Hi. My 2011 Leaf 12 volt battery lasted long enough and I finally changed it, as a precaution, 3 weeks ago. I simply went to the Nissan dealership and purchased a replacement unit. Got home and changed it then returned the old one for a core credit. Six years running without issues but as winter approaches I decided it was time for a new one. Very easy job. I believe Nissan 12 batteries are made by Hitachi and that is good enough for me. Thanks.
I had the Telematics upgrade done 3 years ago when I purchased a new main battery to replace the 2011 unit. No problems with the 12 volt battery draining. When the 12 Volt battery was approaching 7 years it was creating random messages on the dashboard. Battery was replaced with another Nissan battery and zero issues have occurred. Coincidences are known as Red Herrings. As to placing non Nissan batteries into an EV, well, all I can say is that the Nissan 12 volt ones have worked extremely well for me. The car charges the 12 volt when plugged in, or if needed, from the main battery. A good working battery should not cause any problems at all. Oh, I priced other batteries and Nissan’s was the same or much less. Do not assume it will be the higher priced one. 3 years, close to 20,000 miles; zero issues. Thanks
My Mitsubishi i-MiEV drained the 12 Volt battery (30Ah) over a week because I forgot to disconnect the OVMSv2 from the OBD port (for charging status via 3G). The requirements for the battery are not that harsh, it doesn't need a particularly large CCA rating in that respect. It should be beefy enough to handle the DC/DC in the car, the Mitsu has a 80A DC/DC, and the Leaf has something similar. This also comes on if you charge the car or drive (for the lights, radio and other accessories). For emergency charging a simple 12 Volt 10 Amp charger is enough to get it jump started, as soon as you "start" the car, the onboard DC/DC will take over and push > 50A into the 12V battery. If you have a Leaf with the small solar panel you should negate some of the parasitic draw in the daytime, unless you have a garage and it's become useless.
I have had a red top on my 68 firebird restomod for nearly ten years. Been thoroughly impressed with optima. I do use a ten amp schumacher charge maintainer though.
I own A 2012 LEAF SL,in which I chose to replace the 12 volt battery. I upgraded to the newer telematics unit and to a Duralast Gold from AutoZone and it has worked perfectly. The Optima was too rich for my blood and since all I have in the car is a 500 watt subwoofer, and not a competition grade sound system. the Duralast was almost half the cost of the Optima and works perfectly, I highly recommend it.
Why did you opt for the Yellow top Optima over the Blue Top Optima? Seems that the Blue Top battery would be much better suited for the EV application. Starter batteries depend on more and thinner cell wafers to get more "cranking amps" but there is no high drain application of a starter cranking a cold engine. In this instance a thicker plated deep cycle battery such as the blue top would be a better choice. Deep cycle batteries are much more tolerate of the charge discharge cycles and EV puts them through. In any case good choice of brands. The Optima battery being a spiral wound dry cell is MUCH more tolerant of being discharged and recovering. I had one attached to my home solar PV array and the cheap charge controller I had it hooked to gave up the ghost and discharged it below 10 volts (which is death for standard SLA battery), I trickled it back up to 14 volts and put it in my car and it functions like it never happened. Just keep in mind with the Optimas they are a sealed dry battery so always charge them slow if you rambo a bunch of amps into them trying to speed charge them and cause the water to vent off there is no practical way to replenish that water. That will kill any battery including an Optima DEAD. I really recommend the Optima brand charger or a smart charger that is designed for AGM batteries if you are going to charge the Optima in the future. Its worth the money.
I have a MY15 Leaf and finally got the cellular radio upgrade (free for MY15) about a month back. So far there have been no problems, but my 12v battery is a couple of years newer.
4 years is pretty good for a factory battery. And since lead acid batteries weren't really designed for the charge duty cycles that an EV can put on them (Tesla in particular) I think it's just a matter of time before they use something other than traditional lead acid batteries for the 12 volt system or they learn to adjust the BMS to properly maintain lead acid batteries.
Yes, while she mentioned 'wasting money' if the battery wasn't the issue there was probably less than a year left in the battery anyway. It's not really wasted money, just an inevitable maintenance expense done a bit earlier than expected.
I've had many batteries last far more than 4 years. One factory Ford battery lasted more than 9 year, and may have lasted longer, but I loaned the van out to someone who left a light on over night, and it then failed to take a charge. My Prius, purchased in 5/09 and now driven by my daughter, still has it's original 12v battery. It also has an interior light left on all night until the 12v was completely dead, but it did take a charge. I'll need to check with another daughter, but see had a Taurus from new to over 200k mi, and I don't recall a battery change, but possibly if was latter on.
In a gas car the fifth winter is usually when you have to start being aware of the car having trouble starting due to the 12v battery. You may get more, you may get less, but on average 5 years is what you should expect.
If the battery tested fine, but you still find it getting discharged, I think the logical next step is to check for parasitic draw. Putting a new battery may stop the symptoms, but the cause is still there.
Hello there! I bought a 2014 Nissan Leaf in June, had the telematics unit upgraded to work with the 3G system, and guess what? My battery died! Now the 12 volt battery was already 3 years old, so I assumed it just wore out. However, having just replaced it with a new battery (and the car has been working fine for the last 4 days), I am now wondering if the new battery is going to drain quickly. I did not go to a dealership or mechanic to replace the battery - I just bought a new battery at the local AutoZone store, and my neighbor was kind enough to install the battery for me (he is handy - I am not). Please let me know if you find out anything about your theory linking the telematics upgrade to the battery going flat. I am interested in knowing what is going on!
