[Leafychris]

Hi

I just purchased a Nissan Leaf tekna 30kwh 2016.

I put it on charge last night ok the home charger (3 pin home socket) it fully charged but I woke up with only 80miles range. Also I noticed it only has 11 bars of health.

the car had 30k miles on the clock.

Is there anything I can do? I thought the car would say at least 100 miles range if not 120...

Do I take the car back to the dealership? Go to Nissan and get it checked out? Leafspy?

Thanks for any help.

 

[dk6780]

Welcome.

I'm disappointed that your first experience of an EV is a problem.

The estimated range is generally referred to as a Guess-o-meter on the LEAF as it is very variable and will depend how it was driven over the last few miles. If you (say) made a short high speed journey on cold wet roads with the Heater and AC on and low tyre pressures then the range will show much lower than if you drove it at moderate speeds on a warm dry day. So take the number with a pinch of salt.

However, 80 miles is very low. 11 bars is not good, but most early 30kWh cars are close to the point where they lose the first bar.

I'd recommend acting quickly as you have much stronger rights in the first 14 days of ownership to reject the car. Personally I'd get LEAFSpy on it but only when the battery is as flat as possible as when fully charged even bad modules are largely hidden. Whereabouts in the Country are you - you may find an experienced local owner who can take a look for you. Also, check that the Nissan service history (not other garages) is up to date otherwise you may have lost the battery guarantee in which case reject it ASAP.

The LEAF30 is a good car but there are bad examples out there.

 

[Leafychris]

Hi, thanks for the very fast response. I’ll order leafspy today... it’s had 3 Nissan services it says in the book.

I called Nissan they want £130 to run a diagnostics.

This is the battery right now.. only drove 6 miles since fully charged.

i am in Leighton buzzard near Milton Keynes.

I agree I need to act fast.

thanks again.

 

[dk6780]

You need to ask Nissan when the next service is required to get to keep the battery warranty - get it in writing (email).

Nissan's battery check is very binary - has it failed below 70% of capacity or not. I suspect that yours hasn't yet so I wouldn't waste my money.

One thing that confuses me is the last picture. Even on a "granny" charger it shouldn't need 3:30 hours to charge back up to 100% after only 6 miles. The last hour is battery balancing, but the other 2:30 hours should give about 4-5kWh (16-20%) charge into the battery. So are you entirely sure that you had fully charged it this morning? Did you have the display that currently shows the charging time showing the battery % at 100%? Or could there have been a Charge timer set on the car that ceased the charging before it got to 100%?
To display the charge available press the square button at the top left of the block of four beneath the air vent to the right of the steering wheel and it cycles through various options.

To check whether a charge timer is set press the blue e button at the bottom right of the display screen and then various options come up including at the top right the Charging Timer.

You can either set this to off or once you have commenced charging press the timer override button which is third from the left on the four buttons in a line on the right of the steering wheel below the four used to control the dash display.

Also, if you use the Climate Control to preheat the car this will use more electricity than the "granny" charger provides so you will end up with less than you expect, for example my Wife's car with a 3.6kW charger on ends up with about 96% charge at present and it would be lower with a "Granny" charger.

 

[Mark Evans]

So the car said 80 miles fully charged, and has only dropped 3 miles on the GOM while you've actually driven 6 miles - this tells me that the actual milage you should attain will be definitely more than the 80 miles predicted if you drive in a similar way.
Looking at the service records though, I would be asking why there is no 2020 service? I believe it should be serviced annually, irrespective of mileage covered.

PS - there was an "update" for the 30kWh models that helped to 'correct' the battery information I believe - has this update been applied to this car?

 

[Layzee]

A couple of things, as mentioned leaf spy is a must, secondly did you explain to the dealer that you needed the car to have a certain minimum range ? did the dealer explain that it had lost a bar and that it would impact on range and resale value ?
Finally it is very unlikely that there will be any DTC error codes relating to battery condition as yet, Nissan will not usually do anything until either codes are generated or there is a "severe reduction in range" thats from their sevice manual.
As it is a 30 you still have a few years of battery warranty on it.
Personally I would just return it.

 

[BruceH]

Loss of one bar feels a little early for the mileage, so worth checking the battery management software update as mentioned above (there are various threads here about how to identify software versions). Assume it wasn't a Nissan dealer who sold it to you? As well as service history missing 2020, it only did 1000 miles in an entire year between 2018 and 2019; this suggests it may have been left for extended periods without use, and if the battery was left fully charged for a long period then this can cause premature degredation.

It's really hard to say if there are any serious problems though; as suggested above if you drove 6 miles for 3% of range then the guess-o-meter may just be very pessimistic based on previous journeys. I'd go for a few longer drives in a gentle style until low battery warning, then do another full charge, and see how much GOM increases.

 

[Leafychris]

Hi

thanks for all of your great advice guys. I’ll call Nissan about it’s next service and see if I can book it in.

