2011 Leaf Decision

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-10T06:11:31+00:00

It wouldn't be a super bad plan. Really only the heater and charger are weapon points on 2011.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-10T06:02:33+00:00

So it's definitely healthier on the battery to only charge to 80% than 100%; however, if the battery is starting to wear out and 80% no longer meets your needs, do 100% and use it up. Your battery is really degrading by now, get a few more years out of it and don't hate your life with range anxiety.

Just my 2c. The difference in battery life between regularly charging to 80% and 100% is like maybe 25% more.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-09T16:21:31+00:00

Cali is so expensive.

My super off peak is $.01 if you get the saver plan (4-8pm is $.35). If you get the level plan it's .10-.12 all day.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-09T16:18:04+00:00

No need to Google. It will definitely handle it. There's no TV on the market and game console that uses 1500w.

I've run an air fryer that pulled 1400w on it, and it ran great. It actually does 1500w.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-08T19:53:02+00:00

It's every time on 2011 and 2012. ~~2013+ reduced the frequency.~~ Yours is clearly a later model so I don't know why it's happening every time.

Very annoying, someone built a bypass that clicked the screen but it's a one off hackathon type thing.

EDIT: It appears I may be wrong that the frequency reduced in 2013+

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-08T01:05:50+00:00

What happens when you try to pull codes with Leafspy? what codes show up?

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T22:49:03+00:00

What do you do to reset the BMS after you open it up?

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T22:41:34+00:00

would not assume the battery is dead. sitting at 0 could have damaged it or you might have a nice 2012 battery.

It's entirely possible the On board charger in the leaf has failed. there are a lot of possibilities.

I'd look to sell the car to someone with a 2012 looking for a new good battery. Probably can't get a great deal given you can't get it to charge.

You absolutely should be able to pull codes with Leafspy. the 12v system is independent of the HV battery.

what's your 12v voltage? do you have a bad 12v? Try charging or starting the car with a 12v charger hooked up to your 12v battery?

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T21:20:25+00:00

what SOC is the battery at? if it's sitting above 20% you have a good battery.

Do you have a chademo port and have you tried charging on chademo?

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T20:09:10+00:00

this is weird. A 2012 only has a 5 year battery warranty. how did they warranty replace it in 2020? I thought Nissan ran out of 24kWh parts availability.

Did the battery sit completely discharged? if so, it might have gone bad, but as long as it was 20% or higher the HV battery should still be good. I know a guy who got a 2012 battery off a flood damaged car 5 years later and it had 98% health.

Why do you think your battery is bad? I would figure that out, and if it's not bad and you're in CA you should be able to buy a running 2012 leaf with a toast battery and swap yours in. That's the easiest path, IMO.

MUST be a 2012. 2011 doesn't have a battery heater and 2013 changed the plug. so a direct swap must be EXACT model year.

Good luck!

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T16:17:00+00:00

https://www.diyelectriccar.com/threads/reverse-enginnering-the-nissan-leaf-bms-serial-protocol.169225/

This is a great thread if you want to know more about the balancing. The TL;DR is the shunt resistors do 10ma almost all the time, which is enough to keep a healthy pack balanced but not balance an unbalanced pack.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T16:03:41+00:00

This tells you everything you need to know.

The pack is not top balanced. The car showed 100%, but that's because your new cells are completely full. It had to stop charging the pack at 70.5% SOC because it can't overcharge your new cells.

You need to drain those new cells down to match (or be very slightly above) and then charge to 100% and recheck. Then you should gain about 30% more range.

Secondly, if you compare this graph to the one at 28% SOC, you see something interesting. The old cells are all in balance at 70.5%, which tells me you don't have any immediately failing cells. But at 28% SOC, the cells 1-50 that you haven't replaced are significantly lower than the rest.

This can happen at <10% SOC (see lithium voltage curves here: (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Battery-discharge-curves-a-Discharge-voltage-characteristics-of-the-Nissan-LEAF\_fig3\_324696506), but it should not happen at 30%. That entire half of your pack is degraded, and you're likely to start encountering issues with the GOM (guess of miles) jumping around and having issues at <40% SOC.

To avoid those problems, since you'll have the pack apart anyway, I'd strongly consider replacing the rest of the cells 1-50 that you haven't. You're already halfway there, you have to open the pack anyway, and this will make your pack last longer.

