[Maria Masaniello]

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of buying a second hand Nissan Leaf 30kWh and when today we went to check the car, the battery was at 68% and the display was indicating a 65 miles remaining of driving - which means 95 miles with 100%.

The dealer explained us that the car remember the last 5 drives and calculate the average miles available for that way of driving and so we shoudn’t worry about because it is not a real indicator of the miles the car do with a full charge.

Is that correct? And if that is correct, how can I know of the battery is in good condition other than checking the miles at 100%?

Thank you
Kind regards
Maria

 

[slippyr4]

He’s right.
Crudest way is the battery health gauge which is the slim block of 12 bars- steer clear of anything with less than a full 12.

A Nissan dealer should be able to produce a battery health report for you.

 

[MetalHead]

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of buying a second hand Nissan Leaf 30kWh and when today we went to check the car, the battery was at 68% and the display was indicating a 65 miles remaining of driving - which means 95 miles with 100%.

The dealer explained us that the car remember the last 5 drives and calculate the average miles available for that way of driving and so we shoudn’t worry about because it is not a real indicator of the miles the car do with a full charge.

Is that correct? And if that is correct, how can I know of the battery is in good condition other than checking the miles at 100%?

Thank you
Kind regards
Maria

If you drive it for a few miles it should adapt to your driving style.
Also ensure it has had the battery management system update as that fixes an issue that reports the battery as being in much worse condition that it really is. I suspect this car is missing that.
It's a simple software update by a dealer.

 

[Blackeunos]

The Nissan battery reports look pretty (they have stars on)... But that's about as much use as they get!

 

[Leafocaster]

As mentioned above check the battery health gauge extreme right of display should have 12 bars, my 30 KWh Leaf driving normally achieves around 90-ish miles at 100% battery. It varies a lot depending on temperature, driving style, speed, hills, wind direction, and climate control use.

 

[Kingpleb1]

He’s right.
Crudest way is the battery health gauge which is the slim block of 12 bars- steer clear of anything with less than a full 12.

A Nissan dealer should be able to produce a battery health report for you.

Personally I wouldn't say that...
Keep servicing it well as long as it's already had its services on time and then just hammer the battery. When it falls even further down and hits the threshold you get a replacement under nissan warranty... Simples

 

[Leafocaster]

Personally I wouldn't say that...
Keep servicing it well as long as it's already had its services on time and then just hammer the battery. When it falls even further down and hits the threshold you get a replacement under nissan warranty... Simples

Must admit when using my Leaf minimally the battery SOH on Leafspy goes down, but when traveling distances rapid charging and generally hammering the battery my SOH goes up.

 

[Maria Masaniello]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your help. When you say the 12 bar you mean those in the pic attached (it is just a sample taken on internet - not from the car).

If you drive it for a few miles it should adapt to your driving style.
Also ensure it has had the battery management system update as that fixes an issue that reports the battery as being in much worse condition that it really is. I suspect this car is missing that.
It's a simple software update by a dealer.

How can I check if it had the battery management system updated?

Thank you all again
Maria

 

[MetalHead]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your help. When you say the 12 bar you mean those in the pic attached (it is just a sample taken on internet - not from the car).



How can I check if it had the battery management system updated?

Thank you all again
Maria

Yes the right hand bar.
To do the check yourself you need an OBD-II reader and Leafspy Pro.
Otherwise call the dealer and ask if the BMS update has been applied to your car.
They should know what you mean. If they're not sure, ask them to check recalls on your car.

 

[Bol d'or]

I'd like to hear how owners are doing since the BMS update.
I saw a post elsewhere where the guy suggested it might be a rouse for Nissan to get out of paying for new batteries under the 5 year warranty.
Artificially alter the display so that it takes even longer to drop down to the required figure to entitle you to a new battery pack.

 

[Maria Masaniello]

Thank you all again.

We have checked the 12 bar and they are there and we have asked both for the battery health report and the BMS update.

In the meantime that we get these information, we have tried the car - going on motorway with a speed of 50/60miles/h (no eco mode activated) and starting with a 99% battery and 95 average miles available estimated (in drive mode) and 101 miles in eco mode :
- after 6 miles the first bar disappeared and the battery dropped to 94%
- after 7.5 miles from when we started we used 10% of battery
- when we have done a total of 15 miles the second bar disappeared and the battery was 83%
- at the end of our test, after a total of 15 miles, the estimated miles available to drive dropped from 95 to 88 miles.

