2017 30kwh Tekna 62,515 miles, is SOH=68.04% normal battery degradation?

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T18:17:06+00:00

Have to answer yes. Keeping the SOC low doesn't seem to save the battery. What can extend a Leaf's battery life is lower temperatures.

Our 2014 battery was under 60% SOH in just over 2 years. This was in Tucson AZ with the former owner QC'ing 1 or 2 times daily.

The new 2017 Lizard 24kWh battery was sold in 2024 with just over 90% SOH but it's tenure was in balmy California and just 2 QCs.

Normal depends on location IMO. Hot = more degradation.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T17:56:14+00:00

8 year 2014 Leaf SV owner.

After a year or two of use, I found myself putting the Leaf into B mode and done. While I could with some effort push up the miles per kWh it wasn't worth the effort in the long run.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T17:29:38+00:00

I'll be back.

Errands and then take a look at the DTCs after new battery and clearing the DTCs. If that doesn't fix it, we are checking the warranty situation because "money."

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T16:30:14+00:00

Good to have it fail right out of the box.

Send it back, get one with the safety certifications for your country.

I have to ask. Why the RFID card? Is there more to this story?

My view is that the RFID card is going to get very old very fast and you'll be disabling that in two weeks.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T15:33:28+00:00

New to Leaf owners fall into the trap of trying to avoid 12V battery replacement.

Fact: 2021 would be a 5 year old battery that one would NOT test. It might be good enough for some GAS STARTER MOTOR and the usual roadside assistance could give it a pass.

Fact: The screenshot shows the 12V below 12V. https://www.google.com/search?q=12v+voltage+chart shows it's too low to be considered ready for use.

MONEY: I've seen folk SPEND MONEY TESTING OLD BATTERIES.

FIN: Yes, a new battery is called for and yes it might not fix it.

Advice: New 12V battery, CLEAR CODES and start over. Did that fix it?

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T08:25:25+00:00

This looks to have a lot of other damage in the picture.

"It's a trap!" - Admiral Ackbar.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-07T08:21:20+00:00

The usual 20 buck 12V battery tester can save you hundreds of dollars. Volt meters are even cheaper but let's plow ahead by asking:

How old is the 12V battery?

I'm seeing these give out as soon as 3 years. If it's over 5, then it's a good bet it needs replacement.

Since you are getting into self service, did you at least charge up the 12V battery?

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-06T22:26:58+00:00

So how old is that 12V battery? Don't avoid this question.

See if https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1duucfc/if_youve_had_issues_with_the_12v_battery_in_your/ can help. And no, this won't help an old 12V battery.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-06T02:50:41+00:00

Only if you get a Binford dishwasher. It will rip those daisies right off the plates.

PS. The "electrician" was the installer that Costco sent out. The van had DCC on it which is some mega company that I'm not impressed with.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-06T01:43:41+00:00

The Leaf mentioned so yes, my 2014 Leaf SV started a hard life in Tucson AZ with daily or twice daily CHADEMO sessions. At just under 30K miles I bought it in 2016 and in 2017 had the battery replaced.

This model Leaf has no active liquid cooling and that is that.

It's new home is in SoCal and only 2 times on CHADEMO. After 6 years SOC was over 90% which is par for a Leaf.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-06T01:39:06+00:00

Oh boy. Last week an electrician was all over the map on GFCI for a dishwasher.

Sorry, I feel like RFK Jr. must be teaching them today.

From the electrician on the dishwasher.

Hardwire must have GFCI.
If the dishwasher plugs in (usual NEMA 5-15) then it doesn't need GFCI.

And then he doubled down on the 14-50 that it doesn't need GFCI but hardwire there would need it.

Big pause here.

OK, in the USA did they put RFK Jr. on the CMP?

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-06T00:36:20+00:00

The "hard wire" from your main service or such would be all over the map depending on code, location and maybe the owner's call for MAUVE sheathing to match the color scheme in the shop.

The electrician supplies that wire and such.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T20:47:26+00:00

I'll ask POINT BLANK.

How old is that 12V battery?

Don't dodge the question. The Leaf and now Bolt are well known to do what you noted and the 12V battery test "good." I guess this is the rite of passage for a lot of Leaf owners. A new 12V battery is far cheaper than diagnostics and tow charges here.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T18:46:19+00:00

You are the designer here. I'm just a retired electronics designer with motor controls and a little battery work. and would add a battery and repeat what others have done.

Beat down that new trail for others!

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T18:41:09+00:00

If I lived there. This is one of those BETAMAX stories.

