My Nissan leaf rolled off around 400ft

Ok, here is the story. I parked my leaf at a spot I normally park in front of our home. Charger is at a different place. I parked the car at 8:30pm and the range showed 16 miles. I left the key in the car as I was going to move it later on to the charger. I have noticed the car around 11:30pm but was tired to move it to the charger. In the morning I woke up with my husband screaming what happened to the fence and noticed the car rolled down the hill and broke two vinyl fences and ended up in my neighbors driveway. The car rolled down around 6:20am.

When we opened the door and noticed that it said extremely low battery and noticed the gear N (neutral) showing on dashboard. My husband said that I must have parked the car in neutral. Next day I tried in the same spot and it is not possible to leave the car in neutral gear and turn off the engine. When I turn off the engine, it looks like car automatically goes to park gear.

I do believe that the car rolled down somehow by disengaging the park to neutral. if I left the car running and if I am I'm either D or ECO and after the battery drains out does the car go to neutral gear. I am pretty sure I turned off the car when I parked. What happened is pretty scary and we are lucky that no one got hurt. The damage to our fence and the car is bad.

Has anybody have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Jhansi

Well, you left the key in it, so if you didn't turn the car off, it would not beep at you the way it does when you walk away with the key. Later when you retrieved the car, it was still on, showing the battery nearing complete discharge. The car does go into N when the battery is dead, if it is in D (or ECO). I don't think it would go into N from P, but I don't know that anyone has ever tested that. What's a little baffling is how you could leave the car on and in D, and walk away. It's possible to do using the parking brake, but then it shouldn't have rolled.

Being tired probably didn't help. I'd say the best strategy for prevention is always take the keys with you. The car will alert you if you leave it on. In my case (mine's a 2011) the car locks automatically when I drive, and doesn't unlock until I turn it off. Thus, if I've forgotten to turn it off, I can't get out

I always use the emergency brake when I park. I doubt if you start doing the same it won't go anywhere.

Is there any Damage to the LEAF?

Yes the safest thing to do would have been parking brake. I rarely use that as we always park on the flat. That day I am pretty sure I turned off the engine but anything is possible. So when the battery is dead while the car is running does it automatically go into Neutral. Yes there was damage to the leaf and I think the biggest damage is to the fence. We were so lucky that no one is hurt. Leaving the keys in the car has become a habit to us since we moved to a ranch. I am hoping to get a definite answer from Nissan on scenarios when the car automatically turns gear into neutral. Thanks

there are so many things wrong with this post, i don't know where to begin. I can say that on both my 2011 and 2013 LEAFs, I don't even know if the lock unlock buttons work because I never used them. The only time my keys left my pocket was to go into the basket sitting on my desk at home, etc.

so why go thru the bother to take the keys out of your pocket is one. not setting parking brake while on a hill is another and why you did not simply park and plug in with timer set is another.

you have to have read countless stories about how often a car parked on a hill broke free and rolled into the front of a business, house, etc?

In Olympia, it is illegal to park on a hill without your tires turned to the curb and YES, you will get ticketed for this.

now, as far as security, I can see your point. I live in an area where I rarely lock my front door. my back deck sliding glass door has been open continuously for 2 + weeks now. I plan to close it when Fall comes I guess... my cars sit unlocked in the driveway so I get that. What I don't get is why you would take the extra steps to take the keys out of your pockets and leave them in the car?

I think a root cause of this is leaving the key fob in the car. I don't understand how doing that saved you any time or effort if you later came back out to the car. I never take it out of my pocket and my wife never takes hers out of her purse, we would have to do something extra just to leave it in the car.

FWIW, my dealer warned me against only using the "P" electrically activated brake, and instead to always use the mechanical brake.

jlv said:

I think a root cause of this is leaving the key fob in the car. I don't understand how doing that saved you any time or effort if you later came back out to the car. I never take it out of my pocket and my wife never takes hers out of her purse, we would have to do something extra just to leave it in the car.

FWIW, my dealer warned me against only using the "P" electrically activated brake, and instead to always use the mechanical brake.

