Charging at 110

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mmcamp
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:35 am
Car: 2014 Leaf SV

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I don't drive alot and find that charging at 110 is very adequate for me. My questions are for long life and health of the battery.
1. Should I plug the car in every night even if I only drove 10 miles? I have been waiting until I am down to 30 miles remaining before I plug it in overnight. Does it make any difference?
2. Is it important to remove the charging cord from the car soon after it finishes charging? I believe it stops charging when full. Does it make any difference if I leave the cord attached for a couple days?
3. Is it a problem charging to full every charge if only using 110? Will I shorten the life of the battery?


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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Hi MMCamp, welcome to NICO Club! :)

I believe Nissan has recommendations in your owners manual and you should get familiar with that book. I looked online a bit and found two pretty nice articles, one of which is specific to the Leaf. Here they are and let us know if you have any further questions.

https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/02/03/l ... e-anxiety/

http://www.plugincars.com/eight-tips-ex ... 07938.html

mmcamp
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:35 am
Car: 2014 Leaf SV

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Thank you for your answer. I have reviewed the links you sent and completely read over the charging section of the owner's manual and none of my questions are answered. Someone at a Nissan dealership told me that as long as I was only using 110 there was no problem in fully charging every time. But mostly when I call a dealer I get the run around. No one seems to know much of anything. This is why I joined this forum. Hoping someone can look at each of my questions and give me some answers.

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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Okay, well I seem to find the answers to your questions in those postings, but I could be wrong. I'll write what my understanding is and maybe that can help you come to your own understanding. I have assumed that the data in those links was true. I have assumed that you want to prolong the life of the batteries in your car. So:

1. Inapplicable. No distance matters when deciding to charge. Just the bars on your car matter. It was written that you should charge to keep your battery charged between 2 and 10 bars.
1a. Inapplicable. 30 miles remaining is meaningless. Use the bars. Keep the battery charged between 2 and 10 bars.
2. This was not really covered in those documents, yet it would be not recommended based upon a little thinking. Charging stops when it is full. Leaving the cord plugged in will not do anything more than allow a full charge. But now you're doing a full charge and ignoring the advice to keep the battery between 2 and 10 bars of charge. This is, I suppose, unless you are using a timer, in which the thing is still plugged in, but no longer charging.
2a. It's no different than doing a full charge, which is not recommended.
3. Yes it is a problem in that a full charge is not recommended. Voltage, ambient temperature, and the color of your car are not listed as they are not pertinent information. DC fast charging is not recommended when trying to prolong the life of your battery. That is pertinent and sort of related to voltage I guess.
3a. Yes, doing full charges will shorten the life of the battery.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this. Maybe you have more information to share. Maybe you disagree with something. I'm an engineer and I'm always learning, so my answers sometimes change as I learn new things.


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