Not sure if this was her issue, but some of the navigation systems on older Nissan Leaf's will continue to open and close the screen when the car is off which will drain the 12 volt battery. Especially if the car hasn't been driven in over 24 hours and you still have the factory battery. I had this issue. Cheap fixes besides replacing the navigation system or screen are take apart the screen and disconnect the cable that connects to the circuit board that the tilt button is embedded on. Just sucks because you can't use the tilt button to put a cd or change the map day night background. Another cheap fix is buy a new 12 volt and just make sure you drive the car or turn it on every day. A somewhat cheap but risky attempt to fix this issue, is buy a used/salvaged navigation unit on eBay just hope that the unit doesn't have the same issue with the malfunctioning tilt button and disconnect that screen and attach it to your navigation system base. It's possible to take off the tilt screen without removing the entire navigation unit from the dash.
My 2011 LEAF still has its original battery. Will probably need one soon. Just bought a small backup battery jumper with about 500 peak amps to keep handy when the time comes. Cheers. p.s. My 2010 Prius also still has the original 12v battery.
That's exactly what I said that you should put in the car a AGM battery or lithium ion I an automotive technician and yes sometimes you test a battery and then the test is good but the battery is bad usually I recharge the old battery completely and let it sit out of the car for at least a week and see if the voltage drops faster than normal you should check in the morning at what Voltage the battery is without the key on or anything else on you should have at least 12.5 to 12.7 volt if it's Lower than that then you should have someone test the parasitic draw of the system and check if the DC to DC convertor is working normally and it's charging the battery fully with all accessories on in the car with the car in run position.
You have to test a lead acid battery under load and that require a test device and hydrometer to do it right; you may have gotten the bum's rush test with just a voltmeter reading: www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-6-volt12-volt-battery-load-tester-69888-9191.html
Had a similar thing with my Prius. Battery when tested was fine, reading the right voltage but as soon as a proper tester/load was applied the voltage would sag. Put in a deep cycle agm battery and after 5 years it is still fine. Errors on the dash when starting but then the car would be ok before the battery was replaced.
When you say "flat battery" what was the evidence of this? What was voltage? Was car powering up at all? Warning light? Would be great to have more specific information of what you were seeing. Having some issues with a new 12v in our new 2015 Leaf and want to drill down on this. Thank you!
Omg never work on a battery without disconnecting the neg first, even the little mounts should be done after both sides are disconnected. Aalways reconnect the neg last. This is giving me anxiety. Luckily you have a tiny spanner but it could still short if you touched the chassis. Specially moving that quickly XD
Have I been taught wrong for 36 years of being on the spanners how to disconnect and reconnect a battery.? To disconnect remove the negative first then the positive, To reconnect positive first then the negative.
Hi Nikki a little tip when handling a car battery, rubberized gloves help reduce the risk of shock during the installation and deinstallation process. Also this is easier in general on your hands.
A couple of thoughts/questions: (1) Does your LEAF have the small solar panel on the rear spoiler? It's supposed to help keep the 12v battery charged. If your car spends a lot of time under cover I suppose it's effectiveness will be limited. (2) I am not sure the Optima battery is the best choice. I had one in my Ford Escape Hybrid and was not terribly satisfied, it only lasted a little over 3 years (note the warranty is 3 years). Part of the problem may be that AGM batteries like a higher charge voltage than flooded cell batteries. If the charging circuit in the car isn't giving it the voltage it needs it will not get a full charge. We're still on the original 12v battery in our 2011 LEAF SL. It does have the solar panel, and it's always parked outdoors. So far, so good. Then again, my 3G telematics unit still isn't working 100 percent, so maybe I'm lucky in that respect?
I noticed how sensitive my Leaf is to 12v battery corrosion. The positive terminal only gets a slight coating of corrosion before I notice the change of control responses. Nissan didn't exactly make cleaning the terminals easy. For over one hundred years mechanics knew that leaving a post grip overnight in a common cup of tap water will clean all the oil-free corrosion. I noticed there are some copper leads on the positive terminal grips. I assume these are wired straight into the regulator to the Leaf's electronics. Sadly I am unable to make 100% looking corrosion free positive terminal grip - thanks Nissan engineers, I hope you're not chosen to design naval equipment. With great grimace I must place the dirty grip back on the nice clean shiny battery post. I will give it a health dowsing of Radio Shack's electronic cleaner. Knowing it is utterly ridiculous to hope for the best knowing that what I've done is the best I could do under this design flaw. The car is suppose to go back to Nissan as they like to check it out. I will tell them to replace the battery post grips - and I've decided not to be nice about it: so THERE!
I have a 2015S, and just cleaned corrosion from the battery a few days ago, mainly the Positive terminal, which had a lot of blue corrosion by-product in the area where post and plastic meet. Amazingly, my miles per kWh has just increased, significantly, since! It's only been 3 days, so I'm still monitoring it, but it appears the range has gone from about 75-80 mi per charge, to 90-100 miles (which is close to what it was new). Can't rationally explain why this would happen, but so far it looks like the (12v) battery was impeding range. If anyone knows anything on this topic, I'd love to hear it. BTW my battery indicator has lost one capacity bar after 4.5yrs ownership and ODO=38k mi.
Well, my 2011 Nissan Leaf got a 2017 battery and upgrade in Telematics last January 2017 with zero issues as to the 12 volt battery which is ORIGINAL. Still going strong. In my experience when 12 volt batteries cannot hold a charge the issue is internal as in one or more cells have gone bad. They WILL TEST OK as to charge but have less power to start an ICE car. It seems the low charge also affects EV start mode. Doing math, in 2017 a 2013 12 volt battery is 4 years old, an average life cycle for many brands. Sadly, over 100 years of lead acid battery development, I would guess due to lack of interest, there is no advanced tech to test the condition of each cell in a car battery. To the best of my knowledge, the NIssan Leaf does not have a history of technical issues with the 12 volt battery as this battery is charged when the car is plugged in, via the tiny solar panel (yes, I admit, it is most window dressing as the current generated is tiny, or via the main battery when the car is running. Well, no matter what, come Oct/Nov I do plan to have this battery replaced. Just to be OK.