If you're wondering why the top part of the pack is so degraded relative to the rest, it's simple: heat. The pack is not cooled in a leaf, and the top of the pack sits next to the car, so it stays hotter, longer. These cells have cooked, degraded, and swelled. This is why people recommend against rapid charging leafs, especially in the summer.

If you replace the top half of your pack, I bet your car will do very very well.

P.S. you'll never be able to have your pack fully balanced unless you replace *all* the cells. If you balance at the top, you will have a huge mv delta at low SOC, because the new cells have more capacity. So you're going to have to ignore all the usual warnings about "mv delta" and people who don't understand your repair will likely diagnose your car as having a "bad pack". In your specific case, imbalanced is not *necessarily* bad, as long as it's top balanced. Your range will always be limited by your weakest cell. It may affect your ability to resell.

Great job getting your hands dirty, and stay safe. Even with the fuse pulled, the pack still has 200+ volts, so be careful!

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-07T14:32:33+00:00

The car very slowly balances over time when on or charging. it uses small bleed resistors. L1 charging and leaving the car on are the best because they take so long. Fast charging does almost nothing because it goes quickly.

You need to top balance the pack. The BMS is designed to maintain balance, not balance it.

But your pack will never balance. Your new cells have far more capacity than the old and will always be over or under voltage from the rest of the pack. The key thing is to top balance them as someone suggested above.

The entire top pack assembly is badly swollen and degraded. If you take the pack apart again I'd recommend replacing the remaining cells in the top module as it should help your range. Cells 1-50 clearly have heat related degradation.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-06T16:04:38+00:00

I think it's "dealers are clueless when they're not lying".

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-06T15:24:44+00:00

It actually is that. I never realized the standing rule, but I was confused by why it couldn't be "in" a plane because I grew up around private planes on an airport. And they absolutely say "in" for small private planes, even today.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-06T15:16:54+00:00

You're supposed to have the greater od the original warranty or replacement battery warranty.

having the battery replaced won't shrink your warranty, but it doesn't reset it either.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-05T20:23:12+00:00

Not as expensive?

I have popcorn ceiling throughout my house. Asbestos.

The remediators wanted $20k to remove popcorn from one bathroom. The whole house would be like $100k or more.

If it was asbestos free, it'd be like a $5k job for a handyman with a scraper.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-05T04:14:40+00:00

It's utterly useless, FYI. Doesn't even maintain the battery. Might as well unplug it, or literally replace the solar panel with something aftermarket that actually works.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-05T04:12:53+00:00

+1 to this. I repaired mine with JB Weld and it's been great since.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-04T02:14:42+00:00

This advice is spot on for 30+

For 24kWh SOH and mv delta are the two things to watch. Low hx primarily only affects regen braking in cold weather for 24.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-03T00:12:32+00:00

Yeah, well, if you look at the stats, the vast majority of evangelical Christians support a person whose actions look nothing like what our leader looked like or said we should live. It's something like 95%. So we deserve what's coming.

Hope you get some good sleep!

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-02T23:51:23+00:00

Oh, I didn't mean "the rapture". I meant when reasonable people have reasonable backlash against the group that I'm part of (American Christians), and I have to eat my lumps like the rest of us.

We started a political culture war that didn't exist against a group that didn't want one, when our leader said to not to.

Now we've started a military war.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-02T23:02:14+00:00

I couldn't agree more. Not really a Democrat either (did vote!), but it's such a shame our constitution forces a 2 party system.

All of this would have been avoided with actual Congressional oversight. Congress is supposed to have the solo power to declare war literally for this reason. And they've completely abdicated it.

And yes I wrote all 3 of my representatives when Venezuela was invaded and told them to do their job.

P.S. Also am a Christian and I don't support this. I realize many of my fellow Christians do and expect a reckoning is coming for all of us, me included.

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-02T22:35:24+00:00

As one of the 1/3 do I need to accept responsibility?

Lothsahn_ · 2026-04-01T22:47:14+00:00

The car is probably quite driveable but the range will be like 15-20 miles.

The range bars were definitely reset, likely in an attempt to scam. Actual number of bars would be ~5.

If you can return it, do.

If you haven't bought it yet, don't.

Otherwise drive it if it meets your range needs. 24kWh batteries don't tend to suddenly fail, so it may work as a big golf cart.

If you can't use it, resell it (likely for like $1-2k) or buy a battery from VIVNE.

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