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+1. P is not a brake at all. it works just like a normal car in that it engages a notch to hold the car in place. the notch is not meant to be strong enough to hold the car on a hill

I can see how a woman may be wearing an outfit without pockets. If nothing else this is a helpful story for others to know. It certainly wouldn't occur to me that it could slip out of park when the battery gets dangerously low, if that is what happened here. I am pretty sure our Leaf has never had the parking brake engaged.

loomis2 said:

I can see how a woman may be wearing an outfit without pockets. If nothing else this is a helpful story for others to know. It certainly wouldn't occur to me that it could slip out of park when the battery gets dangerously low, if that is what happened here. I am pretty sure our Leaf has never had the parking brake engaged.

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I have used the brake a few times but didn't in our old driveway which was pretty steep. My Son could start at the garage and get going fast enough on his skateboard to make it all the way to the end of the block.

either way, pretty sure the parking prawl is no held electrically and is the opposite as it needs electricity to disengage so thinking SOC didn't matter here.

I don't think leaving the key in the car makes any difference if the LEAF is in READY mode (other than the lack of a beep upon exiting, as previously noted). The LEAF will remain in READY mode until the battery discharges and disengages. Anyone can drive the car away in READY mode, with or without the key.

My guess is that the LEAF was in D and the force of creep (and likely a small bump to help hold it in place) was enough to offset the force of gravity. The LEAF must have then dropped into neutral when the battery died. This is likely the failsafe condition for the case when this happens while the car is moving, perhaps at relatively high speeds. Having this happen when the LEAF is sitting in D in a stable condition is much less likely.

To OP: Many have accidentally left the LEAF in READY mode and walked away. It is not as uncommon as you might think. (But you may be the first to do it with the LEAF in D, if that is what happened.) Sorry about the damage to your LEAF and fence. It's good to hear that no one was injured.

DaveinOlyWA said:

P is not a brake at all. it works just like a normal car in that it engages a notch to hold the car in place.

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Agreed, but a normal car doesn't pop out of park and into neutral when it runs out of gas. I can see why Nissan would program the LEAF to do this, but I think it's a safety concern if it does it from park. A car should never, automatically, go from park to neutral. That's a lawsuit and massive safety recall waiting to happen.

kubel said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

P is not a brake at all. it works just like a normal car in that it engages a notch to hold the car in place.

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Agreed, but a normal car doesn't pop out of park and into neutral when it runs out of gas. I can see why Nissan would program the LEAF to do this, but I think it's a safety concern if it does it from park. A car should never, automatically, go from park to neutral. That's a lawsuit and massive safety recall waiting to happen.

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you miss the point. you need power to take it OUT OF PARK. there is NO POWER NEEDED to keep it in park.

kubel said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

P is not a brake at all. it works just like a normal car in that it engages a notch to hold the car in place.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but a normal car doesn't pop out of park and into neutral when it runs out of gas. I can see why Nissan would program the LEAF to do this, but I think it's a safety concern if it does it from park. A car should never, automatically, go from park to neutral. That's a lawsuit and massive safety recall waiting to happen.

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And unless there is a major bug the LEAF doesn't go out of park automatically on its own under any condition.

Seems like the most likely explanation is it was left in D and was held in place by the creep until the battery went dead. Then the LEAF switched to neutral and rolled back down the driveway. It may make more sense for the LEAF to instead go into park if the car isn't moving when this occurs though...

RegGuheert said:

I don't think leaving the key in the car makes any difference if the LEAF is in READY mode (other than the lack of a beep upon exiting, as previously noted). The LEAF will remain in READY mode until the battery discharges and disengages. Anyone can drive the car away in READY mode, with or without the key.

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I was surprised when I read that, as I thought it would leave READY mode when the fob was removed from the car. I just went out and tested it with my 13, and sure enough I was able to drive away leaving the fob in the garage.

jlv said:

RegGuheert said:

I don't think leaving the key in the car makes any difference if the LEAF is in READY mode (other than the lack of a beep upon exiting, as previously noted). The LEAF will remain in READY mode until the battery discharges and disengages. Anyone can drive the car away in READY mode, with or without the key.

Click to expand...

I was surprised when I read that, as I thought it would leave READY mode when the fob was removed from the car. I just went out and tested it with my 13, and sure enough I was able to drive away leaving the fob in the garage.

