Nissan Quoted Price for Battery Replacement

[electricfuture]

Had my 30,000 mile check up today and received the following formal quote for full battery replacement:

Part Number: 290J03NOA

Invoice cost: $2405.73

Installation cost: approximately $650 based on their time estimate of 6.5 hours @ about $100/hour.

It was explained to me that it takes over 6 hours because they have to clear the entire shop and lay down rubber mats before they can remove the existing battery pack.

This quote is from Poway Nissan, Poway, California

So,now we know that refurbishing the car will costs about $3000 at this time. I expect this price to drop further over the next 2 years, however, it will probably cost more if you want a higher capacity battery, i.e 150 mile range.

They also now have prices to replace the wiring harness and inverter (not an upgrade of the 2011 model)

 

[stjohnh]

Wow !! That's great, and a little hard to believe. Most people seem to think that replacement would surely be over 5,000 and lots thought it would be around 10,000. I hope that is confirmed by other quotes.

 

[RonDawg]

Did you get this quote because you are eligible for a warranty replacement? Or did they just look it up for curiosity's sake?

 

[Wennfred]

Hope those are the new updated batteries, will be heading there at 30,000 check up,

By the way, where does it say you have to bring the Leaf in at 30k miles and so on?


Fred

 

[RonDawg]

By the way, where does it say you have to bring the Leaf in at 30k miles and so on?

Nissan's service intervals are every 6 months or 7500 miles, though he's a bit overdue on the date. The OP's car was due for a brake fluid flush, in-cabin micro filter replacement, tire rotation, and a bunch of checks and inspections at this interval as per the maintenance guide.

Hopefully he brought the car in for its second battery check back in June. It's to be done around the time of the yearly anniversary of the car's initial sale, regardless of mileage.

 

[Berlino]

I doubt anyone can actually purchase a battery for that price.

Most likely, it's dummy figure used only for batteries being replaced under warranty.

If they scribbled in $10,000, dealers might want to bill Nissan more for the labor.

 

[electricfuture]

To answer your questions:

1. Yes you are supposed to bring the car in at 30,000 miles as per the maintenance manual.
2. The 30,000 mile check up checks the battery, changes the brake fluid, replaces the cabin filter and rotates the tires. I replaced the cabin filter myself and told them not to rotate the tires because I ordered new 60,0000 mile LRR Kumo tires from Discount tire. This saved me $100. Cost for just changing the brake fluid and checking the battery: $99
3. I did not yet need the battery replacement and had the Cell check done at the last interval, which showed 3 cells as marginal. They informed me that you get 2 cell checks free - after that it cost $30 for a cell check. They only checked for software updates and overall battery health. I will wait another 5-10,000 miles before I do the cell check again - hopefully to have some cells replaced under the warranty before I hit 50,000 miles.
4. I requested the quote out of curiosity and the part number and pricing was pulled up on the service advisers screen including the estimated time of installation. This is for an in kind replacement. I suspect a higher range battery will cost more in the future but this may be offset by lower battery costs as everybody and their brother start producing electric vehicles in volume. We'll wait and see.

At this time you cannot keep your old battery pack. I hope this changes going forward.

Go to your dealer and check out the pricing - It would be great to get multiple confirmations on such an important issue!

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Why do they have to lay down rubber mats?

 

[electricfuture]

The rubber mats insure there is no path to ground between the tech and the HV battery pack.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

The rubber mats insure there is no path to ground between the tech and the HV battery pack.

Good thinking. Although what you probably meant is to insure the tech isn't that path to ground :lol:

But that takes 6 hours?

 

[stjohnh]

One other point that suggests the price quote isn't "real" is that the $100/mo lease-your-battery program wouldn't go anywhere if Leaf owners can get a new battery for $3,000. Who would "lease forever" if two and a half years of lease payments would get a brand new battery that the user owns?

 

[JeremyW]

I think the price may be lower because of the "core price" i.e. you can't keep your pack... Still, this is really good news if true!

 

[TimLee]

Most likely, it's dummy figure used only for batteries being replaced under warranty.

If they scribbled in $10,000, dealers might want to bill Nissan more for the labor.

