHr by End of Warranty: 41.06
  Warranty Expiration Date: Fall 2017
  Location: Los Angeles
  Current SOH: 72% (It's been 72% for the past year, but my AHr has dropped 4.402 over that 1 year span and adding 6500 miles)

I feel like from an AHr standpoint, I should be well within the range needed especially as the temperature warms up. My main concern is my SOH. It hasn't dropped at all in the past year. Is 8 bar dependent on SOH at all? I'm surprised it hasn't gone down at all considering I've lost 4.4 AHr.

[Joe6pack]

Lost the 4th bar May 5. Stats on day of were:

2012 SL
Manufactured Date: 07/01/2012
Delivered: 10/04/2012
Miles: 48960.9
AHr: 42.994
SOH: 65%
Hx: 44.47
L1/L2: 4312
QC: 17

Dropping the car off with Nissan on Wednesday.