thankyouOB said:
are you saying that the advisory claque just applauded...??
Actually, the group's questions and comments were along the lines of what has been said here. We were able to clarify the following on a preview call yesterday (most of which has been said by Brian Brockman here in some form):
- You can opt in at any time, and at any condition of your original pack. No need to wait until the capacity warranty expires, nor to opt in as soon as it does. It's also open to second owners who buy a used LEAF and then choose to opt in.
- Nissan does keep/recycle your original pack. There was no mention of a value paid to the vehicle owner, and it's a fair question. It could be factored into the program price of ~$100 (as opposed to something higher), but it would be good to see this question addressed. I agree that even if degraded, the pack you're giving up has value.
- The pack installed when you opt in to this program may be new, or may be remanned- but it will be a full-capacity, 12-bar pack. (Reality is, however, that there are no used packs yet, so early participants will get brand spankin' new stuff.) After that, the same "9-bar" capacity warranty kicks in, and any further pack replacements will be done on those terms. No guarantee that every future battery will be backwards compatible, but that's the goal- and Nissan is fully aware that this is important to current drivers.
- We, too, asked about options for those who want a higher capacity guarantee, even if at a higher monthly payment. It sounded as if they hadn't anticipated the question- so I wouldn't say the answer is necessarily "no", but they hadn't considered it. We strongly encouraged them to do so.
- There will be mileage limits, though no details yet. As in Europe, it is expected that the exact payment will depend on the mileage scheme chosen by the vehicle owner.
- There's no minimum term of participation, nor max. But Nissan does own your new pack. When you (or subsequent owner) chooses to stop paying the monthly fee, Nissan repossesses that pack. (No description of that exact process, though yes, we've asked.)
- In its current form, this is more of a battery rental than a lease. The latter implies a buy-out option at some point, and the current program exists in perpetuity. This point received the most concern from the adv board as well, and as the program doesn't seem to be fully baked, it would be nice to see this point reconsidered before the final details are announced.
- We raised similar concerns about how this would affect resale value.
- We've also asked whether there's any chance the monthly payment will be raised after someone has opted into the program, presumably as battery technology improves.
- Lastly, "every effort" will be made to ensure there are no additional dealer/labor costs. Nissan will manage this with individual dealers, I assume in a manner similar to which warranty repairs are currently handled.