50A Charger on that little tiny battery? It's going to melt :) I can recommend CTEK 7A smart charger. Been using mine successfully for years on all my cars and I love it. If I were to buy another one I would go for the 5A version, it's just as capable and easier on the battery.
Don't worry -- The 50 A won't be used on the battery. (It has regular settings too) but we've had a couple of instances recently when we needed higher currents for starting EVs and Non-Evs ! :)
The 12v battery on my Leaf went flat yesterday. It was replaced after only 2 years and now again after another 2 years. I’m convinced they are using the wrong type of battery. They use a normal car battery which requires that a very high cranking current is drawn occasionally in order to keep the battery in a good condition. This will happen every time an I.C.E. car is started. This, of course, never happens in an electric car. I believe what they should be using is a leisure battery which are specifically designed to supply low current for extended periods. Charge it over night and wife has taken it to work. Let’s see if it gets her home. 🤪🤣
Peter Seddon1 hour ago I don't know why EV makers put an ICE car battery on their vehicles when a deep cycle battery is what is required. A standard car battery is rated in Ah but also has a Cold Cranking Amps rating and this is what is tested to see if the battery is OK. It may be able to turn the engine over but not hold sufficient charge for a long term low current drain. you are so correct same a solar battery.
I was thinking of using 2 6 volt battery’s(using the car as a camper in the near future) In hopes of having cabin electronics work longer, Just not sure if that would mess with the cars electronics
Next step would be to have a lithium 12v battery with decent battery management unlike the old acid batteries. But simply sticking a modern battery instead of acid isn't enough big thing missing is smart management systems for this battery strange that no one has done this
@TuxKey, yes, and... incorporate it in the traction battery pack so it can be warmed and cooled with the bigger batteries... and part of management would be to use the traction pack to change it (the integrated 12v battery) when it gets low. Tesla, are you listening?
would be helpfull to do a draw test on the battery. need a meter with an amp clamp (or a good mechanic, or a good AAA guy). you should not see more than .5 amp draw on battery as the car is sitting. if it's more than this you have a problem. you may be covering up a problem with the car by putting in a new higher cca battery than the original. I have an 11 leaf #807 64k, original 12v battery and have had the telematics up date and no problems. I even let it sit for 12 days last month while I was in Las vegas. no problems on return. if you find a draw would be worth showing the results to the Nissan dealer, and have them check the work they did and maybe remove the fuse that runs the telematics unit and see if the draw goes away. just my thoughts. thanks Jay
Had to replace my lead acid battery and also used the yellow top; I don't have the telecom upgrade...really don't even miss it since we live a pretty simple life. In my car using the yellow top without the upgrade, I have had no problems over a period of about six months. I'm waiting for my Tesla 3 and I've bought my last Nissan...I can't go with a company that has blown their lead in EVs as badly as Nissan has...they still are trying to manage EVs using ICEV policies...won't work Nissan. You need to develop policies that work for your EV customers not policies that work against them. Choosing an outdated telecom system on day one shows one example of how little they understand EVs and how they differ....sad that they may be selling a Telecom upgrade that draws down the battery...just sad.
lol Nikki. Don't need 50 amp charger for that tiny 12 volt AGM, 5-7 amps should do just fine. I charge 400 AH battery bank with 20 amp charger. 50 amps ? really ?
Nikki: OK.. it's now 18 mos since that (expensive!) OPTIMA D51 12V battery got installed. How has the LEAF (the battery) performed since having it installed? Can we have an update please. Headed into winter now (November 2018) and wondering if it's a good idea to install a fresh 'brute' of a battery for the winter. (Thinking all-the-while that a deep-cycle 12V might be in order). comments needed please....
Is the issue only limited to USA due to the changes that has happened or is it also effecting other countries due to the cars fitted with 3G etal from factory fitted?
Why not just get another Nissan Battery. They do cover some of the cost. Months Customer Pay In Service Percentage 0-24 0% 25-32 25% 33-50 50% 51-84 75% My 2015 12v battery died just after 23 months. I got one for free. NO matter what you replace it with, it will have issues unless you keep the battery topped off yourself. The car is not very "nice" to the 12v battery and it does not keep it topped off, so the battery suffers a untimely death.
Another possible reason my battery died so quickly is that I left it plugged into the EVSE overnight almost always and there is some drain on the battery during constant communication to the EVSE. One theory anyway...
I don't know why EV makers put an ICE car battery on their vehicles when a deep cycle battery is what is required. A standard car battery is rated in Ah but also has a Cold Cranking Amps rating and this is what is tested to see if the battery is OK. It may be able to turn the engine over but not hold sufficient charge for a long term low current drain.
Lead acid batteries don't require heating or cooling. Most of the current eletric cars out there are still full of legacy 12V components.Wipers, defrost, blower motor etc. It's cheaper to drop in a big heavy battery then a DC-DC inveter.
There are actually two dc to dc converters in my Lexus hybrid, one at 48 volts for the power steering and the AC. and a 12 volts one to charge the auxiliaries battery.
That's Actually a bad thing. Adding complexcity/ Cost. There has been talk for many years about auto makers moving to a 48 V standard. It hasn't pan out. I realize Toyota is know for their reliability.
There are no auxiliary drive belts on the ICE of the Lexus, hence no alternator, power steering pump and AC compressor driven by the engine. It makes sense to to use the traction battery via DC to DC converters as the ICE does not run all the time. The AC and Power steering are high voltage to cut down the current supplied to these units hence less copper is used in their manufacture.
Thanks for the video Nicky (I hope I spelled that correctly). Using a mobile phone in a car by holding it is prohibited in Australia. Standing still in front of a stop light is how they catch many people with their cameras. Is that not the case in America?
Toyota actually increased the capacity of the Prius 12v battery from 272 CCA to 325 CCA some years ago. I've noticed that as CCA increases the Reserve Capacity doesn't always follow suit, however I suspect that an increase in Reserve Capacity might result in a higher CCA.
