The 2018 Nissan Leaf 20,000 Miles Update (SOH) (Taxi)

Hi people in todays video we can see Beverly's state of health as she passes the 20,000 mile mark. I also discus how and why I intend to do my future range tests with her.

Find the link to the gentleman's video below

[PlugLifeTelevision]

Hi. The gentleman up in Scotland here (thanks for the shout out!). The reason why charging to 100% in a LEAF shouldn't be too much cause for concern isn't so much to do with the way that the cells are connected together, but is to do with the Battery Management System (BMS). The BMS deliberately never fully charges the cells, leaving a small margin of spare capacity. Even when the LEAF says 100% full on the dash, the cells are actually only about 95-97% charged. This lowers the voltage just enough to reduce degradation of the battery, which doesn't like being left at high voltages for long periods of time. In the UK, with its mild climate, regularly charging to 100% shouldn't have a profound impact on the battery's health. Another advantage of occasionally charging the LEAF to 100% is that the BMS "balances" the cells, slowly charging the cells that aren't quite fully charged yet, bringing the cells in line with each other and keeping the pack in good condition. LEAF Spy should always be taken with a pinch of salt, but I've put 20, 000 miles on my 24kWh LEAF since I got it, usually running the car down to 40% and charging to 100%, and the battery health has only dropped by 1%.

There are some notable exceptions to the above:

1) If you're going to leave your LEAF parked for a long period of time (e.g. if you go away on holiday for a few weeks), leave the battery somewhere between 50-80% full. Charging to 100% is fine if you're going to use the car again within the next day or so.

2) In really hot countries (Jamaica, Australian outback, United Arab Emirates etc), the LEAF experiences faster degradation. Charge to 80% most of the time and 100% only when necessary.

3) Some cars, like Teslas, have the option to charge the cells to a genuine 100% capacity, usually accompanied by a warning message on the dashboard that doing this regularly will reduce the lifespan of the battery. Since the upper capacity buffer on the BMS has been removed in this case, that warning is true, so it's better to leave at least a little charge buffer to help preserve the pack.

I'll be interested to see how you get on with the next range test. Happy LEAFing!

[markstevens]

Hello from Virginia. Just got a Leaf a few weeks ago. I like your updates. I also enjoy reading the comments. Keep it going.

[BSAT]

Thanks for keeping up the videos George it's always good to get info from a leaf owner like yourself who is using the car in almost all conditions every day

[PabloTBrave]

Battery degredation isn't linear, it drops quicker at the beginning and SOH is effected by temperature

[BSAT]

Hi George
If you had a chance maybe you could put your car on the granny charger overnight and get it fully charged to 100% for a few hours Then check with leafspy again once you have used the car
Just to see if it reads higher than 94.7% after the battery management system had done it's magic
The Nissan sales guy recommended a full charge using the granny charger once a month, when we bought our leaf

[brucekendall]

Wish I could get my hands on a Leaf here in SA.Cheers .

[glideman]

LeafSpy pro is reporting my 30kw leaf battery health as 104% after 22, 000 miles!

[djjaniofficial]

Its really amazing how your battery got degradation at 20, 000 even though you did less QCs...i did more QCs around 110 I'm on 18, 000 and still lesfspy shows i have SOH 94.6%...i heard QCs are not good for battery but I'm private hire as well and lives in a flat so no home charging and have no other options to charge...and i always charge it to 100% and let it go below 10%...still have 94.6% wow

[Filtermandave]

I have just hit 5000 this morning. I use a fast charger probably once a week on average when i shop i lidl. But only usually put about 20kw in.

[RWBHere]

Thanks George. How's the modified seat holding up?

[paulcarnall]

My 30kwh leaf is up to 24k in 15 months. Haven't got leaf spy but I've not noticed any significant degredation on my range yet. I've not looked after my battery just charged to 100% everytime. Also used rapids about twice a month. I'm up n down M18/M1 every work day. Looking for a set of tyres for this winter . What make are the ones you recommend ?

[kovadam]

Hi! I think SOH reading in LeafSpy for 2018 Leaf is not accurate, or the value read for SOH does not mean SOH any more in the new Leaf. Charge to 100%, and check the number of GIDs you have and compare that number to 500 (theoretical maximum for new Leaf?). That should give an idea how much degradation you have. If you still can fill up to >490 GIDs, you're still somewhere around 99%, even if SOH tells you 94 or below.

[gavinowen]

After 8, 000 miles in our Leaf I still haven't topped-up the tyres as they were inflated well above the recommended pressures when we collected the car. Just wondering what your experience has been over the 20, 000 miles you've done - what are you running your tyres at, have you topped-them up often? Thanks!

[jeffreycooper]

I know that realistically a 5% loss every 20k isnt going to have a huge impact, but its a real shame when you think that my ampera doesnt appear to have lost any range in 97k ! Although that could be just a percentage thing with having a smaller battery.

[adrianpike]

The Nissan Leaf battery warranty allows for 35% degradation in 100, 000 miles (or 3.5% every 10, 000 miles). At what % degradation will it start to affect your ability to do one day's work on a single charge?

[noooitgn]

hi, my leaf has 5k miles with a 95.11 SOH, this summer was stopped 10 days and lost 2% SOH, is it normal? I have 5 QC, greetings

[robertwood]

My 2018 Leaf according to Leafspy my SOH is 96.8 having only done 2400 miles. Seems a lot?

[ShaneQ]

How can it not be accurate it’s only reading what the computer on the car is saying leaf spy will only show what the car computer says

[midnight]

Please stop saying Degregation! It's Degredation!