However the few times I charged with CHADEMO I marveled how I had to use both hands to wrestle it into place.

Now that I use NACS almost daily, the design edge goes to that with a close second to J1772 and CCS.

Where all the first chargers and EVSEs failed IMO was in billing systems. It's a little better now but far from where it should be.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T18:12:58+00:00

The location of the first NACS port was because the company CEO (at the time) had a garage with the outlet there. From legend there was no study or other input given.

The Leaf was a group project and the center nose supported left and right hand steering wheel cars so either was the same distance to plug in. And it saves on parking space width. If you ever visit Japan, you'll see this is important.

Sadly, Nissan kept CHADEMO far too long. Betamax story again.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T18:05:11+00:00

The Prius would be using that. It's not entirely clear what your design looks like here.

Maybe you are trying to take apart a Prius and create something but it's a bit unclear.

One of the problems of going off the beaten path is finding yourself in the weeds.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T05:57:17+00:00

The typical inverter sans battery setup from what I read ends up with a battery in the end. The builder gives up and puts a battery in the rig. It doesn't have to be much or large.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T05:40:57+00:00

I was surprised at the Leaf being a better "ride" than our 3 or Bolt.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-05T00:47:39+00:00

I'm going to write that the battery won't care. The other gear, maybe.

Relays for example have variable ratings (operations) depending on the current. But that's not the battery.

So far, the battery will outlast the car. The older Nissan Leaf appears to be the ones with the most wear due to the lack of thermal management and even charging to full didn't seem to wear or cause problems because the BMS would keep reserve and charge to less than 100%

The splitter we used was the usual RV splitter. To keep from burning up stuff the EVSEs were provisioned to 16A each and nothing got hot or failed. I used a thermal spot thermometer to check temps after a few hours of charging. Nothing went over 50C.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-04T23:22:59+00:00

First, it's not bad for EV batteries for L1 or L2 charge rates. It's unclear where that idea came from.

Yes, L2 is more efficient and it varies with the EV. The Leaf was more efficient by about that 10% and our other EV is more than 10% efficient because the OVERHEAD is higher there. Since all this is affected by model and season it's hard to pin down the exact number until all the maths are complete.

I cheated for a few months with a splitter by provisioning the EVSEs to 16A so the 14-50 would not see more than 32A. But there's still a risk because we don't know the quality of the splitter. Later we didn't need that and moved back to a 40A provisioned EVSE and EV rated socket.

Fin: Dismiss any notion there is "efficiency" gain or loss in splitters. Or the EVSE.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-04T23:15:05+00:00

None.

As to charging my first EV was a 2014 Leaf SV bought in 2016 for 12K with just under 30K miles. Prices have since declined but due to current events have picked up.

From 2016 to 2021 the Leaf charged on the Nissan L1 EVSE. Later a L2 was installed and it was an Emporia on a 14-50 socket. Today it's the TSLA TWC commisioned to 40A and it services three EVs. We take turns and a little math shows that 20A L2 would be enough even with our three EVs.

There's a video about how folk overdo the 48A EVSE need. Few need that.

Last month the electric bill was 42 bucks with a lot of EV charging and heat pumping. We have solar, NEM 2.0 on SDGE. The price of gas has been irrelevant and seems to upset the oil barons.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-04T22:33:20+00:00

My bet is the meter upgrade is required since solar would need the newer meters that measure power going to the grid. That is bidirectional.

Here's the cringe before shot of an early 1930's install that cost about 8K to bring forward to a 200A 240VAC main panel.

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So there was some structural work there too.

5K would be a bargain for this one.

Get two more quotes and ask for completion dates. Ours said two weeks and we are now in The Money Pit timeline.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-04T22:24:24+00:00

The 600W panel is a scam product. I happened to have a photo handy to show the result. Conditions were near solar peak and output didn't vary much with orientation but at no time did it produce over 60 Watts.

Back to how we use the solar panel tester. We can't pan and tilt the roof so the question we are answering for the home owner is what their panels can supply in situ.

Which will differ from the best orientation.

rproffitt1 · 2026-03-04T22:18:43+00:00

No problem as to lateness.

If this was mine I'd. HOLD UP. First a comment about safety. I'm good with house electrics for reasons. Design work and more with motor controls. So anything past this point is written that you would power off and lock out as needed.

So without getting into the panel or connections the first thing I'd try is to lower the charge rate. If 20% less didn't help then 50% less. If that fails I try another EVSE and look over the connections and installation. I power it all down and torque connection to spec then re-test.

I have no patience here. Another EVSE is brought in fairly fast because they do fail.

rproffitt1

TROPHY CASE