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LMF5000

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Messages
41
Just took delivery of a new MY22 40kWh N-Connecta leaf. I'm in Malta so the dealer specced an interesting set of accessories that are different to what you usually see - it came with a spare tyre slung under the car, the boot liner, boot boxes and a cargo tray (parcel shelf in UK lingo).

I have a couple of questions after my first few days driving it -

1. What apps and methods are there to show internal info on the car? I heard of the leafspy app, are there others? I want to look at things like real SOC, real-time power consumption numbers etc.

2. I know longevity is harmed by fully charging the battery, but is it also harmed by fully discharging the battery? The car was at 100% charge when I got it. I've been driving all week, put 180km on it and I'm now down to 15%. I want to drive until very close to zero to see the real range under my local conditions, then from that point on I intend to charge it to 70%, drive, and recharge only once it falls below 30%. Like that it should take about a week between charges with my typical mileage of 15km daily.

If a more optimal charging strategy exists please let me know!

3. Which app/s let you turn on climate control remotely and control charging? I haven't connected the car to WiFi yet.

4. Is there a way to power things like a microwave with the leaf? The Ioniq 5 and Honda E have native V2L for example. The chademo based units seem to be extremely expensive (more than a petrol generator) so they're out. I read I could put an inverter across the 12V battery - does anyone know the max power rating of the onboard DC-DC converter that supplies the 12V power?

5. Is there a way to turn off the reversing chime and the pedestrian-warning faux motor noise?

6. When manoevering in my garage complex I have to pass through extremely tight spots where the parking sensors go off, despite there being a gap of several inches still. Is there a way to tune that? The near/mid/far sonar settings on the car's main display don't seem to do much.

7. My car doesn't have pro-pilot, but it does have a button that looks like a car with two concentric circles around it (button is on the dash near the button for opening the charge port). The instruction book says it activates lane assist. I haven't noticed a difference between the button being on and off. Does anyone know what it actually does?

8. Does stronger regen (for example Eco mode, B mode or e-pedal mode) help or hinder battery longevity? It charges at an appreciable current in e-pedal mode, I've seen up to 35kW with the onboard information display function.
 
Welcome to the forum. I'm short on time right now, so I'll address the most important questions.

2. If you want to take it down to the point where the car is warning you and the estimated range disappears, the important thing to remember is to plug it in to recharge immediately afterward. That more or less mitigates the effects of running it too low. Do that anytime it gets below 20-25% charge.

3. Nissan Connect EV. I don't know if you can use it in Malta, though. (Interestingly, I live 10 miles away from Malta, NY, USA.)

4. Yes, an inverter is what you want, preferably pure sine wave. You can pull up to 1800 watts, but I suggest limiting it to 1500. If you want to do that regularly, at home, you might also consider getting a 50-100+AH storage battery, to act as a buffer. You'd connect the car to the storage battery, and the inverter to it, as well. That would offer some protection for the car's little 12 volt battery.'

6. No, I'm afraid not.

8. It's essentially harmless if the battery isn't hot or ice cold. It has a negative effect on longevity if the battery is hot, or very cold.
 
Thanks for the replies so far! Giving it its first ever charge at the moment and reading the manuals to try and answer some of my own questions :)
 
LMF5000 said:
8. Does stronger regen (for example Eco mode, B mode or e-pedal mode) help or hinder battery longevity? It charges at an appreciable current in e-pedal mode, I've seen up to 35kW with the onboard information display function.

That is less than a 1C rate for your 40kWH pack -- a reasonably mild rate and rarely for more than a couple of minutes, usually even less. The vehicle will limit regen in conditions where it would be problematic (such as when at a high state of charge). Just not something worth worrying about, imho.
There are things you can do which have a far more substantial bearing on battery longevity -- the first among those would be avoidance of sitting at 100% for long periods of time.
 
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