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By Armen Hareyan Jun 14 2016 - 2:02pm

Nissan LEAF Bar Loss: Emotional Chemistry When Losing Battery Bars

Nissan LEAF battery replacement can be costly, this is why the bar loss on LEAF batteries is an emotionally sad thing for the LEAF owners. This raises a natural question as to how long do Nissan LEAF batteries last. Bar loss on an EV battery can indicate that.
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Here is what some Nissan LEAF owners say about how long their batteries last and when the bars are lost. The answers are summarized from Nissan LEAF Owners group on Facebook.

Looks like first battery bar is lost at 16.5K

Blake is driving a 2013 Nissan LEAF SV. He is now at 10 bars and he considers it not too bad. Matt has a 2013 LEAF SL and writes that he has lost his first bar at 16,500 miles.

Tom writes that he drives a 2013 model too and lost his first bar at 16.5K. "This will be the 2nd Summer that I am charging in 100 plus degree heat here, in the blazing sun, while at work," he adds.

Also see: This Company Offers To Install Double Batteries on Nissan LEAF Increasing Range to 160 Miles.

By the way, to get the battery percentage of your LEAF, look at the 4 buttons at side of steering/ door. Press the one repeatedly with the square on it. It's a feature added to 2013 and newer.

"Just hit 30,000 kms and still have all 12 battery bars luckily. 21,000 miles seams very low mileage to have 2 bars gone no?," writes and asks Greg, who may either be from Europe or Canada, bringing a perspectives counted by kilometers.

"Try and keep it between 20% and 80% charged as much as possible," replies Cody. He says, he only charge to the full charge when needed. Or if under warranty, he keeps charging it full and tries to charge with quick chargers to get it down to replacement level.

You need to know that things will also depend on your driving habits, location and therefore the weather. Some people driving in a city, which involves a lot of stop and go. Whereas, other people drive mainly on highways. Of course, climate control also effects it.

Don't Miss:

  1. Replacement battery cost bodes well for used LEAF market
  2. How Can Nissan LEAF get 2X The Range Without a New Battery

What about you? How long have you been driving and how many bars have you lost on your battery? Please, also comment and let us know if you have replaced any batteries and what was the cost and the overall process.

