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Post by tomkauf on Sept 10, 2019 21:22:27 GMT 11
Hi everyone, New member here, but have read posts on here for a while. We've decided to import a Japanese Nissan Leaf through J-Spec  . A Tesla Model 3 would've been great, but just didn't turn out to be affordable. We'd like to get the 30kWh Model, but there's still a lot of uncertainty about the degradation (especially in warm climates like here in Brisbane). Does anyone have direct feedback on how the batteries are going? I've read a lot about the Firmware update, and that has reset some degradation. But some sceptics still say the rate is staying the same - just shifted up. And that's coming from colder climates like UK and NZ. J-Spec even warned me about the 30kWh, so I'm undecided if I should go with a 24kWh instead. Thanks in advance |
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Post by johnmath on Sept 11, 2019 20:36:09 GMT 11
I wrote a long post on my experience, but when I hit the Post button it disappeared into the ether! Here's the short version:
A 30kWh leaf will alway have more range than its 24kW relative at any equivalent distance on the odometer. In our case a 24kW car would not have sufficient rage to do a round trip to our local town even when new, whereas the 30kW has plenty to spare with 35,000 on the odo.
I bought with help from J-spec too. Before the auction we got a screenshot of the LeafSpy summary page. Odo was 30,000km, battery SOH was 85.64% and the car had 539 QCs (quick charges) and 3 L1/L2s (slow charges). If I wasn't in a hurry we could have waited to find a car with less kms and better SOH. By being careful with charging and driving the rate of degradation of battery SOH per km is now less than half the rate of the first 30,000km.
Heat ages the battery and more heat ages it faster. Heat comes from current flowing through the battery both when driving and charging. When driving, air is channeled under the car to cool the battery. Charge slowly, drive slowly and only charge to 80% unless your expecting to need the extra range for the next trip. Charge when the battery is cold (early hours of the morning) keep the car in the shade, don't hammer the accelerator when the battery is hot (there's a gauge for battery temperature). Don't charge every day or after every drive, unless you need to for the next planned trip. Park in the shade on hot days. The same rules apply to the 24, 40 and 60kW Leafs.
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Post by coulomb on Sept 12, 2019 0:41:51 GMT 11
I wrote a long post on my experience, but when I hit the Post button it disappeared into the ether! At the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, I believe we used to have the same problem. An admin bumped up (considerably) the time limit for posts, and it hasn't been a problem since. Worth considering? [ Edit: as a many-time long post poster, I really appreciated that feature, as you can imagine. A colleague used a Firefox extension called Lazarus for this, but it seems to have disappeared. I occasionally copy a long post to the clipboard (using ctrl+A to select all, then ctrl+C to copy. If you forget the second control key or it doesn't work, then yes your post is replaced with a single "c" character (!!), but ctrl+Z (undo) will undo the damage. If the post is lost, immediately run Notepad or similar, and paste the text there. ] |
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 12, 2019 15:33:41 GMT 11
I wrote a long post on my experience, but when I hit the Post button it disappeared into the ether! Here's the short version: A 30kWh leaf will alway have more range than its 24kW relative at any equivalent distance on the odometer. In our case a 24kW car would not have sufficient rage to do a round trip to our local town even when new, whereas the 30kW has plenty to spare with 35,000 on the odo. I bought with help from J-spec too. Before the auction we got a screenshot of the LeafSpy summary page. Odo was 30,000km, battery SOH was 85.64% and the car had 539 QCs (quick charges) and 3 L1/L2s (slow charges). If I wasn't in a hurry we could have waited to find a car with less kms and better SOH. By being careful with charging and driving the rate of degradation of battery SOH per km is now less than half the rate of the first 30,000km. Heat ages the battery and more heat ages it faster. Heat comes from current flowing through the battery both when driving and charging. When driving, air is channeled under the car to cool the battery. Charge slowly, drive slowly and only charge to 80% unless your expecting to need the extra range for the next trip. Charge when the battery is cold (early hours of the morning) keep the car in the shade, don't hammer the accelerator when the battery is hot (there's a gauge for battery temperature). Don't charge every day or after every drive, unless you need to for the next planned trip. Park in the shade on hot days. The same rules apply to the 24, 40 and 60kW Leafs. Thank you very much johnmath. Especially with the detailed post after your first one disappeared. Some excellent advice there! I knew some of it, but definitely learnt a few new things as well. Good to know J-Spec can pull up Leafspy, I'll make sure to ask them to do that. We also live a bit out of town (Gold Coast hinterland). So a 24kWh Leaf just isn't going to be enough. But I'm glad the 30kWh battery pack will always have more range than the 24kWh. |
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szern
EV Enthusiast
Posts: 14
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Post by szern on Sept 17, 2019 10:32:59 GMT 11
Just a suggestion... 1) if you have the additional budget (to pay a service fee and towing charges) 2) If your agent/importer is open and flexible enough to help After you bid and win the vehicle via auction, assuming you are able to do both the above. Have the vehicle checked out at Nissan Japan to see if any service items need to be done, any firmware/recalls applied and battery checked before shipping. I chronicled my importation journey in an FB group if you’re interested. www.facebook.com/groups/1695823577366861/?ref=share(Forum Ops, apologies in advance, please do remove the above link if it’s not allowed)   |
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Post by tomkauf on Oct 12, 2019 17:17:32 GMT 11
Just a suggestion... 1) if you have the additional budget (to pay a service fee and towing charges) 2) If your agent/importer is open and flexible enough to help After you bid and win the vehicle via auction, assuming you are able to do both the above. Have the vehicle checked out at Nissan Japan to see if any service items need to be done, any firmware/recalls applied and battery checked before shipping. I chronicled my importation journey in an FB group if you’re interested. www.facebook.com/groups/1695823577366861/?ref=share(Forum Ops, apologies in advance, please do remove the above link if it’s not allowed) Thank you for the tip szern . Sorry for the slow reply, I only just saw your post. We did win an auction in Japan, so I'll see if we can fit a trip to Nissan in before it makes it to the port. Fingers crossed it all goes well.... |
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Post by johnmath on Oct 12, 2019 18:15:15 GMT 11
It is not commonly realised that having a lithium battery in a fully charged state actually causes it to lose capacity, just like having one in a fully discharging state. That is why battery manufacturers recommend storing lithium batteries in a ~50% discharged state.
If you are only doing short trips daily, don't charge the car every day and try to only charge it to 80 or 90% unless necessary. I only charge our car to 100% immediately before embarking on a trip where I need the maximum range.
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Post by tomkauf on Oct 12, 2019 18:26:52 GMT 11
Thanks johnmath, I'll definitely make sure to follow that advice.
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. A Tesla Model 3 would've been great, but just didn't turn out to be affordable.