You're in Oregon as I can tell. I thought it's pretty silly to have 12 volt lead acid for 100% EV car. As of your computerize charging system from your EV battery to lead acid battery as you're driving. The extra weight toward EV car to having a heavy lead acid battery. For LiFeO4 Lithium-iron Phosphate, is very pricey but one battery will most likely lasted throughout life of your car. LifeO4 battery is 4 times lighter than Lead Acid plus LiFeO4 is both for starter and deep cycles battery. You needed a volt meter for you to tell if your battery is charging or not to avoid from you'll being stranded.
I recol you using the the 12v with an dc ac inverter to supply power to your house in a mains fauler didn't you say that the li-io charges the 12v batt at 1kw so whay did your 12v batt not hold charge .
hi thanks for the replying ps I really like the show excellent work. OK so still the same issue the same point as to the video the Nissan kept the 12v top up while you had a load drain throw the inverter, so what I can't understand is why did the battery did not have any charge even tho the Nissan tops it up at 1kW at 12v that gives 83A , I'm just trying to understand if the leaf even needs a 12v or just a something suspect. sorry but I'm not net pekingese i am just queries why trying to understand. thanks again. you relay should be looking to put all your tips in a book or a left let to help like do and don't gide of driving an EV .
@transportevolved I think the issue might be to do with leaving your smartphone connected to the car with Bluetooth. When you park the car and walk away, some cars don't disconnect the Bluetooth link and will keep searching for the phone and this will drain the battery. I don't know the exact details of how fast the battery will drain or how much demand there is from a Bluetooth link but I have heard of this before (not isolated to the Leaf). Hope this helps.
Got to love the nerd girls... wearing star wars tee and talking FLA and AGM batteries... ha ha. My Nissan Leaf SV has sudden 12v battery death... 2 times in a year. No telling when it will happen. I charge it up and it is good to go.
Dear Transport Evolved: I have a LEAF 2015S, and just cleaned corrosion from the battery a few days ago, mainly the Positive terminal, which had a lot of blue corrosion by-product in the area where post and plastic meet. Amazingly, my miles per kWh has just increased, significantly, since! It's only been 3 days, so I'm still monitoring it, but it appears the range has gone from about 75-80 mi per charge, to 90-100 miles (which is close to what it was new). Can't rationally explain why this would happen, but so far it looks like the (12v) battery was impeding range. If anyone knows anything on this topic, I'd love to hear it. Thanks in advance for your interest. BTW my battery indicator has lost one capacity bar after 4 1/2 yrs ownership and ODO=38k mi.
"Give Back" to the owners of ICE vehicles -- jump start them at EVERY opportunity. (You can let them fall into thinking that the owners of electrified vehicles are "the Salt of the Earth;" but you are really only providing them what they consider a desperately needed Service, out of a depraved desire to keep your own 12 Volt battery in good health. {What a 'damnable' charge spot poaching ICE owner "beliebs" iz not Your Responsibility -- as long as they all have a good Opinion of EVers; however unwarranted that may be}.) Sigh. It is "In the Cards;" people who happen to be in a minority, have to Smile more Brightly; and Try Harder.
I caught my leaf draining itself. One of the charge lights kept blinking as if it were charging. Just thought I'd throw that out there to see if anyone else has seen the same thing.
I get about 2 days on not driving when my new battery goes down. The did change my 2G to a 3G. just about that time, the battery started giving me trouble. I drive a 2015 Leaf SV. Otherwise It's a great car.
I have read reports of bad 12 volt batteries in Tesla Model S. The 12 volt battery technology is excellent but not perfect and that is the reason for warranty periods. The Tesla owner reported the issue and was asked if he would be home at 8:00 AM the next morning. When he looked outside the next morning close to 8:00 AM there was a Tesla service truck and the technician was done already. He knocked on the door and was told that the battery was defective and a new one was installed and "sorry for your troubles." And the Tesla "rover" was on his way. No car is immune to defective or under engineered parts. Tesla Model S and X have have issues with many parts holding up, specifically some suspension parts and door components such as the handles. Sorry Xubin. In contrast, I purchased a 2011 Nissan Leaf used with 20,000 miles, has 50,000 miles now, zero issues!!
Hi. My 2011 Leaf 12 volt battery lasted long enough and I finally changed it, as a precaution, 3 weeks ago. I simply went to the Nissan dealership and purchased a replacement unit. Got home and changed it then returned the old one for a core credit. Six years running without issues but as winter approaches I decided it was time for a new one. Very easy job. I believe Nissan 12 batteries are made by Hitachi and that is good enough for me. Thanks.
I had the Telematics upgrade done 3 years ago when I purchased a new main battery to replace the 2011 unit. No problems with the 12 volt battery draining. When the 12 Volt battery was approaching 7 years it was creating random messages on the dashboard. Battery was replaced with another Nissan battery and zero issues have occurred. Coincidences are known as Red Herrings. As to placing non Nissan batteries into an EV, well, all I can say is that the Nissan 12 volt ones have worked extremely well for me. The car charges the 12 volt when plugged in, or if needed, from the main battery. A good working battery should not cause any problems at all. Oh, I priced other batteries and Nissan’s was the same or much less. Do not assume it will be the higher priced one. 3 years, close to 20,000 miles; zero issues. Thanks
My Mitsubishi i-MiEV drained the 12 Volt battery (30Ah) over a week because I forgot to disconnect the OVMSv2 from the OBD port (for charging status via 3G).
The requirements for the battery are not that harsh, it doesn't need a particularly large CCA rating in that respect. It should be beefy enough to handle the DC/DC in the car, the Mitsu has a 80A DC/DC, and the Leaf has something similar. This also comes on if you charge the car or drive (for the lights, radio and other accessories).