I think you are likely correct that it is an artificial invoice price for battery replacement under the capacity warranty. There is no way that Nissan could produce and sell the LEAF battery for $100 per kWh. When battery price was raised at the recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference, the Volkswagen executive responded with a nominal price of $500 per kWh. Nissan executive did not respond to the question or comment on the Volkswagen executive's $500 per kWh number.
My guess is that Nissan price may be a bit better than $500 per kWh. They have quite a bit of experience now with having produced ~80,000 LEAFs to date, and are gradually getting into high volume battery production.
But $100 per kWh has to be just an artificial invoice price.
After Nissan reads this thread, my guess is that Poway Nissan will be getting a lengthy chewing out by Nissan.

To answer your questions:
3. I did not yet need the battery replacement and had the Cell check done at the last interval, which showed 3 cells as marginal. They informed me that you get 2 cell checks free - after that it cost $30 for a cell check. They only checked for software updates and overall battery health. I will wait another 5-10,000 miles before I do the cell check again - hopefully to have some cells replaced under the warranty before I hit 50,000 miles.

This is the first I have read of two Cell checks being done free of charge.
The battery test required annually to maintain warranty coverage is done free the first two times.
But my LEAF maintenance service department would not do a free individual cell test, and individual cells are apparently not checked / tested as part of the annual battery test. It is my understanding that the individual cell test is actually done with a very low battery status of charge, probably LBW or lower. The service manual includes instructions to lower the battery charge by running the heat.
It would be good if you would provide further details on the cell check that Poway Nissan provided free.
But it appears that Poway Nissan is behaving a lot different than most other Nissan service departments.

 

[TimLee]

Hopefully he brought the car in for its second battery check back in June. It's to be done around the time of the yearly anniversary of the car's initial sale, regardless of mileage.

Nissan will reimburse the dealer for two annual battery tests.
But the LEAF owner has to have possessed the LEAF for MORE than one year.
My Nissan service department did my first annual battery test about two days too soon and did not get reimbursed by Nissan for it.
I found that out when I went to schedule the second one and was asking for a date that was one day prior to my two year LEAF anniversary.
Had to schedule a couple days later just past the two year anniversary.
Its not real clear how far past the anniversary date the battery test can be done and Nissan will still consider you having met the warranty requirements.
But one of the people that has received a new battery under the capacity warranty reported that they had missed it by a lot, and in that case Nissan did still provide a new battery under the capacity warranty.

 

[electricfuture]

I suggest that instead of speculating that the price isn't real that everyone check with their dealership using the part number and report the results here.

 

[wwhitney]

The rubber mats insure there is no path to ground between the tech and the HV battery pack.

Unless one side of the HV battery pack is intentionally grounded, which I'm pretty sure is not the case, this won't matter. Electricity only flows when there is a circuit back to the source. The only thing ground has to do with completing a circuit is if one side of the source is grounded, like in your home AC wiring. Or if you have a double ground fault in a ungrounded system.

Wayne

 

[TonyWilliams]

For the dealer to need six hours to put down rubber mats that could be accomplished with a proper pair of rubber boots / gloves is just a profit maker for the dealer.

The Tesla motor was replaced in my car and the warranty billed priced was $0.01. The battery pack is $36,000... with "free" install.

 

[electricfuture]

No doubt you only need rubber boots - but he told me they are also required to clear all personnel from the area during the procedure. Does't make sense - but would justify high costs. I doubt that they have done enough battery replacements as of yet to have a real handle on the installation costs.

 

[mwalsh]

The rubber mats are probably because the dealer's boots weren't tall enough to keep the BS off his pants!

The replacement cost is almost certainly for warranty replacements. The similar price from GM for the Volt's pack is likewise.

 

[TimLee]

I suggest that instead of speculating that the price isn't real that everyone check with their dealership using the part number and report the results here.

I agree. I will talk with the manager of my Nissan service department when I go in for the P3227 capacity and charging software change.
He is also an enthusiastic early adopter LEAF owner with probably >30,000 or 40,000 miles on his now compared to my 16,000 miles. Also curious to see what his battery capacity is compared to mine. I lost a capacity bar at less than 16,000 miles.