Featured Nissan Leaf 30-kwh battery decline 3 times that of earlier electric cars: study

So I remain amused by those who think a $50k, BMW i3 in 18kWh BEV is superior to the REX version . . . even now. "Battery bigots"

Bob Wilson

 

The Leaf also uses just passive cooling. If air can't flow in under the car, and out the cabin, like in a closed off Arizona garage, the battery will bake.

The Ioniq Electric has a fan to move air through the battery, so I'm interested in how its battery will age. For more current, and directly comparable data, we could look at the e-NV200. It uses the Leaf battery and drive train, but has a fan for cooling.

Because of emissions and hybrid warranty considerations, PHEVs will have larger buffers of unused capacity to their batteries. They also can go to hybrid mode when conditions can stress the battery Which makes comparing them to BEVs a not like one.

 

The useable capacity in the 30 kWh Leaf is ~27.5-28 kWh which is significantly greater as a percent than the ~3.4 kHw useable capacity of the 4.4 kWh Plug-in Prius. So leaving the Leaf at/near fully charged or empty is more detrimental to capacity longevity in the Leaf.

In theory comparisons are limited, but in our case there seems to still be quite a good bit of useful information to gain from our sort of retrospective case/control unwitting experiment.

The Plug-in Prius does have the ability to bring on the engine if undergoing too much thermal stress. But in my experience, the Plug-in Prius never left EV mode on a hot day besides the usual triggers that would also apply on a cold day. In my case, escape to hybrid mode seems to have been controlled for.

Then again, factors not related to high ambient temperatures triggering the Plug-in Prius in hybrid mode may contribute to battery longevity. While there are mechanical and electrical limiting reasons to engaging ICE, cautious thresholds can minimize battery stress.

In our case, the Leaf and Plug-in Prius are stored in the same garage where they spend most of their time and roughly the same amount of time. Average temperature exposures are roughly similar, therefore. However the Plug-in Prius is always parked in an above ground parking structure when at work, although not on days off. The parking structure mitigates maximum ambient temperature exposure acting as a heat sink. The Leaf has had a few more days exposure to 100 degree temps, so this counts for something, but how much is unclear.

Neither vehicle has been kept for more than a day at/near maximum or minimum state of charge and the Plug-in Prius has cycled many times more often and deeply through its useable capacity than the Leaf.

 

I can't believe Nissan can just leaf people hanging with these batteries.

 

They autumn all fall eventually

 

As @hill mentioned, the 40Kw Leaf has angered several YouTube bloggers in Europe recently. There are several regular posters complaining that after three rapid charge on a journey (say, longer than 250 miles) the charge rate is choked from low 40s to low 20s or less. A quick search on the Tube should pull up a few threads including responses from Nissan.

 

Here's the ongoing chat over at the MyNissanLeaf:

Possible Widespread 2018 Traction Battery Quick Charge Problems - My Nissan Leaf Forum

 

That's something to bark about.

 

Yeah, I’m a member over there too, but don’t go there as much as PC. Will check it out this weekend.

 

I don't either. There are some crazies over there, to say the least. We obviously have a few here, but the rational ones far outnumber them. Not as much the case over there.

 

Some Leaf owners are definitely zealots. A coworker & his sister both drive Leafs. He bagged to me, a known Prius owner, about getting his sister an anti-Prius bumper sticker for her Leaf.
On the other hand, he is patiently waiting until he can order his Tesla Model 3.

 

I'm surprised about that. Most of the Leaf zealots tend to be very anti-Tesla. And wow are there some Tesla haters over there.

 

We mostly corral ours in Fred's House of Politics.

Bob Wilson

 

Some of us are even too crazy for that.