Bought used Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh 2016 model yesterday- range only 70 miles?

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CharlotteV

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Apr 25, 2022
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I bought this car from a dealership yesterday as my first electric car and was told its fully charged range is 70 miles. I was also told it cannot rapid charge and it takes about 2 hours to get fully charged if fast charging.

My terminology is probably not the most accurate as I’m still adjusting, but I’ve looked further online and it appears Nissan Leafs are supposed to have a range of around 150 miles.

Is it normal that mine is less than half of this, or does it sound like an issue with the car? (Nervous I’ve bought a faulty car from a dodgy dealer and won’t be able to get my money back.)
 
Welcome. The 30kwh Leafs have a rated range of 107 miles or so when new. Yours likely has lost a lot of its battery capacity to have a 70 mile range. There may be good news, though, (or maybe not): In the US, the battery capacity warranty for the 30kwh Leaf is 8 years, 100,000 miles. If your Leaf has that same warranty, then it may now or soon be eligible for a free 40kwh battery. For a better explanation of this, I'll link my used Leaf buying guide.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=538030

Your dashboard has a combined gauge that shows both charge level in "bars" and, via much smaller bars, the remaining capacity. The capacity bars are right at the end of the much larger charge bars, and unlike the charge bars, they don't vary with charge level. See if you can count how many capacity bars are left. The two red ones are counted as well. The count will likely be between 8 and 12.

I'm on my way to bed, but others will be along to help you soon.
 
We had a similar car for several years, and IF (as Lefty says) the capacity bars are in the 10-12 range it SHOULD give you around 70 miles. If it doe4s NOT have the Fast Charge capability, which you can tell by looking under the charging hood for a large plug to the left of the smaller one, then it will take more than 2 hours to charge but that time will depend on what voltage and amperage you charge at. Most people end up charging mostly at home so prepare to go down the (interesting but time-consuming) rabbit hole of home charging options. We loved that car!
 
It's also possible your car has a 24kWh battery. In the US the 4th digit of the VIN is A for 24kWh and B for 30kWh. I'm not sure if that applies to your location or if 24kWh was even an option there for 2016.

I have a 2017 30kWh Leaf and routinely get > 100 miles per charge but a lot depends on average speed driven, the inflation level of the tires (PSI), temperature, climate control usage, etc. Even so, 70 miles for a 30kWh battery is quite low for normal situations unless the battery is degrade a fair amount or the car was going > 70mph the entire time.
 
CharlotteV said:
I bought this car from a dealership yesterday as my first electric car and was told its fully charged range is 70 miles. I was also told it cannot rapid charge and it takes about 2 hours to get fully charged if fast charging.

My terminology is probably not the most accurate as I’m still adjusting, but I’ve looked further online and it appears Nissan Leafs are supposed to have a range of around 150 miles.

Is it normal that mine is less than half of this, or does it sound like an issue with the car? (Nervous I’ve bought a faulty car from a dodgy dealer and won’t be able to get my money back.)

How many capacity bars are showing on the dash? If you are unsure, look for two sets of lights in an arc shape. The innermost arc of lights represents the current state of charge. The outermost arc are the important ones right now - how many of those are lit up?

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