30kwh Leaf battery issues in Ireland?

blobert

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to buy a 2nd hand leaf (I've actually owned 2 previously). We also have a Prius Plus for any long range driving but this leaf will be our main daily driver covering 90%+ of trips, all of them quite short.

I was looking to maybe buy around a 2016 L24 Tekna model from the UK with about 30k miles on it.

However I've spotted a L30 with about 55k miles on it for about £1k more coming up at auction. From what I can see it currently has 11/12 bars though I'd imagine it could be about to drop another.

I've read a lot of issues about the L30 battery and even though Nissan has said this was down to BMS issues and they "fixed" it there still seems to be a lot of unhappy people saying that even after the "fix" their range was poor etc. Now it's hard to tell when it comes to people's individual opinions, the people that have problems are more likely to complain etc.

Do you guys know have there been any/many issues with L30s in Ireland? I'm thinking a lot of the issues might be more pronounced in places with harsher climates.

On the one hand I think having the L30 might be nicer for its larger range and probably be worth more in terms of reselling in a year or two. Though if it's likely to be problematic I might be better of sticking with the lower mileage L24.

Any opinions would be much appreciated!

D Dastardly

I have a 2016 30kwh leaf and have just had the bms update a week ago, i did a lot of research b4 buying and put heavy battery degradation down to hot climates and earlier battery chemistry, of course rough treatment of the battery wont help things either.

The previous owner of my car must have looked after the battery or mebe he did not and the chemistry is much improved, i dont know... i plan to look after the battery and will only charge to 85% if i dont need the full range or dont need the car but if i do i will make sure a full charge is just finished for when i need it so it never sits at 100%

optimal

I've a Leaf 30. 98k Km, of which I have put up 70k in last year or so. 12 bars. Real range is 150 - 160km summer down to 120 in winter. Mostly local with at least one trip to Dublin (100 km) a week and a few longer (adventurous) trips. Long trips usually at leafspeed but I drive it on when I'm comfortable with range. Not a zealot in battery care, try to minimize fast charge, usually sc to 80% ish but 100% if I have a long journey or leave at a destination charger. Did get the SW upgrade, I believe. ( I brought it in and they told me that they did it.)

Love the car, sucker for the tech (it's a Tekna), would really love more range but there are financial constraints. It has paid for itself through fuel savings!

blobert

Thanks for the replies guys.

No idea if it's had the SW upgrade/fix as it's at auction and I can get minimal info on it.

Here's a pic of the dash:



Looks to have 11 bars left and based on the GOM at 60% it would have a full range of 147km which seems decent and is probably better than I'd get with a 24kwh leaf of similar age.

Mileage is a bit higher than I'd like but I think these tend to do high mileage well and in reality we do fairly tiny mileage, so if I kept it for 2 years it would probably not be that crazy high mileage for its then age.

slave1

Hard to make out exactly but looks like a bar gone alright, that means it has 15%+ degradation, that's a bit high for a L30

blobert

slave1 wrote: »

Hard to make out exactly but looks like a bar gone alright, that means it has 15%+ degradation, that's a bit high for a L30

Yep, that's what got me worried about the L30 batteries. It's possible this one has just been treated poorly.

Also it's not been serviced since Jan 2018 and I think the software fix did not come out till June 2018 onwards so it's possible that when that is applied it will look better than it does?

Calahonda52

slave1 wrote: »

Hard to make out exactly but looks like a bar gone alright, that means it has 15%+ degradation, that's a bit high for a L30

How do you that math?

Is degradation not linear?

My yolk has 12 bars

macnab

I have the software update on my L30 and its now not far off where it was when it was new.
I believe you will get the full 12 bars back with the software update.
Ours was at about 85% before and 93% after iirc.

D Dastardly

If the software update is not done and you have access to the car +leafspy and a dongle then the formula for calculating your post bms value is 57 + 0.43 x your pre update value, this is actually spot on as i used it to see what my new value would be after the update.

This is from the flip the fleet website, they did an article on it and found that there is actually no difference now between 24kwh & 30kwh degradation post update.

https://flipthefleet.org/2018/30-kwh-nissan-leaf-firmware-update-to-correct-capacity-reporting/

charlieIRL

Can I ask what auction site you’re looking at? PM if you don’t want to post it here.
Thanks.

blobert

Thanks for that guys, I appreciate it, will let you know how I get on!

slave1

Calahonda52 wrote: »

How do you that math?

Is degradation not linear?

My yolk has 12 bars

First bar is ~15% (some reports at 13% but most around the 15%), then it's ~6.25% per bar leaving 16.25% when all bars gone (as batteries cannot be fully depleted)

blobert

charlieIRL wrote: »

Can I ask what auction site you’re looking at? PM if you don’t want to post it here.
Thanks.

Just bought it from BCA Auctions via FlippingCars site.

Something of a leap of faith but we'll see how it works out, will get it in for a service when it arrives and hopefully the battery "fix" will help.

blobert

By the way the car was bought at auction but has VAT added to the price even though it's 2nd hand. I'm guessing there is no way to reclaim that?

D Dastardly

Where are you at blobert I will stick leafspy on it for you if you are close by.

blobert

D Dastardly wrote: »

Where are you at blobert I will stick leafspy on it for you if you are close by.

Thanks, very kind of you to offer. I actually bought one of the OBD2 things from Amazon to check it out when it arrives.

D Dastardly

Ok good, if u need to see the ECU software versions i have the leafspy pro version, but you will be nowhere near donegal as nobody is ;-D

D Dastardly

Forgot to say make sure you tell them that you want the LBC firmware update when you arrange a service as they may not be aware of it and they have to get authorisation from Nissan which takes a few days to clear.

I was not charged for it but if you are you could probably claim it back from Nissan Ireland because on their website it specifically states "at no cost to the customer" for that service campaign update.