Charging a Nissan Leaf is about getting the maximum range in your battery while protecting it as much as possible. But for what reason would your Nissan Leaf not be charging to 100? Read on to find out why.
Top 3 common reasons your Nissan Leaf won’t charge to 100 include:
- Upper battery limit unclear
- Battery management is in play
- Fast charger fault
In this article, we’ll examine why your Nissan Leaf won’t charge to 100% and how to fix it.
The Upper Charge Limit is Unclear
There was a time when you could set your charge limit to what you liked, but in 2014 Nissan changed how charge limits were controlled. In my opinion, the older system was better, where you could set a percentage and manage the health of your battery.
Since the 2014 change, Nissan maintains that charging to full capacity doesn’t damage the battery or reduce its life. Every other EV brand tends to disagree.
Nissan has altered the percentage scale and increased the buffer of the upper charging scale. You feel like you’re charging to 100%, but it only charges 85-90% of the battery capacity.
But something else could happen if your battery does not accept a full charge to 100%.
- The SOH (State of Health) is low or
- There is a timer set
State of Health (SOC) is low
The SOH of your battery is an important calculation to keep an eye on. You need to have a few pieces of information to hand before you can calculate, and a long journey is required before you take note of these numbers.
- Watt hours per mile
- Range available
- % of your battery
- kW size of your battery from new
Watt hours per mile can be found on your dash, as can your range. The % of your battery is available %, and your battery from new is either 40kW or 60kW.
There are three steps to the calculation:
| Step 1 | Wh Miles multiplied by Projected Range divided by 1000 = kW hours. |
| Step 2 | The answer to Step 1 is then divided by % of your battery. |
| Step 3 | The answer to Step 2 is then divided by the original kW size of your battery. |
This number is the percentage of your battery available when you try and charge it to 100%. As your battery ages, no matter how well you look after it, it will degrade by a certain percentage.
Timer is Set
When a charging timer is set on your Leaf, no charging will begin until the time rolls around. You can select to charge immediately, but you must activate this. To turn this on and off, you need to select this on your touchscreen. Select either Timer 1 or Timer 2 to check if a timer is set on your Leaf.
Timers can also be set for different days of the week, so you might also have to check if a specific day prevents you from charging.
Forcing your Leaf to Charge to 100%
There are ways to get around this without being able to set the charge limit. The easiest one is through your app. You can use the smart charger to charge to a specific amount, but first, you must complete the SOH calculation to get an accurate number to enter when calibrating your App.
Let’s look at calibrating the JuiceBox App, for example:
- Open JuiceBox
- Select ‘My Vehicles’
- Select ‘Edit’ in the top right corner
- Enter the battery capacity
Once calibrated, you can set the charge % when ready to charge. First, note the battery’s SOC (State of Charge). Your car must then be plugged in and ready to charge.
- Open the App
- Go to the charge screen
- Tap and hold until ‘Plugged in with’ appears
- Move the dial to the SOC number
- You made a note of it before you switched off
- Tap and hold again
- Move the dial to 100%
- You can either start charging now or set a timer for later
The finished rate of charge will depend on the accuracy of your calculation and may need some adjusting if it’s not taking a full charge to 100%.
Battery Protection
The high-voltage battery in your Nissan Leaf is the most important part of your car. If the battery has a problem, you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
The car continually monitors your driving, the average daily range traveled, and how you charge.
Over time the computers will learn the best charging percentage suitable for you. This is rarely 100%. As said, Nissan maintains that your battery will not be damaged by 100%, but the reality is
Charging at a Fast Charge
The last thing we’ll look at is charging at a fast charger. The ideal charging situation is charging daily at home using a Level 1 or a Level 2 charger. Sometimes this isn’t always possible or practical. You live in rented accommodation or an apartment complex where you don’t always have access to the onsite charger.
The alternative is to charge using a fast charger. Many fast charging options are available throughout the USA, and it’s a personal choice that suits your circumstances.
Electrify America is prevalent throughout the states but is not always the best choice for Leaf owners. The Leaf is one of the few EV manufacturers using the CHAdeMO connection. EA only offers one CHAdeMO charger per location, so that you might have a considerable wait time.
EVgo is a good option, but not as fast as you imagine a fast charger to be. It can take an hour to charge to 80%. On the upside, all chargers at EVgo locations offer CHAdeMO connections.
ChargePoint and Blink are mainly Level 2 or Destination chargers, which are good if you’re not in a hurry.
We’ve slightly gotten off-topic, but I just wanted to explain the variations.
When we plug in any fast charger that doesn’t go to plan, we assume it’s the car’s problem, but often it’s the charger’s fault.
Although the charging locations are maintained and serviced regularly, they can still have issues.
The reduction in charging could be because the power from the grid locally is down, and charging at the location is down overall.
There may be a problem with the actual charger you’re plugged into. Although it plugs in fine and begins to charge, it might slow down significantly or stall. Try moving to another charger, preferably one someone has just been using.
Fast chargers use DC (Direct Charging), which uses increased power and heat, which allows for rapid charging. However, nearly all fast charges will fly towards 80% and then are designed to slow down from 80-100% considerably. This could be why you can’t achieve 100% at a fast charger.
When fully charged, all 20 bars should be illuminated. Each bar is worth 5%. I advise you not to be too hung up on the 100% charge. You’re doing well if you can consistently charge 80-85%.
You may find this post useful – Are Nissan Leaf chargers waterproof?
I’ve covered a few other common Nissan Leaf issues which you hopefully won’t experience, but if you do, we have you covered with these posts:
If you are curious about other EV models, check out the EV FAQ category.
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