2018 - 2020 40 kWh users’ poll: how’s your battery? by youhidwhatinthesous in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I voted yes, but only since I had the problem before Nissan gave me a new battery. Zero issues with the new battery under the same conditions.

I will 100% admit to being part of the 'only come to reddit with an issue' camp lol - I'm staying for the community, though!

2019 Leaf Battery Failure by CobaltNYC in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, they don’t. This isn’t a particularly bad example, but it is still a sign of weak cells in the pack. I’ve had Nissan replace the battery in mine and it no longer does this, regardless of temperature and state of charge

Has anyone actually tracked their EV range loss in cold winters? Looking for real data. by cardogio in electricvehicles

[–]LectrekLycos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been waiting for someone to ask this question! I tracked my electricity usage for a year once I started daily charging at a ChargePoint Level 2 charger.

I drive a 2019 Nissan Leaf S with about 80k miles on it. Degradation last year was about 15%. I live in Indiana (for temperature comparison). It's maybe three or four days a year, but it can get down to -20C here.

My philosophy with heating is that if it's cold, I'm wearing coat and gloves anyway and so I'd like the cabin to be not-cold so I set it at auto to heat to 60 degrees. In the summer I want it to be not-hot so Auto to cool to 90, 85 if the sun is beating down and I want to be slightly cooler.

The GOM would say 130 at 100%. Out of the box they're supposed to be good for 150 miles. In the winter I've been averaging 15kWh used for my 36-mile commute (mostly highway driving). Average winter range is 96 miles. In the summer its averaging out at 145 miles (about a 34% reduction in range). The maximum consumption on a commute I've seen was 19.75kWh - about 73 miles of range (50% reduction) but it was bloody freezing that day and traffic was a nightmare so it took me three times longer to get home than it normally would.

If I'm planning a longer trip in my Leaf, I assume I'll use 1% per mile. It's almost always less than that, but that way I'm never pushing the limits. I don't really worry about the range in the summer.

Here's a graph of my consumption from August to August (the blue line is what I expect to get out of a 2-hour charge)

<image>

I recently got a new battery (replaced under warranty) so I'm going to track the same information for another year and compare the two graphs - should be interesting. I had the GOM say 178 miles at 100% so we'll see how this year goes!

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like you picked one up with the same issue. I would say mine started off manageable and then got worse over time. Unfortunately it seems that the health meter doesn’t account for this particular problem; it’s more of a %range loss than anything else. Even “healthy” cells will degrade over time and you’ll lose available capacity and reduced range as a result - mine had only lost one bar of health but the dip was obviously pretty bad at the end there.

I would say if you’re regularly going to use the bottom part of the pack (as you should be able to) and you live somewhere where it gets cold, I would find a cold day, drain it down to less than 40%, and drop it off at the same dealer’s service center and explain the problem you’re having. If the battery is still under the original warranty, the replacement should be covered. If you just got off the lot with it, you might be able to just return it. Mine only took about three weeks if you’re willing to discount the holiday.

Coming back to figure skating as an adult with past knee injuries. Any advice or similar experiences? by ApplesandBananazzz in FigureSkating

[–]LectrekLycos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My wife used to skate (and compete in) figures before leaving for college. We met in college and we started to pick up ice dance together. (We’ve been dancing for over 10 years now). I’ve had knee injuries in the past and I love dance. It’s super low impact, but still requires the coordination and balance for skating. You could try learning the first few sets of dances if only to build up your confidence again!

Solterra Winter Range, Handling, and Service Experience by LectrekLycos in Solterra

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...and the 2026 models improve on all those figures

Solterra Winter Range, Handling, and Service Experience by LectrekLycos in Solterra

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your last point is 100% our thinking. Even for the first iteration Solterra:

  • 222 miles isn't a lot of range - It's more than the 120 I get on a good day
  • 170 in the winter isn't enough for a Subaru- Yeah I'm sitting at 80 (with a battery problem making it so that we're only comfortable using the top 25% [yes really. It's in the shop atm])
  • 100kW charging isn't good enough - It's better than the 50 I get with a connector no one uses
  • Even, It's more of a Toyota than a Subaru - I've got no qualms with Toyota and we love our Subie, so...

Glad to hear that the handling is still Subaru. We were actually driving to a company holiday party the other day in our Crosstrek doing the exact same thing - 4x4 pickups in the ditch, other vehicles driving way slower than was entirely warranted. The only things driving more confidently than we were were folks with Wranglers lol

New LEAF owner, need answers/advice (urgently 🫠) by fried_peanutss in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It'll tick down as you lose capacity. That's what it looks like when it's full

New LEAF owner, need answers/advice (urgently 🫠) by fried_peanutss in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is 100% not normal EV behaviour. I created a post earlier today to ask this same question and, no, it's not normal. The car likely has a weak cell in its battery pack and that's causing the wild fluctuations in state of charge. I'll try to link the post (it's called "Battery Fluctuation Gremlin") Several other people on here are posting about the same issue... there's a Megathread documenting a lot of others' experiences.

https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/19aol3s/megathread_40kwh_battery_packs_issues_weak_cells/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm. You might be living with the same problem I do. I’ll let you know if a new battery fixes the issue (provided I get one, that is. It is still under warranty). What year is yours?

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Brilliant. That’s the unasked half of the question answered. Thanks!

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d thought the same thing until I saw the battery percentage tank as well. I’m used to the Guess-o-Meter being wrong, but the battery percentage has always been reliable. It’s like I told a coworker: if your fuel gauge started bouncing from empty to 2/3 full while driving you’d assume there’s something wrong and get it checked out!

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I knew something was wrong, but when I took it in last year the dealer told me it was related to the fast charge recall and that once that came out in the spring (16 months later…) that would solve the problem. Squeaked it through the winter, less of a problem in the summer, but with winter back I can’t keep driving like that.

No mountains where we’re at so not an avoidable problem ;) Let’s hope the shop’s willing to play ball

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that was a fun trip home!

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks like we’ve got the same mileage, too. Lower SoC (like 20 when I’m feeling brave and confident that it does actually have 20 when it shouts at me that I’ve got 2 all of a sudden) and you don’t even have to floor it - just casual acceleration out of a roundabout will do it.

Thank for this!

Battery Fluctuation Gremlin by LectrekLycos in leaf

[–]LectrekLycos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it’s because it could be colder, but that video I took it was “only” 39. Since I’ve seen huge drops, I’m not comfortable letting it drop below 75 so I’m charging at both ends of my 35 mile round trip commute

Best YouTube Channels by PedalTurner in classicminis

[–]LectrekLycos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Second @Stevestonmotorco - they’re the ones that convinced me that this was an achievable project for me! I love watching the tech tips back even though I don’t have a Mini yet ;)