[sidehaas]

I very much doubt they're of any use at all. Anything other than the ability to look at cell level condition, particularly at a low state of charge is pretty much a waste of time. Normal degradation is almost never an issue, the potential problem that needs weeding out is that of any weak/failing capacity cells and this can only be seen with the ability to test at an individual cell level at lower states of charge.

Leafspy is a superb tool for doing just this with the LEAF, especially the ability to watch individual battery cell performance under heavy loads at lower states of charge, in real time. I'm not aware of anything with similar features for other marques though.

It doesn’t need to be at low state of charge necessarily, but it helps to be across a range of SoCs. You can see individual cell voltages (updated every couple of seconds) on a bar chart for any ID car using a basic OBD reader and the carscanner app. I had a faulty cell that was replaced under a recall programme (or rather, the module containing it was replaced) and I monitored it for a couple of months before the work was done. The voltage delta by which it dropped below the rest of the pack was a function of SoC but not linear or intuitive at all. It was highest (around 18-20mv) around 60% and lowest (4-5mv) around 40%; at both low and high SoC it was somewhere in the middle and wouldn't have looked out of place.

I think a basic degradation test can be useful because it might tell if you if the car has a major problem eg very bad cell bringing the whole pack's capacity down. But obviously this should be rare. In my case the bad cell hadn't had any noticeable impact on range or on indicated maximum battery capacity before it was replaced.

 

[Favguy]

It doesn’t need to be at low state of charge necessarily, but it helps to be across a range of SoCs. You can see individual cell voltages (updated every couple of seconds) on a bar chart for any ID car using a basic OBD reader and the carscanner app. I had a faulty cell that was replaced under a recall programme (or rather, the module containing it was replaced) and I monitored it for a couple of months before the work was done. The voltage delta by which it dropped below the rest of the pack was a function of SoC but not linear or intuitive at all. It was highest (around 18-20mv) around 60% and lowest (4-5mv) around 40%; at both low and high SoC it was somewhere in the middle and wouldn't have looked out of place.

I think a basic degradation test can be useful because it might tell if you if the car has a major problem eg very bad cell bringing the whole pack's capacity down. But obviously this should be rare. In my case the bad cell hadn't had any noticeable impact on range or on indicated maximum battery capacity before it was replaced.

Testing done close to the bottom of SOC though is very useful. Weak, failing, cells that may have lost significant capacity will still often behave just fine at higher SOC's and look like healthy cells, but load them up when low and you'll see them fall off the cliff way before their piers do.

 

[HandyAndy]

Leafspy is a superb tool for doing just this with the LEAF, especially the ability to watch individual battery cell performance under heavy loads at lower states of charge, in real time. I'm not aware of anything with similar features for other marques though.

I'm not familiar with Leafspy. I use Car Scanner ELM (Pro version, free one has 95% of the functionality but better graphing on the Pro one, plus it's cheap so why not ...) and as far as I can see, this the the de-facto standard tool to examine a car's state, ICE as well as EVs. I can inspect all my cells at any time I want, and I think I could configure the dashboard to show max cell variation & which cell it is in real time, if I wanted to. I routinely monitor battery temperature, so I know whether my next topup's going to be a bit coldgated/hotgated or not. Does Leafspy show that? So I can't see why the commercial dealers on AT can't stick this Cell info in the ads as a matter of routine, even if the personal sellers lack the kit/knowledge.

 

[decimal]

Lots of high-mileage LEAF 40s available for less cash than a Corsa (petrol)..
Also interesting to see that the battery health bars are all still intact. I bet the LEAF 40 loses a bar when it reaches 70-75% but would be interested to hear from anyone with a SOH below 80% to confirm this.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503110029287

 

[Favguy]

Lots of high-mileage LEAF 40s available for less cash than a Corsa (petrol)..
Also interesting to see that the battery health bars are all still intact. I bet the LEAF 40 loses a bar when it reaches 70-75% but would be interested to hear from anyone with a SOH below 80% to confirm this.

View attachment 207156
www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503110029287

The LEAF 40 loses it's first bar at 86%

 

[tom66]

Be careful looking at SoH only. 80% SoH doesn't seem too bad but if Hx is high battery will charge slow and will run out of range very quickly once it gets below 25% or so SoC. The BMS in the Leaf isn't great at detecting long term signs of decay.