For emergency charging a simple 12 Volt 10 Amp charger is enough to get it jump started, as soon as you "start" the car, the onboard DC/DC will take over and push > 50A into the 12V battery.
If you have a Leaf with the small solar panel you should negate some of the parasitic draw in the daytime, unless you have a garage and it's become useless.
I have had a red top on my 68 firebird restomod for nearly ten years. Been thoroughly impressed with optima. I do use a ten amp schumacher charge maintainer though.
I own A 2012 LEAF SL,in which I chose to replace the 12 volt battery. I upgraded to the newer telematics unit and to a Duralast Gold from AutoZone and it has worked perfectly. The Optima was too rich for my blood and since all I have in the car is a 500 watt subwoofer, and not a competition grade sound system. the Duralast was almost half the cost of the Optima and works perfectly, I highly recommend it.
Why did you opt for the Yellow top Optima over the Blue Top Optima? Seems that the Blue Top battery would be much better suited for the EV application. Starter batteries depend on more and thinner cell wafers to get more "cranking amps" but there is no high drain application of a starter cranking a cold engine. In this instance a thicker plated deep cycle battery such as the blue top would be a better choice. Deep cycle batteries are much more tolerate of the charge discharge cycles and EV puts them through. In any case good choice of brands. The Optima battery being a spiral wound dry cell is MUCH more tolerant of being discharged and recovering. I had one attached to my home solar PV array and the cheap charge controller I had it hooked to gave up the ghost and discharged it below 10 volts (which is death for standard SLA battery), I trickled it back up to 14 volts and put it in my car and it functions like it never happened. Just keep in mind with the Optimas they are a sealed dry battery so always charge them slow if you rambo a bunch of amps into them trying to speed charge them and cause the water to vent off there is no practical way to replenish that water. That will kill any battery including an Optima DEAD. I really recommend the Optima brand charger or a smart charger that is designed for AGM batteries if you are going to charge the Optima in the future. Its worth the money.
Yep, a weak battery will make any car go wackadoo. I had the cell upgrade done 2 months ago. No problems so far.
I have a MY15 Leaf and finally got the cellular radio upgrade (free for MY15) about a month back. So far there have been no problems, but my 12v battery is a couple of years newer.
4 years is pretty good for a factory battery. And since lead acid batteries weren't really designed for the charge duty cycles that an EV can put on them (Tesla in particular) I think it's just a matter of time before they use something other than traditional lead acid batteries for the 12 volt system or they learn to adjust the BMS to properly maintain lead acid batteries.
Yes, while she mentioned 'wasting money' if the battery wasn't the issue there was probably less than a year left in the battery anyway. It's not really wasted money, just an inevitable maintenance expense done a bit earlier than expected.
I've had many batteries last far more than 4 years. One factory Ford battery lasted more than 9 year, and may have lasted longer, but I loaned the van out to someone who left a light on over night, and it then failed to take a charge. My Prius, purchased in 5/09 and now driven by my daughter, still has it's original 12v battery. It also has an interior light left on all night until the 12v was completely dead, but it did take a charge. I'll need to check with another daughter, but see had a Taurus from new to over 200k mi, and I don't recall a battery change, but possibly if was latter on.
In a gas car the fifth winter is usually when you have to start being aware of the car having trouble starting due to the 12v battery. You may get more, you may get less, but on average 5 years is what you should expect.
If the battery tested fine, but you still find it getting discharged, I think the logical next step is to check for parasitic draw.
Putting a new battery may stop the symptoms, but the cause is still there.
Hello there! I bought a 2014 Nissan Leaf in June, had the telematics unit upgraded to work with the 3G system, and guess what? My battery died! Now the 12 volt battery was already 3 years old, so I assumed it just wore out. However, having just replaced it with a new battery (and the car has been working fine for the last 4 days), I am now wondering if the new battery is going to drain quickly. I did not go to a dealership or mechanic to replace the battery - I just bought a new battery at the local AutoZone store, and my neighbor was kind enough to install the battery for me (he is handy - I am not). Please let me know if you find out anything about your theory linking the telematics upgrade to the battery going flat. I am interested in knowing what is going on!
The old lead thing is a throwback. The MkI leafs also had a throwback heater too.
Not sure if this was her issue, but some of the navigation systems on older Nissan Leaf's will continue to open and close the screen when the car is off which will drain the 12 volt battery. Especially if the car hasn't been driven in over 24 hours and you still have the factory battery. I had this issue.
Cheap fixes besides replacing the navigation system or screen are take apart the screen and disconnect the cable that connects to the circuit board that the tilt button is embedded on. Just sucks because you can't use the tilt button to put a cd or change the map day night background. Another cheap fix is buy a new 12 volt and just make sure you drive the car or turn it on every day. A somewhat cheap but risky attempt to fix this issue, is buy a used/salvaged navigation unit on eBay just hope that the unit doesn't have the same issue with the malfunctioning tilt button and disconnect that screen and attach it to your navigation system base. It's possible to take off the tilt screen without removing the entire navigation unit from the dash.
That backdrop is better than the green screen anyway :) Should have got a lithium battery :(
I've used a lithium battery for 5 years with tons of abuse, complete drains, always keeping it at 100%, zero problems so far :)
AtTheVan short cycling is far better for Li cells than sla. The Ioniq has done away with the 12v sla altogether.
My 2011 LEAF still has its original battery. Will probably need one soon. Just bought a small backup battery jumper with about 500 peak amps to keep handy when the time comes. Cheers. p.s. My 2010 Prius also still has the original 12v battery.
That's exactly what I said that you should put in the car a AGM battery or lithium ion I an automotive technician and yes sometimes you test a battery and then the test is good but the battery is bad usually I recharge the old battery completely and let it sit out of the car for at least a week and see if the voltage drops faster than normal you should check in the morning at what Voltage the battery is without the key on or anything else on you should have at least 12.5 to 12.7 volt if it's Lower than that then you should have someone test the parasitic draw of the system and check if the DC to DC convertor is working normally and it's charging the battery fully with all accessories on in the car with the car in run position.
