Average Battery decline ?

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Dyno1 said:
That’s not good to hear but I’ll do what I can to minimize battery degradation. According to the seller they only charged to 80% , so I am thinking the first owner before it was imported may have not taken the best care of battery. I rarely charge over 80% and never go below 20%. I don’t need to charge to 100% to get to work, even at 80% I can make the round trip to my furthest work location . As for charging , am I better to charge right away when I get to work or later so the battery has time to cool down a bit . Right now the temperature is pretty cool out , about 2-4 Celsius. Also can I expect to see an increase in battery range once the weather warms up and what gains can I expect if there is a gain .

Depends on what SOC you are charging to. My take is charge earlier then unplug as needed. This covers you for unexpected emergencies. Charging generated from heat will be mild unless its simply a real hot day which means it won't really matter a whole lot when you do it.

My 30 kwh held up perfectly (SOH 100%) and I spent most of a Summer with the pack hot all day but my SOC was never at 100% by default. I was DCing 2-5 times a day for 6 weeks missing only 2 days during that stretch. The benefit of the 30 kwh pack is full speed charging past 80% SOC which saved my bacon. As it was, I was doing 11-14 hour days so slow charging would have been more time on the back end.
 
My 2015 Leaf SL dropped bar 11 this week, at 55,800 miles. I feel fortunate to have made it this far, but it is disheartening to see the expected miles go down from the original 108+ I was seeing when I first bought the car.

There is a company here in Portland that does battery replacements, I don't think I'm to that point yet (and I haven't commuted to work for nearly two years now due to Covid...) - but on the fence... do I spent $8-13k for a replacement battery and possibly longer range, or do I scout out another gently used EV when my battery becomes too far gone to be practical?

Hmm.

Part of me likes the idea of being able to take my Leaf into the next decade and still have it viable... but the newer models have better efficiency and tech in them (mine still has the 3G modem, also, so no fun app perks for me)
 
First: you have a Lizard pack that is down to 10 bars... in Portland??? That's remarkable. Can you tell us about your charging habits, and your local micro-climate?

As for what to do: if you love the car, then I'd watch and wait for a good used/salvage 40kwh battery. Don't bother with a 30kwh pack, as they are too unreliable, and not really large enough to justify the risk and expense. 62kwh packs are even better, range-wise, but they represent extra expense and work to get them to fit. If you don't love the car, then watch for 2018+ Leafs coming off of leases, once the used car market settles down again.
 
LeftieBiker said:
First: you have a Lizard pack that is down to 10 bars... in Portland??? That's remarkable. Can you tell us about your charging habits, and your local micro-climate?

As for what to do: if you love the car, then I'd watch and wait for a good used/salvage 40kwh battery. Don't bother with a 30kwh pack, as they are too unreliable, and not really large enough to justify the risk and expense. 62kwh packs are even better, range-wise, but they represent extra expense and work to get them to fit. If you don't love the car, then watch for 2018+ Leafs coming off of leases, once the used car market settles down again.

Not uncommon. Have several in the region with many lost bars and relatively low mileage. In fact; the farther under the mileage curve, the more bars that tend to be gone. Likely a outcome of a high average SOC. Climate might matter but it does not overcome everything.
 
Well, we did have a 113 degree day during a really hot week last summer, and it's dropped under 25 (F) this winter a few times.

As for charging, I tend to let it get down to about 20 miles or less before I plug it in, then charge it on an L2 charger in the driveway to 100% - I will occasionally do an L3 rapid charge if I have to take a longer trip, but this doesn't happen often. I noticed the bar loss after a rapid charge at an outlet mall recently (Drove to a remote work location, only had 7 miles left when I pulled in)
 
agedmachine said:
Well, we did have a 113 degree day during a really hot week last summer, and it's dropped under 25 (F) this winter a few times.

As for charging, I tend to let it get down to about 20 miles or less before I plug it in, then charge it on an L2 charger in the driveway to 100% - I will occasionally do an L3 rapid charge if I have to take a longer trip, but this doesn't happen often. I noticed the bar loss after a rapid charge at an outlet mall recently (Drove to a remote work location, only had 7 miles left when I pulled in)

Well, that doesn't "sound" too egregious. There is no real guideline as to how bad any "line in the sand" SOC is and the 80% thing was born more out of the understanding that recommending a lower usage of an already limited range was a dicey subject. So we know we don't want to go too high or too low for extended periods of time but don't know how bad it is?

The only practice proven to be a good thing is "living in the middle" something that becomes fairly easy if you have over 200 miles of range like me but not so much when you have less than 100. On my 24 kwh's I had a job that required travel so it was full charge to full charge. Never lost a bar but also never had one longer than 3 years.

But it also sounds like you can go a few days between charges which means you can live in the middle. Kinda late now but you best option longevity is charge every day even if its only for a few hours. Keep it between 30 and 70% or whatever you need to cover the need with a buffer.
 
Also, let me clarify. When I say I ‘lost my 11th bar’ I meant that I lost bar #11. I still have 10. I think that may have been misinterpreted
 
Code:
agedmachine said:
Also, let me clarify. When I say I ‘lost my 11th bar’ I meant that I lost bar #11. I still have 10. I think that may have been misinterpreted

Lets talk about another 2015 owner in the Pacific Northwest. Just passed 200,000 miles and still has his 11th bar. With the driving he did, he had no choice but to charge to 100% every night. DC'd every day to be able to get home. Now, its less about the miles than it is the time involved. So both on the road for about the same amount of time.
 
is there anyone in the Seattle area that can repack my 2011 leaf battery pack cells? I picked it up about a month and half ago with 6 bars SOH 46.22% but my commute down near JBLM is only about 12-20 miles round trip mostly flat, not sure how long these bars will last, pretty new to the Leaf world, thanks!

cost me 2k
 
EV Works on Bainbridge Island might be able to help, although another forum member said they have a big backlog:

https://www.ev-works.com/
 
babbles said:
is there anyone in the Seattle area that can repack my 2011 leaf battery pack cells? I picked it up about a month and half ago with 6 bars SOH 46.22% but my commute down near JBLM is only about 12-20 miles round trip mostly flat, not sure how long these bars will last, pretty new to the Leaf world, thanks!

cost me 2k

Doubt that would be cost effective. Its easy (relatively speaking) to swap out packs but a significant logistical challenge to swap out cells not to mention a few cells won't help as your range is determined by your weakest cell. Unless you have a few out of whack, you need all the cells changed.
 
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