 

[Johnny Read]

Lots of high-mileage LEAF 40s available for less cash than a Corsa (petrol)..

I haven't checked, but I'd expect the WBAC trade in value for that is less than £2k. Close to £5k seems like a retail price. If I was looking for a Leaf40 I'd be offering £3400 and let the market decide if anyone wants it more.

Difficult to imagine, but before the EV price crash that would have been a £15k car.

 

[MarlowMallard]

Difficult to imagine, but before the EV price crash that would have been a £15k car.

I'm doubtful that a Leaf 40 with 113k miles would ever have been £15k , even at the post-Covid peak.
Around £10k , maybe.

 

[GOSPORT DAVE]

Lots of high-mileage LEAF 40s available for less cash than a Corsa (petrol)..
Also interesting to see that the battery health bars are all still intact. I bet the LEAF 40 loses a bar when it reaches 70-75% but would be interested to hear from anyone with a SOH below 80% to confirm this.

View attachment 207156
www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503110029287

Beware, this is the very early VISA model that was discontinued early on - it has basic everything including having only a 3.3Kw on board charger. It was a marketing stunt so they could say that the LEAF starts at £20K.

 

[donald]

I'm not a 'Leaf' sort, but for age and mileage, this seems in the 'bargain' category.

 

[decimal]

The LEAF 40 loses it's first bar at 86%

Apparently not.. My SOH is 85.4% and still got all my bars.

 

[decimal]

There's already a very useful thread for Cheap Deals, but I thought a thread that highlights used bargains specifically might be useful too.

Good value cash deals on old classics out of warranty, or deals on finance that highlight the useful price depreciation (or price correction) on some nearly-new EVs compared to list price.

Occasionally private sales can bring some intersting deals, like this one (now sold..):

View attachment 206436

MG5 LR is getting cheaper..

 

[davidr1963]

The LEAF 40 loses it's first bar at 86%

Apparently not.. My SOH is 85.4% and still got all my bars.

I’d double check that and actually count the bars in the battery. I thought I still had all twelve in my env200 but actually only have ten.

The display reduces the size of the battery case so the bars always fill the case rather than leaving the case the same size and leaving a space where missing bars were, if tha makes sense?

 

[donald]

I’d double check that and actually count the bars in the battery. I thought I still had all twelve in my env200 but actually only have ten.

The display reduces the size of the battery case so the bars always fill the case rather than leaving the case the same size and leaving a space where missing bars were, if tha makes sense?

What you say makes sense, but why doing it that way doesn't make any sense at all. They have been taking lessons from the masters of shrinkflation.

 

[davidr1963]

I’d double check that and actually count the bars in the battery. I thought I still had all twelve in my env200 but actually only have ten.

The display reduces the size of the battery case so the bars always fill the case rather than leaving the case the same size and leaving a space where missing bars were, if tha makes sense?

What you say makes sense, but why doing it that way doesn't make any sense at all. They have been taking lessons from the masters of shrinkflation.

I don’t know, particularly when the state of charge battery (my default display) shows the blue in the battery diminishing as you drive whilst leaving the battery casing the same size.

 

[Rei]

Apparently not.. My SOH is 85.4% and still got all my bars.

It can take some weeks for the bar to disappear even after the BMS reports the SOH below 86%.

 

[decimal]

It can take some weeks for the bar to disappear even after the BMS reports the SOH below 86%.

Are we sure about the drop in capacity bars on the ZE1?
I've seen very high mileage LEAF 40s with all bars on the display.. and I suspect the capacity display is set to different thresholds than the ZE0. Tried to find a reliable source for this info with no luck. Just lots of forum posts!

 

[Rei]

Are we sure about the drop in capacity bars on the ZE1?
I've seen very high mileage LEAF 40s with all bars on the display.. and I suspect the capacity display is set to different thresholds than the ZE0. Tried to find a reliable source for this info with no luck. Just lots of forum posts!

If that's right then it shows how useless the bars are!

 

[decimal]

Kona 64 holding value, but there are some good private sale deals out there.

 

[decimal]

"windknife" with low mileage.. but not FDSH..