Nissan Quoted Price for Battery Replacement

[SteveInSeattle]

It seems obvious to me that the reason that Nissan will not sell a battery or name a price is that it would do considerable harm to the reputation of the Leaf. Think what the EV haters would do with the info that a replacement battery was $15,000 (or any other five digit number). It would be all over the internet as a reason to not buy a Leaf. The $100 a month price does not have the same PR consequences. The same type of info was used against the early Prius-- with many scare articles that said that owners would have to spend $6,000 to replace their batteries someday. Plus, whatever the price is now, it will not be the same when the bulk of batteries do need to be replaced. The Prius battery is less than half the original estimates.

 

[DaveEV]

Checking with my dealership tomorrow on this even though I am leasing:

http://www.nissanpartsdiscounts.com/oem-part/nissan/leaf-parts/2013/sl/electric/electric-propulsion-system/battery/battery/290j0-3na1a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sale Price: $4,326.53
List Price: $5,408.16
You Save: $1,081.63

Part Number : 290J0-3NA1A

I wonder why one site lists it as the battery, while another lists it as the traction motor.

Anyway, for the '11 LEAF you can get the battery 290J0-3NA0A for half that price using your web site:

http://www.nissanpartsdiscounts.com/oem-part/nissan/leaf-parts/2011/sl/electric/electric-propulsion-system/battery/battery/290j0-3na0a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sale Price: $1,924.58
List Price: $2,405.73
You Save: $481.15

But on on this website it says that part number is the traction motor:
http://mossynissankearnymesaparts.com/nissanparts/index.cfm?description=290J0-3NA0A&action=replacement&search=description&siteid=217074&makeid=25&jointvehid=13705&catalogid=0&BODY=HB&ENGINE=EM61&GRADE=UPPER&TRANS=REDUCER" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And the '13 part 290J0-3NA1A:
http://mossynissankearnymesaparts.com/nissanparts/index.cfm?description=290J0-3NA1A&action=replacement&search=description&siteid=217074&makeid=25&jointvehid=13705&catalogid=0&BODY=HB&ENGINE=EM61&GRADE=UPPER&TRANS=REDUCER" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

I'm extremely surprised it would be that cheap. Given how incredibly cheap maintenance on this is, coming up with $3k years down the line is not terrible.

 

[thankyouOB]

Please correct me if I have it wrong, TaylorSFGuy, but I believe you have stated you don't need a replacement battery yet, and that you have also had contact with Nissan re your situation.

I would suggest that anyone who actually wants to buy a replacement battery for their LEAF request a refusal from Nissan in writing, in order to seek legal remedies under state and federal laws.

I doubt Nissan would refuse to sell you one, but instead offer you a sweet deal on a replacement or trade-in battery, just as they seem to have for every other LEAF owner still within the warrantee miles driven.

Yes, I believe they would try to eliminate the tort of not selling you a battery, either by pushing you into a trade-in or into the SYB, Steal Your Battery program.
they would not sell you a battery.

 

[RegGuheert]

I don't think we've seen evidence that li-ion batteries or any substitute have prices falling anywhere near that fast nor are they subject to improvement rates like that of Moore's Law, unfortunately.

Perhaps we can all agree to call the improvement rate for battery capacity "Les' Law"?

Instead of doubling the capacity every eighteen months, perhaps "Les' Law" states that the capacity doubles every ten years.

Thoughts?

 

[walterbays]

I wonder why one site lists it as the battery, while another lists it as the traction motor.

I wonder if all the inconsistent information on whether or not Nissan will sell a battery, whether or not under warranty, and at what price, might be deliberate. Might it be trial balloons for possible battery prices to gauge consumer reactions?

Nah, they're probably not that devious. But it would give them a lot better reading than another of those silly online surveys. Wherein they ask owners and lessors: Is it okay with you if some other people want to rent a battery? Whereupon they conclude: All LEAF customers want a rental deal rather than a replacement price.

