Nissan Suggests Leaf Battery-Capacity Loss Due To High Miles

[Kathy Sokolic]

Did you guys see this article??

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1079343_nissan-suggests-leaf-battery-capacity-loss-due-to-high-miles-exclusive 

This doesn't seem to be what those in our group have seen.  Thoughts?

--
Kathy Sokolic

512-809-3497

[Willie McKemie]

On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 8:40 PM, Kathy Sokolic <ksok...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Did you guys see this article??
>
> http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1079343_nissan-suggests-leaf-battery-capacity-loss-due-to-high-miles-exclusive
>
> This doesn't seem to be what those in our group have seen. Thoughts?

I have 15 months and 18k miles. That is close to Nissan's
expectations on mileage. Nissan tries to hide true capacity loss
behind really crappy instrumentation. Both my gidmeter and my ever
decreasing range indicate that I have lost 20% of capacity. Nissan
has been blowing smoke. Nissan continues to blow smoke.

Nissan, apparently, has made some poor decisions on battery chemistry
and/or battery management. The selection of LiMn instead of LiFePo
seems especially tragic.

In contrast to my Leaf, my Hyundai conversion (LFP battery) has been
on the road nearly four years, including four complete summers, and
has traveled 34k miles. Capacity loss has been around 10%, well
within expectations. No thermal management needed.

I love my Leaf. It is a FAR nicer car than my Hyundai. However, the
battery is crap and Nissan should fix it if they expect to remain in
the EV business. Also, I think, they should stop lying to customers.