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Comments

Richard Hanes wrote on June 14, 2016 - 5:51pm
Interested in E-vehicles ONLY.
Chuck Holmes wrote on June 15, 2016 - 5:02am
My 2011 leaf just turned 37,000 and it still has all its bars. Even 2 extra ones above the scale when fully charged. I might add the only expense my leaf has had is tires and wiper blades. That's all.
a wrote on June 15, 2016 - 7:52am
If you say 2 extra ones, then you lost 2 bars
Richard Murphy wrote on June 15, 2016 - 1:34pm
I have a 2012 Leaf with 45,000 miles in FL. I have been down to 9 bars for some time, hope it goes to 8 before the 60 month warranty is up. I routinely only charge to 80%. I used to get over 70 miles with the 80% charge, now I get just over 40. I don't think my new tires are as mileage friendly as the original ones.
Jean Desnoyers wrote on June 15, 2016 - 2:25pm
Leaf 2014, 48,000km 12 bars, I live in Québec Canada and I typically charge around 20% but I never plug the car if it's not below 80%.
ricegf wrote on June 15, 2016 - 9:25pm
2012 Leaf SL named Wattzn with 25,217 miles and 11 bars remaining (down 1). I live in Texas, and parked in the blazing sun during the week until recently.
Armen Hareyan wrote on June 16, 2016 - 7:13pm
Is that good to be down to 9 bars with 45K miles in FL Richard?
Steve Withers wrote on June 17, 2016 - 11:13pm
I've seen notices from NIssan that indicate the battery bar loss is a product of hot climates. LEAF cars in cooler climates tend to not suffer bar loss for much longer - it at all. I guess those Li-ion batteries don't like getting too hot.
David Massey wrote on June 28, 2016 - 1:19pm
We have two 2013 LEAF "S" trim cars and live in Atlanta, GA, USA. My LEAF has 35,000 miles and still has all 12 bars and the other LEAF has 18,000 miles and all 12 bars still. It has reached 100 degrees F here once this summer so far but unlike Arizona it is a rare thing to reach 100 degrees here. Our 17 year old daughter loves "her" LEAF (the one with 18K miles) and her friends compliment her on not having to deal with going to gas stations and having to worry about oil changes and other ICE car type maintenance. It isn't very safe to stop at gas stations anymore especially if you are female so we feel much better knowing she can come home to safely "fill up" her car.
Papa Deaux wrote on December 10, 2016 - 11:15pm
Lost 3 bars at 45,000 in a 2011 in 2016; but Nissan still gave me a warranty replacement after the 5 years threshold. Had to fight for it, however.
Al T wrote on March 8, 2018 - 6:21pm
We live in a warmer climate N. County, San Diego 92027. My wife and I purchased our 2013 Nissan Leaf new or rather leased it for 36 months in Escondido and then paid off the residual. BIG mistake on our part since as soon as I paid off the lease, 2 weeks later, battery capacity dropped like a rock; one of my biggest fears materialized for this vehicle as stated in a prior post (down to 9 bars or 54 miles on the guess-o-meter while in eco mode). Keep in mind when we first bought the car back in 2013, it was advertised and described by Nissan at 84-100 miles on a single charge. The good news is it still drives for 60 miles R/T as of Feb. 2018 if one keeps at 55 mph or less on level pavement. The bad news however is I can no longer make my commute of 80 miles R/T into San Diego. And Nissan will not cooperate whatsoever. The vehicle is still under the original warranty and has 54K miles total. Nissan Escondido or Mike Consentino Service Manager stated on 2/20/18 it still meets Nissan's factory warranty. Truthfully, I cannot recommend this vehicle to anyone even with a full factory warranty. And Btw, I also purchased the extended 100K warranty from the dealership for an additional $2500 for a grand total of $32K .... totally worthless warranty from the dealership. Vehicle earns an F, or D- as a commuter car. Never again will I shop for another Nissan Electric. Not at all what was originally promised from the Dealership in Escondido. The salesperson who sold it stated he'd be surprised if the battery dropped more than 5% max. Try 40%! I should have listened to Mathew Johnson below since he is 100% Correct about the battery dropping like a rock for daily highway driving at 55-65 mph. Live and learn right? But we are still looking for other buyers in a similar situation to possibly organize a class action if one hasn't already formed. We would like to hear from you. I'd also be interested in joining an existing class action that anyone may know of. TIA
david c wrote on March 30, 2019 - 12:54pm
I own a 2016 sv leaf. I lost the first bar at 57K (12/15/18) and second bar at 66K miles (3/29/19). I also have leaf spy that states that my S.O.H of the battery is at 78.4% which is very akward since 2nd bar loss happens at 70% or below. I have been documenting the battery soh with spy leaf to justify that the battery is degrating at a certain percentage over time by design and not because of my usage. I normally drive 100 miles per day on highway at 65~ 70 miles per hour. If you guys want to start a class action I have enough records that can back our data with graph by days, week, and month. it looks ovious that the battery has design problem that needs to be addressed and they are ignorant about it.
A. Tejada wrote on April 2, 2019 - 7:50pm
My Nissan Leaf 2013 w/ 6.6 kw system just dropped to eight bars on Mar 25, 2019. Mileage is at 63500. I was driving to work on a 62 mile R/T commute when I notice burn electrical wire smell within the cabin. When arrive to my destination bars showed only 8 out of 12 remaining. Car is now sluggish. Took it to Mossy Nissan to no avail. They claim it's no longer under warranty after 60K. I showed them I purchased the extended warranty. Still useless. I paid an extra $3000 for the larger 440v DC fast charge port so I could charge under 30 mins to 80%. Now I'm told I can only use this port once a month or I will damage my main battery. This was never mentioned before I forked out an extra 3 gran for this Leaf port. They simply say there's nothing they can do. My car is no longer a commuter vehicle since it no longer makes the same commute it dii over the past 5 years. Not to mention DMV / CA state also stopped recognizing white and green decals. Maybe they knew something we foolish consumers didn't. Like the car's cells won't last even 60 months. So kick them out of the commuter fast lanes and make all early adopters of EV's pay big time. Out you go! Nissan Leaf / Leaves suck big time.