What do you think? Not sure if this can help someone that is expert to understand if the quality of the car is good or not

I'd like to hear how owners are doing since the BMS update.
I saw a post elsewhere where the guy suggested it might be a rouse for Nissan to get out of paying for new batteries under the 5 year warranty.
Artificially alter the display so that it takes even longer to drop down to the required figure to entitle you to a new battery pack.

Did you have any news about this or do you remember the link?

Thank you all
Maria

 

[StuartAB]

Thank you all again.

We have checked the 12 bar and they are there and we have asked both for the battery health report and the BMS update.

In the meantime that we get these information, we have tried the car - going on motorway with a speed of 50/60miles/h (no eco mode activated) and starting with a 99% battery and 95 average miles available estimated (in drive mode) and 101 miles in eco mode :
- after 6 miles the first bar disappeared and the battery dropped to 94%
- after 7.5 miles from when we started we used 10% of battery
- when we have done a total of 15 miles the second bar disappeared and the battery was 83%
- at the end of our test, after a total of 15 miles, the estimated miles available to drive dropped from 95 to 88 miles.

Thank you all
Maria

If I drive my 30Kw leaf at 66 indicated (60 real) with cruise control on the motorway, I expect to lose 1% for every mile. I ignore the "estimated range" on the display! However, that's in the weather/temperature of a week or so ago, so it may be worse now. You lost 16% over 15 miles, which seems OK to me. Ignore the estimated range, and just look at the battery %age.

Stuart

 

[Leafocaster]

Thank you all again.

We have checked the 12 bar and they are there and we have asked both for the battery health report and the BMS update.

In the meantime that we get these information, we have tried the car - going on motorway with a speed of 50/60miles/h (no eco mode activated) and starting with a 99% battery and 95 average miles available estimated (in drive mode) and 101 miles in eco mode :
- after 6 miles the first bar disappeared and the battery dropped to 94%
- after 7.5 miles from when we started we used 10% of battery
- when we have done a total of 15 miles the second bar disappeared and the battery was 83%
- at the end of our test, after a total of 15 miles, the estimated miles available to drive dropped from 95 to 88 miles.

What do you think? Not sure if this can help someone that is expert to understand if the quality of the car is good or not


Thank you all
Maria

That sounds about right to me those are the range bars, as long as the bars on the extreme right stay on 12 the battery sounds like its in good health. I pretty much ignore the GOM (guessometer) as that's all it does guesses on your current driving style etc. I instead always have the battery percentage showing on the dashboard as I can then estimate for myself the range.

How did you enjoy the test drive? it pretty much sold the car to me on my test drive.

 

[Leafocaster]

I saw a post elsewhere where the guy suggested it might be a rouse for Nissan to get out of paying for new batteries under the 5 year warranty.
Artificially alter the display so that it takes even longer to drop down to the required figure to entitle you to a new battery pack.

Must admit that was my first thought as well when I heard of the update?

I haven't had the update done yet and I'm close to losing my first bar, although it seems when I mistreat the battery charging to 100% and rapid charging (I don't need to do this too often) my SOH jumps back up into the 90's again?

 

[MetalHead]

I'd like to hear how owners are doing since the BMS update.
I saw a post elsewhere where the guy suggested it might be a rouse for Nissan to get out of paying for new batteries under the 5 year warranty.
Artificially alter the display so that it takes even longer to drop down to the required figure to entitle you to a new battery pack.

I had the update and it definitely bumped the range. If it was just pretending then it's in the last 20%.
I've done a 95 mile journey and still not hit LBS which is a fixed 4kWh value.
Woodhead pass so not fast but definitely not flat!
Also it's actually an 8 year warranty (100k miles) for the 30kWh model.

 

[Maria Masaniello]

Hi everyone again,

So.. last updates received are the attached heaths’ check and that “The software update will be done on the 84 point check prior to you collecting the vehicle.”

Sorry to ask your help again - but it is ok even if the first point has 4 starts? Checking around I read that usually is everything 5 starts..

Thank you all
Cheers
Maria

 

[MetalHead]

Hi everyone again,

So.. last updates received are the attached heaths’ check and that “The software update will be done on the 84 point check prior to you collecting the vehicle.”

Sorry to ask your help again - but it is ok even if the first point has 4 starts? Checking around I read that usually is everything 5 starts..

Thank you all
Cheers
Maria

Just means the previous owner has done a little more rapid charging than most people. Absolutely nothing to worry about.