You have to test a lead acid battery under load and that require a test device and hydrometer to do it right; you may have gotten the bum's rush test with just a voltmeter reading: www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-6-volt12-volt-battery-load-tester-69888-9191.html
Hi just out of curiosity, how is the optima yellow top doing. I’m planning to upgrade my 2013 leaf with a deep cycle battery. Thanks in advance. Sanu.
Had a similar thing with my Prius. Battery when tested was fine, reading the right voltage but as soon as a proper tester/load was applied the voltage would sag. Put in a deep cycle agm battery and after 5 years it is still fine. Errors on the dash when starting but then the car would be ok before the battery was replaced.
When you say "flat battery" what was the evidence of this? What was voltage? Was car powering up at all? Warning light? Would be great to have more specific information of what you were seeing. Having some issues with a new 12v in our new 2015 Leaf and want to drill down on this. Thank you!
she covered all that in an earlier video this was an update th-cam.com/video/pu30bchGu50/w-d-xo.html
Omg never work on a battery without disconnecting the neg first, even the little mounts should be done after both sides are disconnected. Aalways reconnect the neg last. This is giving me anxiety. Luckily you have a tiny spanner but it could still short if you touched the chassis. Specially moving that quickly XD
Have I been taught wrong for 36 years of being on the spanners how to disconnect and reconnect a battery.? To disconnect remove the negative first then the positive, To reconnect positive first then the negative.
Did changing the 12V battery solve the problem?
Hi Nikki a little tip when handling a car battery, rubberized gloves help reduce the risk of shock during the installation and deinstallation process. Also this is easier in general on your hands.
A couple of thoughts/questions:
(1) Does your LEAF have the small solar panel on the rear spoiler? It's supposed to help keep the 12v battery charged. If your car spends a lot of time under cover I suppose it's effectiveness will be limited.
(2) I am not sure the Optima battery is the best choice. I had one in my Ford Escape Hybrid and was not terribly satisfied, it only lasted a little over 3 years (note the warranty is 3 years). Part of the problem may be that AGM batteries like a higher charge voltage than flooded cell batteries. If the charging circuit in the car isn't giving it the voltage it needs it will not get a full charge.
We're still on the original 12v battery in our 2011 LEAF SL. It does have the solar panel, and it's always parked outdoors. So far, so good. Then again, my 3G telematics unit still isn't working 100 percent, so maybe I'm lucky in that respect?
Ive had a red top in my restomod 68 firebird for dam near ten years! I do use a trickle charger though.
well you've picked a good battery, optima are extremely good, I'm sure you've been told that
I noticed how sensitive my Leaf is to 12v battery corrosion. The positive terminal only gets a slight coating of corrosion before I notice the change of control responses. Nissan didn't exactly make cleaning the terminals easy. For over one hundred years mechanics knew that leaving a post grip overnight in a common cup of tap water will clean all the oil-free corrosion. I noticed there are some copper leads on the positive terminal grips. I assume these are wired straight into the regulator to the Leaf's electronics. Sadly I am unable to make 100% looking corrosion free positive terminal grip - thanks Nissan engineers, I hope you're not chosen to design naval equipment. With great grimace I must place the dirty grip back on the nice clean shiny battery post. I will give it a health dowsing of Radio Shack's electronic cleaner. Knowing it is utterly ridiculous to hope for the best knowing that what I've done is the best I could do under this design flaw. The car is suppose to go back to Nissan as they like to check it out. I will tell them to replace the battery post grips - and I've decided not to be nice about it: so THERE!
I have a 2015S, and just cleaned corrosion from the battery a few days ago, mainly the Positive terminal, which had a lot of blue corrosion by-product in the
area where post and plastic meet. Amazingly, my miles per kWh has just increased, significantly, since! It's only been 3 days, so I'm still monitoring it, but
it appears the range has gone from about 75-80 mi per charge, to 90-100 miles (which is close to what it was new). Can't rationally explain why this would happen, but so far it looks like the (12v) battery was impeding range.
If anyone knows anything on this topic, I'd love to hear it. BTW my battery
indicator has lost one capacity bar after 4.5yrs ownership and ODO=38k mi.
Well, my 2011 Nissan Leaf got a 2017 battery and upgrade in Telematics last January 2017 with zero issues as to the 12 volt battery which is ORIGINAL. Still going strong. In my experience when 12 volt batteries cannot hold a charge the issue is internal as in one or more cells have gone bad. They WILL TEST OK as to charge but have less power to start an ICE car. It seems the low charge also affects EV start mode. Doing math, in 2017 a 2013 12 volt battery is 4 years old, an average life cycle for many brands. Sadly, over 100 years of lead acid battery development, I would guess due to lack of interest, there is no advanced tech to test the condition of each cell in a car battery. To the best of my knowledge, the NIssan Leaf does not have a history of technical issues with the 12 volt battery as this battery is charged when the car is plugged in, via the tiny solar panel (yes, I admit, it is most window dressing as the current generated is tiny, or via the main battery when the car is running. Well, no matter what, come Oct/Nov I do plan to have this battery replaced. Just to be OK.
Ramon Cardona I
50A Charger on that little tiny battery? It's going to melt :)
I can recommend CTEK 7A smart charger. Been using mine successfully for years on all my cars and I love it. If I were to buy another one I would go for the 5A version, it's just as capable and easier on the battery.
Sorry, forgot to say very interesting video! Love it!
Don't worry -- The 50 A won't be used on the battery. (It has regular settings too) but we've had a couple of instances recently when we needed higher currents for starting EVs and Non-Evs ! :)
The 12v battery on my Leaf went flat yesterday. It was replaced after only 2 years and now again after another 2 years. I’m convinced they are using the wrong type of battery. They use a normal car battery which requires that a very high cranking current is drawn occasionally in order to keep the battery in a good condition. This will happen every time an I.C.E. car is started. This, of course, never happens in an electric car. I believe what they should be using is a leisure battery which are specifically designed to supply low current for extended periods.
