The Nissan Leaf’s battery management system deliberately prevents the battery from ever fully discharging below 5% or fully charging above 95% during normal operation, but it hides this limitation from the driver by displaying the usable 90% window as the full 0-100% scale—meaning owners unknowingly lose approximately 18% of their actual battery capacity to a deception implemented because engineers discovered that keeping lithium cells away from full saturation extended lifespan by years, forcing Nissan to choose between honest range disclosure and long-term reliability by hiding the truth in the software.
Car Fact #124 — October 18, 2026
