What Does "SOH 87%" Mean on a Leaf Battery Report?

A Leaf Spy reading or dealer diagnostic report showing SOH 87% is one of the most common numbers we get asked to explain. On its own, 87% doesn't tell you whether you've found a great car or one to walk away from — context around pack size, age, and how the figure was measured matters just as much as the number itself.

SOH and Hx — are they the same thing?

Broadly yes, though not identically calculated. SOH (State of Health) is the general industry term for capacity as a percentage of original, and it's what most dealer diagnostic tools and some Leaf-specific apps display directly. Hx, specific to the Leaf Spy Pro app ecosystem, is calculated slightly differently from raw cell data and can read a percentage or two apart from a dealer's SOH figure on the same car at the same time. Neither is "more correct" — they're just different calculation methods reading the same underlying pack, and small discrepancies between the two are normal rather than a sign something's wrong.

What 87% actually means in real terms

The percentage only means something once you apply it to the specific pack size in your Leaf, since NZ has seen several generations on the road:

Original pack	Capacity at 87% SOH	Approx. real-world range
24kWh (2011–2015)	~20.9kWh	115–140km
30kWh (2016–2017)	~26.1kWh	150–180km
40kWh (2018–2021)	~34.8kWh	195–230km
62kWh (2019–2021, e+)	~53.9kWh	300–350km

Range figures vary with driving style, terrain, and climate control use, but the pattern holds: 87% on a 62kWh e+ leaves you with genuinely usable long-distance range, while 87% on an early 24kWh car puts you into distinctly city-only territory.

Is 87% good or bad for the car's age?

It depends heavily on model year and mileage, since NZ's Leaf fleet spans a wide range of both:

Model year	Typical SOH range seen	Is 87% notable?
2011–2013 (24kWh)	Often 60–75% by now	87% would be unusually good for this age
2014–2015 (24kWh)	Often 70–82%	87% is a strong result
2016–2017 (30kWh)	Often 80–90%	87% is squarely normal
2018–2021 (40kWh/62kWh)	Often 88–96%	87% is slightly below typical, worth asking why

The same number can be a genuinely excellent result on an early car or a mild yellow flag on a newer one — always weigh SOH against age and mileage together, never in isolation.

Why one Leaf sits at 87% while an identical-age car doesn't

Battery degradation isn't purely a function of time and distance — it's heavily influenced by how the car was used and, in warmer climates, parked. Frequent DC fast charging, regularly leaving the battery at 100% or near-empty for long periods, and consistent exposure to high ambient temperatures all accelerate capacity loss faster than gentle AC-only charging habits and moderate climates. This is exactly why two same-year, same-mileage Leafs imported from different regions can show noticeably different SOH readings — the car's history matters as much as its age.

How SOH relates to the dashboard capacity bars

Every Leaf shows a simple capacity gauge on the dash — usually 12 bars on earlier models, a slightly different display on newer ones — that drops a bar as the pack degrades. This is a genuinely crude indicator by comparison with a proper SOH reading: losing the first bar typically corresponds to roughly 85% SOH, meaning a car showing all bars still present isn't necessarily at 100%, it's just that the gauge hasn't caught up to a reading like 87% yet. Don't rely on a full-looking bar gauge as reassurance in place of an actual SOH or Hx figure — plenty of Leafs with a full-looking dashboard gauge are quietly sitting in the high 80s once properly tested, and the gauge simply hasn't dropped its first bar yet.

What to actually do with an 87% reading

• Cross-check it against the model's typical range for its age using a table like the one above, rather than judging the number alone.
• Ask for the module-level breakdown, not just the headline percentage — an 87% pack with even cell balance is a healthier buy than the same percentage with a couple of noticeably weaker modules dragging the average down.
• Factor remaining useful life into your offer, not just today's range — a 40kWh Leaf at 87% today will likely be in the high 70s within another few years of normal use, which is fine for a short-term city car but worth pricing accordingly if you want several more years out of it.
• Get an independent reading if you're relying on a seller's printout, particularly if the test date shown is more than a couple of months old — an $85–$120 independent check for a Leaf specifically is a small cost against a car purchase of this size.

The bottom line

87% SOH is neither automatically good nor automatically concerning — it's a data point that only becomes useful once you know the pack size, the car's age and mileage, and ideally the module-level detail behind the headline number. Treat it as the start of the conversation about a Leaf's condition, not the end of it.