Nissan Leaf

Just to follow up. Got the battery checked and surprise, surprise its fine! After hanging around for an age, I got presented with a printout saying battery had lost 3 bars but was otherwise healthy. So I know no more than the dash display already told me. I asked about the voltage variation and if this could be caused by weak cells but was told no way of knowing as they can't see behind top level health report. So it looks like I have to stick or twist with the car. Would love to hang on a bit longer and hopefully pick up a slightly more affordable used M3 but the ever decreasing range is becoming a pain to live with. Having said that the ever diminishing financial status is of even greater concern at present!! I may just have to wait until eldest flies the coup and I can consign the 7 seater to the history books.

While I was there I took a 2018 L40 for a spin. Wasn't too bad an experience, although it was so easy to spin the front wheels, which might be somewhat due to the shite already forgotten Chinese brand tyres. The dash screens are getting really dated looking now as well, they really should have upgraded the from the L24/30 models. The one pedal driving was a bit strange at first but you would get used to it pretty quickly. However I couldn't see myself dropping €27k on a 5 year old model with 106k on the clock (couldn't believe they were looking for €42k for a 2021 L60) Leafspy showed that battery at 88% SOH which was better than expected, certainly a lot better than the 71% of my 2 year older L30. In any case my experience with the L30 battery means that I wouldn't buy another Leaf unless it was an unmissable bargain which no car is these days.

I'll have another chat with him but he was pretty adamant there was no warranty issue to pursue as car had only lost 3 bars. I think I'll push the leafspy data harder this time although I doubt he knows too much about leafspy tbh.

BTW Ive just realised how ridiculous that nearly €43k price is for a 2021 SV premium L60 given that the new list price after grant is €42,300. Similarly paying €27k for a 5 year old L40 SV with 100k km on clock is crazy when new price is €33k. Either I'm completely out of touch with reality or there must be fair riggle room built into the pricing

3 bars lost means its down a minimum of 15%+6.25%+6.25%=27.5% but could be as much as 33.75% as it could be just about to drop the 4th bar.

The warranty is 70% remaining so the warranty actually kicks in BEFORE that 4th bar disappears. You are right on that now, so he needs to acknowledge that warranty is in play here. As I said, dig in. Dont take no for an answer. If you get no satisfaction tell him you want to talk to Nissan Ireland and then state your case directly to them.

A Leaf SV Premium with the 62kWh should not cost you more than 35k, and ideally 30k. Any more than that is inflationary fantasy money. There is a 2021 SVE 62kWH 5000km on DD for the last month for 34-35k EUR, private sale. Also a UK import on Adverts for 29k EUR. As a guide, for an 2021 SV premium 62kWh, pay no more than 33k from a dealer, and 31k private. Even that is generous.

Tbf to the dealer, he acknowledges that chances of success are slim but he said he will put through a goodwill claim to Nissan and see what happens. As I said the main issue is the unpredictable nature of the battery remaining % displayed in that a regularly made journey can take anything between 20% and 40% of battery so it's very difficult to have confidence in whether the displayed % remaining will be sufficient to complete a given journey.

We have known this for some time. Beggars belief they held onto CHAdeMO for the facelift Leaf when the writing was all over the wall. You can have a CCS installed in its place, but for most people driving the 40 Leaf, the fast charger will rarely be utilised. I find this to be the case in my 24 Leaf. Have used a fast charger less than 50 times in 5 years.

I'm sure they'll drop CHAdeMO when the refresh CUV LEAF emerges in 2-3 years (or less?). I wonder will sales of LEAF become impacted now that FB is alive with discussions on CHAdoMO provision. For the moment, it is almost a privileged network as many of the fast 150kw chargers have both standards. Partly because of this, and the opportunity of the great migration of M3->MY, I sold my 62kWh to a dealership and grabbed a pre-refresh 2020 Model 3.

I seem to be having the exact issue as yourself. Clearly a problem with the battery. It is dropping rapidly. I'm on 9 bars now and they won't touch the car until 8 bars and are telling me the battery in their eyes is perfectly fine.

87,000km, SOH 69.92%.

I'm just waiting for that 8th bar to hit and I will start the warranty process. In saying that the warranty states they only have to return it to 9 bars as far as I know. To me that means they can do the bare minimum to bring it back to 9 bars and wash their hands with it.

No faults triggered on dash. Other than the erratic reduction of the battery remaining % the only indication of a problem is the weak cells notice on leafspy

I suppose it is fair enough that they wont recognise Leafspy. Its not a Nissan app, however, they have access to the same data so they can see the issue as well.

The dealer will just follow Nissan's guidance. The dealer wont get paid for doing unapproved work so its Nissan corporates fault not your dealer really. It does sound like you have time on your hands though in terms of a warranty claim so hopefully you get a good result. A few rapid charges might speed things up a bit for you if you want to speed it along! 😉

Does LeafSpy actually show you have a weak cell(s)?

Not sure really. I can't say I know how to read the cells to be honest. I was just going by the SOH and how fast it's been decreasing.

The low battery warning usually kicks in around 20%. It can move down very quickly from there. I rarely go that low though, I need the car pretty much 100% every day most of the year so would charge it up when it gets to about 40%. I've driven it to 0% once, car was still going for about 2km at 0% but I was home then and wasn't going to take the chance to see how much further I could go at 0%.

Email received today

NissanConnect EV services will be temporarily unavailable

Dear x

NissanConnect EV Services will undergo essential maintenance during the upcoming months, commencing in April.

This will take place in stages and during these maintenance periods, you will experience disruption to NissanConnect EV services.

You will be notified about upcoming maintenance periods in the NissanConnect EV app and on the connectivity portals.

Once the maintenance period is completed, services will resume.

We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

If you are unable to access NissanConnect EV services once the maintenance period concludes, please use the feedback form below to contact your Customer Services Team.

Kind Regards, Nissan Ireland

You're lucky to never have had issues with it before.

It's not the most reliable of apps.

Neither. There's feck all to service. It's not an ICE car. The "service" generally consists of them changing the pollen filter unnecessarily and topping up the washer fluid. My own 2014 Leaf needed nothing done other than tyres, wiper blades and a couple of pollen filters. I had a full brake fluid flush done a couple of months ago and was told by the mechanic the old fluid was perfect. Original pads still on the car with plenty of meat, because regen breaking and mostly city driving has been extra kind to it.