I have ordered a leafspy dongle and paid for the app.

ill Try to find the battery version.

really great advice

I now need to make a decision on weather to return it or not!!

the car is immaculate but the battery is a big concern to me now.

 

[Gerrard]

My 30kWh Leaf is a 2017 with 34k miles and has just lost its first bar. However, when I fully charge, it will still say over 100 miles, and will take around 7-10 miles off for climate control. The gauge will also still fill all 12 bars when fully charged.

 

[Leafychris]

Hi everyone thanks again. This a great forum.

this is very disheartening today...

So looking at the paperwork the warranty will cover reduced capacity for 8 years..

should I maybe book in under warranty for the battery.

or should I book a service as it’s due one?

What is the safer bet?

Also which dongle is best for leafspy?

Thanks

 

[DomJ]

I wouldn't book it in or pay for any work to be done before you're sure you're going to keep it. Have you done the checks suggested above? Run it down to near empty with gentle/normal driving and then charge back to 100% to see what the range then suggests?

 

[Tandy0]

Chris, your car doesn't sound too bad to me. I would do what Bruce suggests before you start worrying.

It's really hard to say if there are any serious problems though; as suggested above if you drove 6 miles for 3% of range then the guess-o-meter may just be very pessimistic based on previous journeys. I'd go for a few longer drives in a gentle style until low battery warning, then do another full charge, and see how much GOM increases.

 

[Leonids]

Hi everyone thanks again. This a great forum.

this is very disheartening today...

So looking at the paperwork the warranty will cover reduced capacity for 8 years..

should I maybe book in under warranty for the battery.

or should I book a service as it’s due one?

What is the safer bet?

Also which dongle is best for leafspy?

Thanks

Car Warranties - Nissan Ownership - Owners Area | Nissan

Discover the different car warranties available at Nissan, so you can enjoy your vehicle and drive with complete peace of mind.

www.nissan.co.uk

*The Nissan LEAF & eNV200 lithium-ion battery state of health guarantee protects against battery capacity loss (less than 9 bars out of 12) as shown on the in vehicle capacity gauge for a period of 8 years / 100,000 miles for 40 kWh vehicles and 8 years / 100,000 miles* for 30 kWh vehicles and 5 years / 60,000 miles* for 24kWh vehicles. For LEAF flex customers, the battery state of health guarantee applies for the duration of the battery lease.

 

[shikoku14]

Hi everyone thanks again. This a great forum.

this is very disheartening today...

So looking at the paperwork the warranty will cover reduced capacity for 8 years..

should I maybe book in under warranty for the battery.

or should I book a service as it’s due one?

What is the safer bet?

Also which dongle is best for leafspy?

Thanks

Hi Chris, I have a LELink ODBII dongle that I used to use for LeafSpy, I no longer have a Leaf and it would save me listing it on eBay, send me a PM if you are interested. (and sorry to hear about your issues, we'll get you well armed here before you contact Nissan).

 

[TJEV]

@Leafychris I think the previous owner just drove it hard, so the estimate is low. Probably 70 on the motorway for its entire life. Once it’s adjusted to your driving style (is there not a GOM reset?) it should be more accurate. In the meantime, the GOM will just reduce slower than your actual miles travelled.

 

[dk6780]

It may just be that the garage left it turned on to demist it before pickup, hence using the battery to warm the car but achieving no miles.

 

[JonJ]

Drive it fairly gently all the way down to 10%, make sure you leave Eco mode on, and the heater off (use heated seats and steering wheel).
Then charge it up again, will probably show 100-110 miles then. and if you carry on driving it like that, you will likely get that range out of it.

Otherwise 80-90 is about right in the winter months, I am afraid that is how the Leaf 30 is once the battery has started to degrade a bit.

 

[Edd Beesley]

Hi

I just purchased a Nissan Leaf tekna 30kwh 2016.

I put it on charge last night ok the home charger (3 pin home socket) it fully charged but I woke up with only 80miles range. Also I noticed it only has 11 bars of health.

the car had 30k miles on the clock.

Is there anything I can do? I thought the car would say at least 100 miles range if not 120...

Do I take the car back to the dealership? Go to Nissan and get it checked out? Leafspy?

Thanks for any help.

27kwh usable capacity when new
Battery at best is 84% SOH (since you lose the first bar at 85%), so 22.7 kwh usable now.
It's winter, so 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour is a reasonable estimate for the Leaf, that's.... 79 miles. You might get to 4 miles per kilowatt hour in winter with careful driving, that's 90 miles.

 

[TJEV]

Oh yes, if that is the case then 80 miles is absolutely the best you can expect from a 22kWh battery in winter.

 

[Leafychris]

Thanks everyone I have taken all of your great advice, ran the battery down as economically as possible and now it’s charging. I have also purchased a dongle from a member here so I will see tomorrow and then post back.