My options if I lose a 3rd capacity bar this year

[mark13]

I look at the battery capacity bars everytime i start the car now..Losing 2 bars in 45 days is just not giving me the best feeling on the battery pack..

When I get that 3rd battery bar loss,I have decided to visit Nissan (dealer)the next day and tell them this is not acceptable..I need something done to correct the issue,I never would have bought the Leaf if I had known this was going to happen..
I also want Nissan to warn all hot climate cities that there will 25% faster battery degradation..

If Nissan does nothing, I am looking at a few options, such as, contacting all the news stations (complaint division) and calling up newspapers and radio shows..

I just want the warning out there that I took very good care of the car..I drove this car so gently, the avg person would not understand what 6 Miles/kWh or that at one time I was avg. close to 130 miles per charge..

 

[kubel]

Go to various big auto blogs and contact their editors.

Unless Nissan is looking to ax their electric car program, they probably won't let the early adopters suffer too long. I don't think they will do much for people who have 25,000 miles on their car and have lost a bar, that's predictable. But for people who have 10,000 miles and experience 3 bars of loss, I don't think they will want those people to be making noise.

Also consider this: Nissan configured their battery plant in Smyrna to be capable of producing 25% more batteries than are necessary for LEAF production.

 

[kukoo1138]

which model year to you own? I'm out here in Vegas, had my LEAF since Feb 2012. This causes me concern.

 

[jspearman]

Mark, meet us at The Roosevelt on Wednesday night if you are free. I posted it on two of the other threads, but at least three of us are showing up to discuss degradation while degrading ourselves with a beer or two.

 

[Stanton]

Can folks PLEASE complete their profile or at least add their city/location to it? It's become even more important with temperature/climate related discussions.

 

[Stoaty]

When I get that 3rd battery bar loss,I have decided to visit Nissan (dealer)the next day and tell them this is not acceptable..I need something done to correct the issue,I never would have bought the Leaf if I had known this was going to happen. I also want Nissan to warn all hot climate cities that there will 25% faster battery degradation..

It's a lot more than 25% faster. We are talking about a 15-20% capacity loss in a little over a year compared to around 5% for some in cooler climates. That is 3-4 times as fast.

 

[adric22]

While I feel for those with the capacity loss, I must also mention that I'm getting really tired of hearing about it. Is there nothing else we can talk about on this forum?

 

[camasleaf]

while degrading ourselves with a beer or two.

Your degradation will be minimal if you keep the beer cold :lol: .

 

[KJD]

I look at the battery capacity bars everytime i start the car now..Losing 2 bars in 45 days is just not giving me the best feeling on the battery pack..

When I get that 3rd battery bar loss,I have decided to visit Nissan (dealer)the next day and tell them this is not acceptable..I need something done to correct the issue,I never would have bought the Leaf if I had known this was going to happen..

Why wait, I would do this right now. Ask them to run the Battery check up and tell you if there is ANYTHING that you as an owner should be doing differently.

One of my first jobs was as a line mechanic in a dealership and I predict the first thing they are going to say is that the owner (you) did something wrong to cause this. You need to make dang sure you ask them how to care for this battery pack and make sure you do everything they ask you to do.

Then when you actually loose the 3rd bar you go back to the dealer and do this process again. Ask for another batter check up. Then say look, I did everything you asked and I still am loosing capacity at a rapid rate, what is Nissan going to do for me now.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Mark13; what communication have you had with Nissan CORPORATE? you should at least be contacting them with your observations. dont expect them to jump. it will take time and the sooner you are on their radar, the better.

dont assume that just because your issues are well known here that Nissan knows about YOUR SPECIFIC situation. all you need right now is a dialogue. get it on paper. start an email chain and communicate at least weekly. hopefully you will be able to talk with same person so they can become intimately familiar with your situation

you should also be documenting your charging habits (if you are not already. i have since day one but not in anticipation of this...i do because its how i am i guess)

other than that; Aldric is right. its a waiting game. you should get together with others to compare notes. this forum, valuable as it is, is too scattered to really compare any real notes. i cannot keep up with what is going on here.

it would seem that something as basic as range loss, there should be some sort of Google chart everyone can access and immediately see all the pertinent information. instead, we have a thread with 1000 posts, 800 posts off topic. 100 posts that give much less than the minimally acceptable information to make any kind of analysis. whoever started a list of people who have reported loss; i commend you for your efforts. its a great start in the right direction

posts like "my commute used to take 5 bars, but now it takes 7" is fine and dandy, but its also useless. especially when people assume that means they are near 20% degradation. its all information that outsiders will take the wrong way and it hurts us because it hurts Nissan and Nissan's ability to respond to us.

 

[mark13]

I would love to go and meet all of you but Wed.(Tuesday would of been perfect) is just a bad day for me..Also I live @ 151 ave Deervalley..

Mark, meet us at The Roosevelt on Wednesday night if you are free. I posted it on two of the other threads, but at least three of us are showing up to discuss degradation while degrading ourselves with a beer or two.

 

[mark13]

I just had a battery check done 2 days before my first loss of a bar..I went back to get my headlight replace and ask them to check the battery again and everything checked out perfect..

