Will software update bring 4-bar 2016 SL capacity over 8 bars?

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EVPowers

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
63
Location
Madison,WI
I found a 2016 30 kWh Leaf for sale.
Capacity gauge shows 4 bars. (2 red, 2 white)
I confirmed through dealership that it has not had the battery software update.
It is from a hot climate.

What are the chances that the software update will bring it over 8 bars?

Has anyone else waited for capacity to show this low before getting the update?

What was your result after the update?
 
Wow, that is tremendously low. Can you post a picture? Are you sure you are looking at the correct set of bars?

What is the real life range of the car as-is? That should give you an idea of the true SOH of the battery. The firmware update only changes how the car reports its capacity, AFAIK, it doesn't affect the actual real life range of the car.

For my 2017 S, I was at 92% SOH after 6 months before the update. I'm now at about 91.5% SOH at 5 years/31k miles after the update.
 
I'll have to figure out how to post a pic.
It is definitely at 4 capacity bars.
In the pic it will show SOC at 4 bars as well, with 17 mile range.
 
What a smart buy, congratulations on finding a 2016 30 kWh pack with that level of degradation. As I'm sure you know, the 30 kWh packs have an 8 year capacity warranty (or 100k miles - whichever comes first), so you should qualify for a free 40 kWh replacement pack. The software BMS update does apparently reset the capacity bars to 12, so you'll have to wait awhile for the BMS to relearn the true state of the pack before your LEAF can qualify for the new pack.
 
I should mention that it has 45,000 mi, so plenty of miles to go before the warranty is up.

So the update actually sets it to 12 bars no matter what, and then it takes a little bit of time for it to recalibrate to the true capacity bar reading?

Dang.

I was hoping it would immediately go to the true capacity reading. That way I could bring it in for the software update and immediately begin the battery warranty process without ever having to have the car leave the dealership.
 
I'd just add that the current reading is completely bogus, so there is no way to absolutely determine the real SOH.

But....I've never heard of one that low so chances are good that the battery already qualifies for a warranty replacement. Still there is also a chance that it will settle in at 10 bars or something after the update.
 
Does anyone have an idea how big the change to capacity is after the firmware update? I have a 2016 with 60K miles and about 2 years left on the warranty. It currently has 9 capacity bars. I live in a very hot climate, so plenty of heat on the battery. How likely am I to get it to drop to 8 bars in the remaining 2 years?

It already had the PC6300 service done, but the local dealership told me there is another service that needs to be done. What is the Nissan service code for that firmware update? PCXXXX? I don't really trust the competence of the service advisor that told me there was different service required. I asked him what the code was for it, but he didn't know. Seems odd.
 
In leafspy pro, turn on the service screen in settings then read the ecu versions - specifically "HV Battery". If it ends with an A, then it doesn't have the BMS firmware update. Unless things have changed lately, it should end with a C, but I don't know the current firmware version.

This screenshot should help...

maxresdefault.jpg
 
Does anyone have an idea how big the change to capacity is after the firmware update?

There is no change in actual battery capacity. If you mean apparent capacity, the BMS reset that is part of the update will restore it to reading 12 bars - for a while. As the BMS relearns the actual capacity, those extra bars will drop, over days, weeks, or in some cases, months. Then the display will show what the updated BMS thinks is the actual capacity.
 
Thanks, I will check the BMS Firmware Version in LSP.

And yes, I meant the apparent capacity (reported capacity), which at least temporarily will be different from the actual capacity. Nissan will want to see the reported capacity at 8 bars or lower in order to replace it under warranty.

I also had a good conversation with the Service Manager from a local dealership and had some info to share/confirm:

1) Some 30KwH batteries are being replaced with 30KwH batteries, and others are being replaced with 40KwH batteries. It really depends on what orders Envision has in the queue. If they have enough orders for 30KwH batteries on order, they will build them as 30KwH. Otherwise, they upgrade them to 40KwH. Has anyone recently had a 30KwH battery replaced with a 30KwH? I thought everybody is getting the upgraded 40KwH battery.

2) You don't need to actually get all the way down to 8 capacity bars to qualify for warranty. Nissan has a predictive algorithm that can project if it is likely that the battery will degrade to 8 bars before the warranty period expires. That is enough to satisfy the requirement. I did not know that. Has anyone used that provision?

3) The manager suggested that Nissan might allow for replacing a 30KwH battery with a 62KwH if you pay the difference in price. He was not sure though, so definitely needs to be verified. Can a 2016 Leaf actually take the 62KwH battery? Has anybody done this? If so, please share your experience.
 
I have to say that I don't really believe that service manager. 30kwh batteries being "upgraded" to 40? Unless he meant on the order form, that's not possible, as they use different chemistries. Nissan using a predictive algorithm to replace batteries before they drop to 8 bars??? They have refused to replace batteries when the car was literally just a mile or two over the 60,000 mile limit in the warranty. And last but not least, Nissan has put it in writing that 30kwh packs are now being replaced with 40kwh batteries. No ifs, ands or buts...
 
When I said "30KwH batteries being upgraded to 40KwH", I was referring to the warranty replacement. You stated that Nissan has put in writing that they only replace 30KwH with 40KwH. That is good to hear! Do you know where I can find the official message from Nissan?
 
That's the link I had trouble with. Is it working for everyone else, or does it just let you download the file? In any case, that's the document I converted to a JPEG and posted above.
 
Great, thanks. That is pretty clear. I doubt Nissan would bless the 62 KwH battery for a 2016, even if I paid the difference somehow. I would to hear if anyone has experience with that.
 
About the only hope, at this point, of Nissan offering for sale a 62 kWh pack would be when they discontinue the LEAF. That's unlikely though, as LEAF pack production would surely be terminated too, for all but warranty purposes. Maybe a few people will luck out, if they purge some inventory for a short period of time.
 
I am not sure the 62 would work in a 2016 from a technical standpoint without modification. Does anyone have any info on that? A friend told me that the additional weight of the battery would require suspension changes, but didn't have any specifics. Nissan has obviously blessed the 30 -> 40 upgrade, but I have not seen anything about the 30 -> 62 upgrade.
 
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