Tesla Motors’ Devastating Design Problem

[jeff47]

48. Nissan is lying

It is not possible to create a battery that will never discharge completely.

What you can do is add circuitry to disconnect the battery from the load when it gets below a threshold. That reduces the drain on the battery but does not eliminate it.

All batteries "self-discharge". Leave the battery sitting on a shelf, disconnected, and it will eventually run out of charge. This is basic chemistry and can not be overcome.

So that Leaf can indeed survive a "period of unplugged storage". But you'll note they didn't bother to say what that period was.

If you leave a first generation Tesla unplugged with 50% charge, it takes two months for the batteries to run down. Newer Teslas would take a year, which is probably how long the Leaf would take.