I look at the battery capacity bars everytime i start the car now..Losing 2 bars in 45 days is just not giving me the best feeling on the battery pack..

When I get that 3rd battery bar loss,I have decided to visit Nissan (dealer)the next day and tell them this is not acceptable..I need something done to correct the issue,I never would have bought the Leaf if I had known this was going to happen..

Why wait, I would do this right now. Ask them to run the Battery check up and tell you if there is ANYTHING that you as an owner should be doing differently.

One of my first jobs was as a line mechanic in a dealership and I predict the first thing they are going to say is that the owner (you) did something wrong to cause this. You need to make dang sure you ask them how to care for this battery pack and make sure you do everything they ask you to do.

Then when you actually loose the 3rd bar you go back to the dealer and do this process again. Ask for another batter check up. Then say look, I did everything you asked and I still am loosing capacity at a rapid rate, what is Nissan going to do for me now.

 

[mark13]

I should say that I have had 3 battery checks in 13 months of ownership..I made a complaint to both the car saleman and the Leaf service dept..Service Dept said they would do another battery check and found nothing wrong with the pack..

I also told him about others losing battery capacity bars in Phx metro area and other hot climates cities and he told me not to trust everything I read here..

 

[cwerdna]

I should say that I have had 3 battery checks in 13 months of ownership..I made a complaint to both the car saleman and the Leaf service dept..Service Dept said they would do another battery check and found nothing wrong with the pack..

I also told him about others losing battery capacity bars in Phx metro area and other hot climates cities and he told me not to trust everything I read here..

These aren't good signs. I love how it sounds like they've dismissed it as "normal".

 

[Stoaty]

I also told him about others losing battery capacity bars in Phx metro area and other hot climates cities and he told me not to trust everything I read here..

Nissan:

1) It's a rare occurrence
2) If it isn't rare, it's normal

 

[TomT]

I dislike saying this, but I have made the decision that I will hold off recommending the Leaf to anyone in any remotely warm areas (including the Valley where I live) until this is resolved one way or the other by Nissan. At the very least, I will recommend that they only consider leasing (as I did)...

I also told him about others losing battery capacity bars in Phx metro area and other hot climates cities and he told me not to trust everything I read here..

Nissan:
1) It's a rare occurrence
2) If it isn't rare, it's normal

 

[garygid]

Better to try to inform Nissan first, before helping GM kill the EV Revolution
by trying to make a big stink in the news.

At about the 12 month mark, I experienced "Sudden Onset of Capacity Loss".

With no apparent loss the first 12 months, my GID values for 100% and 80%
charges began to drop, and are now down about 5%, 220 instead of 232 for
an 80% charge.

Did this Onset occur shortly after the required annual battery check?
I don't remember, but I do not recall being aware of any capacity
issues when I took my car in for that checkup.

I still have the original firmware, with no "reserve" tank, and no
other updates that I am aware of.

My mileage is only about 7700 miles, and a very mild climate.
My LEAF is garaged, and spends very little time parked outdoors.

Sadly, I have not yet had the energy to contact Nissan about the
situation, and I suspect that there are many others like myself.

 

[ztanos]

I should say that I have had 3 battery checks in 13 months of ownership..I made a complaint to both the car saleman and the Leaf service dept..Service Dept said they would do another battery check and found nothing wrong with the pack..

I also told him about others losing battery capacity bars in Phx metro area and other hot climates cities and he told me not to trust everything I read here..

Where are you located?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Better to try to inform Nissan first, before helping GM kill the EV Revolution
by trying to make a big stink in the news.

At about the 12 month mark, I experienced "Sudden Onset of Capacity Loss".

With no apparent loss the first 12 months, my GID values for 100% and 80%
charges began to drop, and are now down about 5%, 220 instead of 232 for
an 80% charge.

Did this Onset occur shortly after the required annual battery check?
I don't remember, but I do not recall being aware of any capacity
issues when I took my car in for that checkup.

I still have the original firmware, with no "reserve" tank, and no
other updates that I am aware of.

My mileage is only about 7700 miles, and a very mild climate.
My LEAF is garaged, and spends very little time parked outdoors.

Sadly, I have not yet had the energy to contact Nissan about the
situation, and I suspect that there are many others like myself.

Gary; unless you have a defective module, i feel your loss is acceptable and should not be included in the noise this issue is generating

 

[hill]

While I feel for those with the capacity loss, I must also mention that I'm getting really tired of hearing about it. Is there nothing else we can talk about on this forum?

How many times will you allow early CAPACITY LOSS to be mentioned . . . . and - do you have a rule of thumb for each CAPATICTY LOSS individual victim? . . . or - do you count CAPACITY LOSS in its entirity . . . meaning (for example) once a certain early CAPACITY LOSS subject matter threshold is complained about by the whole community - then future early CAPACITY LOSS victims are hosed - because since you're getting really tired of hearing about it ... and I'm certain (if I may be so bold to speak for the MNL community) we really really need to know how to meet your needs ... because Leaf owner's early CAPACITY LOSS is after all ... all about you, right?