Charge it over night and wife has taken it to work. Let’s see if it gets her home. 🤪🤣
Peter Seddon1 hour ago
I don't know why EV makers put an ICE car battery on their vehicles when a deep cycle battery is what is required. A standard car battery is rated in Ah but also has a Cold Cranking Amps rating and this is what is tested to see if the battery is OK. It may be able to turn the engine over but not hold sufficient charge for a long term low current drain.
you are so correct same a solar battery.
would a 12v 100ah golf cart battery work?
Would 2 6 volt battery’s work better?
I was thinking of using 2 6 volt battery’s(using the car as a camper in the near future)
In hopes of having cabin electronics work longer,
Just not sure if that would mess with the cars electronics
Next step would be to have a lithium 12v battery with decent battery management unlike the old acid batteries. But simply sticking a modern battery instead of acid isn't enough big thing missing is smart management systems for this battery strange that no one has done this
@TuxKey, yes, and... incorporate it in the traction battery pack so it can be warmed and cooled with the bigger batteries... and part of management would be to use the traction pack to change it (the integrated 12v battery) when it gets low. Tesla, are you listening?
would be helpfull to do a draw test on the battery. need a meter with an amp clamp (or a good mechanic, or a good AAA guy). you should not see more than .5 amp draw on battery as the car is sitting. if it's more than this you have a problem. you may be covering up a problem with the car by putting in a new higher cca battery than the original. I have an 11 leaf #807 64k, original 12v battery and have had the telematics up date and no problems. I even let it sit for 12 days last month while I was in Las vegas. no problems on return. if you find a draw would be worth showing the results to the Nissan dealer, and have them check the work they did and maybe remove the fuse that runs the telematics unit and see if the draw goes away. just my thoughts. thanks Jay
Had to replace my lead acid battery and also used the yellow top; I don't have the telecom upgrade...really don't even miss it since we live a pretty simple life. In my car using the yellow top without the upgrade, I have had no problems over a period of about six months. I'm waiting for my Tesla 3 and I've bought my last Nissan...I can't go with a company that has blown their lead in EVs as badly as Nissan has...they still are trying to manage EVs using ICEV policies...won't work Nissan. You need to develop policies that work for your EV customers not policies that work against them. Choosing an outdated telecom system on day one shows one example of how little they understand EVs and how they differ....sad that they may be selling a Telecom upgrade that draws down the battery...just sad.
lol Nikki. Don't need 50 amp charger for that tiny 12 volt AGM, 5-7 amps should do just fine. I charge 400 AH battery bank with 20 amp charger. 50 amps ? really ?
Nikki: OK.. it's now 18 mos since that (expensive!) OPTIMA D51 12V battery got installed. How has the LEAF (the battery) performed since having it installed? Can we have an update please. Headed into winter now (November 2018) and wondering if it's a good idea to install a fresh 'brute' of a battery for the winter. (Thinking all-the-while that a deep-cycle 12V might be in order). comments needed please....
Bill Hamilton It’s still going strong!
@@transportevolved i bought a 2018 nissan sl. but 12v went dead. Suggestions on a 12v battery or get the one you bought in 2017-optima yellow?
Is the issue only limited to USA due to the changes that has happened or is it also effecting other countries due to the cars fitted with 3G etal from factory fitted?
Why not just get another Nissan Battery. They do cover some of the cost.
Months Customer Pay In Service Percentage
0-24 0%
25-32 25%
33-50 50%
51-84 75%
My 2015 12v battery died just after 23 months. I got one for free. NO matter what you replace it with, it will have issues unless you keep the battery topped off yourself. The car is not very "nice" to the 12v battery and it does not keep it topped off, so the battery suffers a untimely death.
Another possible reason my battery died so quickly is that I left it plugged into the EVSE overnight almost always and there is some drain on the battery during constant communication to the EVSE. One theory anyway...
Paul Wilson q
Paul m
My 12 volt battery lasted 5 years not too bad(we used a 110 plug in for 3years before 220 and we would leave it plugged in all night most nights.
I don't know why EV makers put an ICE car battery on their vehicles when a deep cycle battery is what is required. A standard car battery is rated in Ah but also has a Cold Cranking Amps rating and this is what is tested to see if the battery is OK. It may be able to turn the engine over but not hold sufficient charge for a long term low current drain.
Blatt Ferenc sorry I misread as why 12v instead of why not deep cycle. I deleted my post.
Lead acid batteries don't require heating or cooling. Most of the current eletric cars out there are still full of legacy 12V components.Wipers, defrost, blower motor etc. It's cheaper to drop in a big heavy battery then a DC-DC inveter.
There are actually two dc to dc converters in my Lexus hybrid, one at 48 volts for the power steering and the AC. and a 12 volts one to charge the auxiliaries battery.
That's Actually a bad thing. Adding complexcity/ Cost. There has been talk for many years about auto makers moving to a 48 V standard. It hasn't pan out. I realize Toyota is know for their reliability.
There are no auxiliary drive belts on the ICE of the Lexus, hence no alternator, power steering pump and AC compressor driven by the engine. It makes sense to to use the traction battery via DC to DC converters as the ICE does not run all the time. The AC and Power steering are high voltage to cut down the current supplied to these units hence less copper is used in their manufacture.
I think you mean the Optima YELLOWTOP® D51R
can I use a new 12v 55amp battery for the Nissan leaf. the original was 45 amp
Skip to 5:50 to see the actual battery being replaced.
When my Leaf 12 Volt battery died I had nothing totally dead.
Is that like a flat tire????
Speaking of the RAV4 how is it doing?