I have to say though, if it is a trial balloon I like their style of balloons...

 

[Flashman]

So Nissan will not sell TaylorSFGuy a battery?

That is extremely troubling!!

Why has he not gone public? Make lots of noise! The media can be your friend if used as a weapon.
I would go to the print car magazines \ Jalopnik \ Internet \ YouTube etc. and offer up my experience to them all for a nice public backlash article or pressure to Shame Nissan!!
Tell Nissan you are doing this first to give them a chance to make it right but if they don't, load up both barrels and fire!!
This forum could also band together to help apply pressure.

They can't just not sell it...
1. Not selling it = bad press and means car is now useless as advertised. (same as lease only!! who wants to lease a battery in an owned vehicle? that is beyond silly)
2. Setting to price too high so you won't buy... the press would have a field day!

This might light a fire underneath them.
I'm ready to call Nissan myself on his behalf!! just say the word.
Sounds like they need some serious pressure applied!

 

[dgpcolorado]

...Nah, they're probably not that devious. But it would give them a lot better reading than another of those silly online surveys. Wherein they ask owners and lessors: Is it okay with you if some other people want to rent a battery? Whereupon they conclude: All LEAF customers want a rental deal rather than a replacement price...

Yes, I remember that horribly designed survey and was disappointed that Nissan apparently took the forced results as being meaningful.

 

[FairwoodRed]

So Nissan will not sell TaylorSFGuy a battery?

That is extremely troubling!!

Why has he not gone public? Make lots of noise! The media can be your friend if used as a weapon.
I would go to the print car magazines \ Jalopnik \ Internet \ YouTube etc. and offer up my experience to them all for a nice public backlash article or pressure to Shame Nissan!!
Tell Nissan you are doing this first to give them a chance to make it right but if they don't, load up both barrels and fire!!
This forum could also band together to help apply pressure.

They can't just not sell it...
1. Not selling it = bad press and means car is now useless as advertised. (same as lease only!! who wants to lease a battery in an owned vehicle? that is beyond silly)
2. Setting to price too high so you won't buy... the press would have a field day!

This might light a fire underneath them.
I'm ready to call Nissan myself on his behalf!! just say the word.
Sounds like they need some serious pressure applied!

It doesn't sound quite that bad when TaylorSFguy talks about it. He says that Nissan is talking to him and I find that encouraging. It would not surprise me at all if they did a one off solution for him and asked him to keep it quiet for a while. I want Nissan to succeed just as much as I want the LEAF to work for me long term. Raising a media ruckus before you need it could cause some option to be taken off the table. We'll see if I still feel that way when it looks like I only have a few months left in my range.

Regardless, here is what was said right from the source:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13192&p=320844#p320844

Thanks for the concern. I have actually been in touch with a few people at Nissan over the last few months - primarily after the event at Eastside Nissan at which you provided my contact information because I wasn't able to attend. Apparently they do know who I am and are aware of the miles I'm driving. Carwings may have as much to do with that as anything else. But regardless they have reached out to me.

As for being near death (battery wise) I have been reassured that I will live longer (without charging stops) due to the information provided by the Bluetooth Android app. Like the other GID meters available gives me more accurate range information than I can get from the dashboard.

I've backed away from my need to know right now on the battery simply because I don't think things are set yet.

As I said above, the market will decide if the rental model will be embraced. I have my doubts. I think there are too many possibilities for problems - what happens if the person stops paying for the battery rental? Do instructions get downloaded to the car not to start? That could open up all kinds of liability issues. I'm not sure you can repo a house if the new hot water heater doesn't get paid for - a lien yes but no repo. What happens if the car is totaled? Does Nissan step up and buy the salvage car? That would make the insurance companies happy - they have someone that would buy at just about any price and could push more cars into being totaled given the higher salvage values. How do you sell your car and who pays the monthly fee while it isn't yours anymore? And then there is the issue of transition between battery ownership and open ended battery rental. So many questions. Maybe EV ownership (at least at these range and price points) will evolve to leasing only and each of us that drives high miles will have to decide if the rental/lease model works for them or not.

