Newbie: Is this 2016 Leaf SV worth it?

[LeftieBiker]

Yes, the BMS update should make the battery health reporting more accurate.

This is Nissan's claim, anyway. I'm not calling them liars, but I'd prefer to see more real world data before concluding that the BMS is actually more accurately reporting data after the update...

[goldbrick]

On a sample of one I'd say it worked for me. I was down to 92% SOH before the update (at 8 months post-purchase, now 96% SOH at 21 months) and I still haven't noticed any range loss. I think I could detect ~8% range loss but haven't although this is all sort of seat-of-pants stuff since I don't have a rigorous method for comparison.

[LeftieBiker]

On a sample of one I'd say it worked for me. I was down to 92% SOH before the update (at 8 months post-purchase, now 96% SOH at 21 months) and I still haven't noticed any range loss. I think I could detect ~8% range loss but haven't although this is all sort of seat-of-pants stuff since I don't have a rigorous method for comparison.

I don't doubt that the update is working well for some cars. It just seems to be doing little lasting good for others...

[Dfwtx]

For clarification, does the car charge backup to the 107 mile range regardless of how many capacity bars are left? Or does it go down accordingly?

[LeftieBiker]

For clarification, does the car charge backup to the 107 mile range regardless of how many capacity bars are left? Or does it go down accordingly?

The "Guess O Meter" as we call it, doesn't estimate the EPA range except by coincidence. It uses the last few minutes of driving, so isn't very precise. If you drive a regular route, then you will get lower and lower estimates (whatever they are) as the capacity drops.

[goldbrick]

For clarification, does the car charge backup to the 107 mile range regardless of how many capacity bars are left? Or does it go down accordingly?

As Leftie says, the GOM is really useless. When you lose capacity (and corresponding bars) you also lose capacity. So if the real-life range was 100 miles at 100% capacity and there are 2 lost bars and the battery is at 80% capacity (state of health, aka SOH), the real-life range will be 80 miles. The GOM may indicate something completely different and should just be ignored.

The state of charge (SOC) shows the % of the available capacity. Using round numbers of 100% SOH = 100 miles (not exactly right....)

brand new battery --> SOH = 100% and SOC = 100% --> real-life range = 100 miles
2 bars lost --> SOH = 80% and SOC = 100% --> real-life range = 80 miles

[Astros]

When I had a 2017 SV, I always used a trick to get an accurate highway range estimate from the Guess-O-Meter. If you turn on cruise control the range is calculated using your current speed, as opposed to an overly optimistic estimate that assumes more city driving. This looks like a sudden drop in range when you engage cruise control, but on long trips (300-500 miles in a day) I found I could actually rely on that range and make it to my next charging stop. If you have a chance, I'd recommend taking any used Leaf you are test driving out on the highway and checking the range estimate with cruise control set to, say, 65 mph. That should give you a good point of comparison between different used Leafs.

They changed the way the range is calculated for the GOM in the 2018+ models, so I no longer find that necessary.

[goldbrick]

^that's a great tip! You should post that in the 'tips and tricks' thread or maybe 'what you need to know before buying a used leaf' thread.

[SageBrush]

When I had a 2017 SV, I always used a trick to get an accurate highway range estimate from the Guess-O-Meter. If you turn on cruise control the range is calculated using your current speed, as opposed to an overly optimistic estimate that assumes more city driving. This looks like a sudden drop in range when you engage cruise control, but on long trips (300-500 miles in a day) I found I could actually rely on that range and make it to my next charging stop. If you have a chance, I'd recommend taking any used Leaf you are test driving out on the highway and checking the range estimate with cruise control set to, say, 65 mph. That should give you a good point of comparison between different used Leafs.

They changed the way the range is calculated for the GOM in the 2018+ models, so I no longer find that necessary.

If you can get an accurate fuel consumption and SoC drop from a short round trip test then fine; otherwise charge up the car and go for a 60 - 80 mile r/t test at 65 mph on the highway.

[LeftieBiker]

The SV and SL also have a second, more accurate range estimator as noted in Tips & Tricks. Push the Energy button on the Gen I steering wheel, and the Nav screen displays two concentric highlights circles over a map. The INNER smaller circle is usually accurate. The outer one is the same estimate as the GOM. Good tip about using CC though - I'll add it.