Thanks for the video Nicky (I hope I spelled that correctly). Using a mobile phone in a car by holding it is prohibited in Australia. Standing still in front of a stop light is how they catch many people with their cameras. Is that not the case in America?
working at Napa I have seen the same thing happened with the Toyota Prius
Toyota actually increased the capacity of the Prius 12v battery from 272 CCA to 325 CCA some years ago. I've noticed that as CCA increases the Reserve Capacity doesn't always follow suit, however I suspect that an increase in Reserve Capacity might result in a higher CCA.
You're in Oregon as I can tell. I thought it's pretty silly to have 12 volt lead acid for 100% EV car. As of your computerize charging system from your EV battery to lead acid battery as you're driving. The extra weight toward EV car to having a heavy lead acid battery. For LiFeO4 Lithium-iron Phosphate, is very pricey but one battery will most likely lasted throughout life of your car. LifeO4 battery is 4 times lighter than Lead Acid plus LiFeO4 is both for starter and deep cycles battery. You needed a volt meter for you to tell if your battery is charging or not to avoid from you'll being stranded.
I recol you using the the 12v with an dc ac inverter to supply power to your house in a mains fauler didn't you say that the li-io charges the 12v batt at 1kw so whay did your 12v batt not hold charge .
If you notice, I said at the start that this video was about 4 weeks old ;) So this occurred BEFORE the power cut!
hi thanks for the replying ps I really like the show excellent work.
OK so still the same issue the same point as to the video the Nissan kept the 12v top up while you had a load drain throw the inverter, so what I can't understand is why did the battery did not have any charge even tho the Nissan tops it up at 1kW at 12v that gives 83A , I'm just trying to understand if the leaf even needs a 12v or just a something suspect. sorry but I'm not net pekingese i am just queries why trying to understand. thanks again.
you relay should be looking to put all your tips in a book or a left let to help like do and don't gide of driving an EV .
Indiana just passed a $150 year tax increase to electric car owners wane.com/2017/04/19/indiana-lawmakers-strike-deal-on-road-funding-plan/
Is this not a D51R and not a G51R, I cannot find any info on a G51R battery anywhere
How many amp is that 12v battery ?
I had the up grade and that is when I the battery started being dead it only when I up date my status and it says weak cell phone repsions
50amp charger????? Why not get a high current 4amp charger? 50 amps is way to much to use. WOW.
Leaf TCU 3G Upgrade failed. Cannot connect blue tooth to my phone and cannot connect to carwings
@transportevolved I think the issue might be to do with leaving your smartphone connected to the car with Bluetooth. When you park the car and walk away, some cars don't disconnect the Bluetooth link and will keep searching for the phone and this will drain the battery. I don't know the exact details of how fast the battery will drain or how much demand there is from a Bluetooth link but I have heard of this before (not isolated to the Leaf). Hope this helps.
Got to love the nerd girls... wearing star wars tee and talking FLA and AGM batteries... ha ha. My Nissan Leaf SV has sudden 12v battery death... 2 times in a year. No telling when it will happen. I charge it up and it is good to go.
Dear Transport Evolved:
I have a LEAF 2015S, and just cleaned corrosion from the battery a few days ago, mainly the
Positive terminal, which had a lot of blue corrosion by-product in the
area where post and plastic meet. Amazingly, my miles per kWh has just increased, significantly, since! It's only been 3 days, so I'm still monitoring it, but
it appears the range has gone from about 75-80 mi per charge, to 90-100 miles (which is close to what it was new). Can't rationally explain why this would happen, but so far it looks like the (12v) battery was impeding range.
If anyone knows anything on this topic, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks in advance for your interest. BTW my battery
indicator has lost one capacity bar after 4 1/2 yrs ownership and ODO=38k mi.
just do a battery drain test with an amp meter
Lovely gal. Pleasant and conversational, but way too much talking. Please be concise.
I live in Vegas 12 V batteries need to be changed every two years.
"Give Back" to the owners of ICE vehicles -- jump start them at EVERY opportunity. (You can let them fall into thinking that the owners of electrified vehicles are "the Salt of the Earth;" but you are really only providing them what they consider a desperately needed Service, out of a depraved desire to keep your own 12 Volt battery in good health. {What a 'damnable' charge spot poaching ICE owner "beliebs" iz not Your Responsibility -- as long as they all have a good Opinion of EVers; however unwarranted that may be}.)
Sigh. It is "In the Cards;" people who happen to be in a minority, have to Smile more Brightly; and Try Harder.
I caught my leaf draining itself. One of the charge lights kept blinking as if it were charging. Just thought I'd throw that out there to see if anyone else has seen the same thing.
I get about 2 days on not driving when my new battery goes down. The did change my 2G to a 3G. just about that time, the battery started giving me trouble. I drive a 2015 Leaf SV. Otherwise It's a great car.
stopped watching at 4:44.
Very unpolite from you doing the video a chewing gum!! 😎🙈😈
I can't think of a more B.S. post than this one. She misses the point and does not know what she is talking about...
That's why you get a Tesla!!!
Not everyone can afford a Tesla at the moment
I have read reports of bad 12 volt batteries in Tesla Model S. The 12 volt battery technology is excellent but not perfect and that is the reason for warranty periods. The Tesla owner reported the issue and was asked if he would be home at 8:00 AM the next morning. When he looked outside the next morning close to 8:00 AM there was a Tesla service truck and the technician was done already. He knocked on the door and was told that the battery was defective and a new one was installed and "sorry for your troubles." And the Tesla "rover" was on his way. No car is immune to defective or under engineered parts. Tesla Model S and X have have issues with many parts holding up, specifically some suspension parts and door components such as the handles. Sorry Xubin. In contrast, I purchased a 2011 Nissan Leaf used with 20,000 miles, has 50,000 miles now, zero issues!!
Tesla was having 12V battery problems early-on, and switched to deep-cycle AGM also.