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I once ran to the bus and left the doors unlocked, car ON and the windshield wipers in intermittent mode. It was a Monday morning. 10 hours later, 1 bar less, but the car was still there. Nobody knew it can be driven without a key/fob.

jlv said:

RegGuheert said:

I don't think leaving the key in the car makes any difference if the LEAF is in READY mode (other than the lack of a beep upon exiting, as previously noted). The LEAF will remain in READY mode until the battery discharges and disengages. Anyone can drive the car away in READY mode, with or without the key.

Click to expand...

I was surprised when I read that, as I thought it would leave READY mode when the fob was removed from the car. I just went out and tested it with my 13, and sure enough I was able to drive away leaving the fob in the garage.

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This is pretty standard behavior w/cars with systems like Nissan's Intelligent Key/Toyota's Smart Key System.

The Prius had SKS as an option since the 04 model year and my salesman at pickup of my Prius in 06 specifically told me about the above scenario and making sure to hand over the keys when swapping cars w/someone. If you don't, person B will drive away and if they power off w/o the key, they can't power up again.

The behavior is a safety feature. Seems like a car can't reliably tell the difference between fob leaving the car vs. losing communications due to interference or a battery suddenly dying. Also, what about the scenario where the fob battery is dead and you have to hold it up to the power button to start?

cwerdna said:

jlv said:

RegGuheert said:

I don't think leaving the key in the car makes any difference if the LEAF is in READY mode (other than the lack of a beep upon exiting, as previously noted). The LEAF will remain in READY mode until the battery discharges and disengages. Anyone can drive the car away in READY mode, with or without the key.

Click to expand...

I was surprised when I read that, as I thought it would leave READY mode when the fob was removed from the car. I just went out and tested it with my 13, and sure enough I was able to drive away leaving the fob in the garage.

Click to expand...

This is pretty standard behavior w/cars with systems like Nissan's Intelligent Key/Toyota's Smart Key System.

The Prius had SKS as an option since the 04 model year and my salesman at pickup of my Prius in 06 specifically told me about the above scenario and making sure to hand over the keys when swapping cars w/someone. If you don't, person B will drive away and if they power off w/o the key, they can't power up again.

The behavior is a safety feature. Seems like a car can't reliably tell the difference between fob leaving the car vs. losing communications due to interference or a battery suddenly dying. Also, what about the scenario where the fob battery is dead and you have to hold it up to the power button to start?

Click to expand...

If we wanted the logic to get more complicated something like this would be safer/better:

If the car is in park and was not originally started using the passive key fob then take the car out of ready mode when the fob is no longer detected.

Obviously if out of park it should leave it in ready mode and must also leave it in ready mode when the key was passively used to start th car.

I'll never understand why people choose to not use the parking brake. Do you imagine something bad will happen if you set the parking brake "unnecessarily"?

QueenBee said:

If we wanted the logic to get more complicated something like this would be safer/better:

If the car is in park and was not originally started using the passive key fob then take the car out of ready mode when the fob is no longer detected.

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I'm not sure I follow? What other way can the Leaf be started? There's no slot or key hole in which to put the key. (Gen 2 (04 to 09 Priuses) and Altima Hybrids (at least the 07) have a slot for the dead key battery case.)

cwerdna said:

QueenBee said:

If we wanted the logic to get more complicated something like this would be safer/better:

If the car is in park and was not originally started using the passive key fob then take the car out of ready mode when the fob is no longer detected.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I follow? What other way can the Leaf be started? There's no slot or key hole in which to put the key. (Gen 2 (04 to 09 Priuses) and Altima Hybrids (at least the 07) have a slot for the dead key battery case.)

Click to expand...

There are two ways. One is the active ID in the key, it literally is transmitting a signal that is picked up through your jeans/purse/etc. and can be detected in side and outside the car. This is what let's you unlock the doors or start the car by just having the key near/in the car.

The backup method for when the fob battery is dead or you washed the fob too many times (mine got stuck in the gasket of the washer for month(s)) is passive (I presume something very much like RFID). You put the fob near the start button and the car is able to read the ID of the fob. Once started you can put key away. Unless directly near the start button the car can not pickup the fob. I actually keep this in the car as a backup. Thus all I need to do if I loose my keys is have a locksmith unlock the door. On could do the same thing by taking the battery out of the fob.

So what I am saying is if in park and the active key disappears the car could shutdown but if it was started with passive mode it would just stay running. I bet the car is already aware of this as I bet if you start the car with only the passive mode and then exit the car with it running it likely doesn't honk at you.