I appreciate the concern. I have decided to make the best of my decision to buy and go as long as I can. I will update as things go along. Should be at 100K miles in November.

 

[electricfuture]

Maybe we can get a group of us to chip in and actually buy a battery to see what happens. We can have a lottery with the winner getting the battery pack.

 

[KJD]

Did you notice what TaylorSFGuy has in his signature ?

Mileage as of October 31, 2013 is 96,000

If Nissan marketing had any imagination, they would put him in a TV commercial telling the world how he drove his LEAF EV 100,000 miles in less than 3 years time.

In payment for doing the commercial, they could give him a new battery pack or better yet a new LEAF.

 

[Stoaty]

If Nissan marketing had any imagination, they would put him in a TV commercial telling the world how he drove his LEAF EV 100,000 miles in less than 3 years time.

In payment for doing the commercial, they could give him a new battery pack or better yet a new LEAF.

Best idea yet! Nissan, are you listening?

 

[ColumbiaRiverGorge]

If Nissan marketing had any imagination, they would put him in a TV commercial telling the world how he drove his LEAF EV 100,000 miles in less than 3 years time.

In payment for doing the commercial, they could give him a new battery pack or better yet a new LEAF.

Best idea yet! Nissan, are you listening?

Yes Nissan, please put him & his maintenance free LEAF in ads. Give this hardcore EV road warrior a new battery. Maybe they are waiting to give him the new heat resistant battery coming out next spring?

 

[smkettner]

Not sure he needs heat resistance. Needs a new battery. We all will soon enough.

 

[rmay635703]

Now if I can go to a niss
an dealer and buy a battery and charger off the shelf for $2500 it would keep my antique EVa on the road

 

[TonyAndTina]

we just took delivery of our Leaf. During the required official tutorial, we got to talking about battery degradation. Although it may not be a big issue up here in Seattle, I asked about battery replacement cost any way. The EV specialist at the dealership said that she asked the Nissan EV rep the same question before. The answer she got was around $4000 in today's estimate. She thinks that the price should go down for the same battery pack in the future OR the price would stay the same but you get a better/higher capacity battery pack.

Pretty close to the $3000 estimate by the OP.

 

[Valdemar]

we just took delivery of our Leaf. During the required official tutorial, we got to talking about battery degradation. Although it may not be a big issue up here in Seattle, I asked about battery replacement cost any way. The EV specialist at the dealership said that she asked the Nissan EV rep the same question before. The answer she got was around $4000 in today's estimate. She thinks that the price should go down for the same battery pack in the future OR the price would stay the same but you get a better/higher capacity battery pack.

Pretty close to the $3000 estimate by the OP.

Yeah, right. It is very naive to think that the battery cost is less than 10k. Just to get a very rough idea consider this, the Nissan Versa Note with the SL package, which is a similar vehicle, will cost you about $17-18k, and the Leaf SV w/o any options rings up at about 30k. The cost of the ICE, transmission, and related components is roughly equivalent to that of the electric motor, inverter, 1-speed reduction gearbox, and the OBC combined, which leaves $10-$12k price difference which is likely close to the cost of traction battery.

 

[Stoaty]

I asked about battery replacement cost any way. The EV specialist at the dealership said that she asked the Nissan EV rep the same question before. The answer she got was around $4000 in today's estimate.

If that were the retail price, Nissan would not be hiding the price and refusing to sell owners a battery. They wouldn't need the SYB program either.

 

[nosuchthing]

Probably a swap price. They get to keep the old one. Then it perhaps make sense.

 

[Valdemar]

Probably a swap price. They get to keep the old one. Then it perhaps make sense.

Still, if that were the retail price I could get a new battery every 5 years and still come ahead as if I drove a Prius. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...