Sorry for the delay. As you can imagine, with several folks in the room, different voices weighed in on the post. Add to that a late evening and travel schedules, and this took a bit longer than we'd have preferred.
Several of the attendees have doing a good job in the interim, so you've already been hearing the gist of the conversation. Since we couldn't get everyone in the room, we wanted to provide a couple of key details directly.
LEAF battery performance in hot climates:
To date, there have been a very small number of battery replacements related to capacity loss, and all of them have involved scenarios that included prolonged exposure to extreme heat. These have been very localized, but we are taking them very seriously.
Currently, we have almost completed testing of a new battery chemistry intended to substantially slow capacity loss in extreme heat. During constant testing at battery temperatures of 45 C/113 F, the new battery chemistry is performing similar to the manner that the current battery performs in temperate areas like San Francisco or Seattle.
We expect that, if testing continues on its current path, we will have this new chemistry ready to implement by mid-2014, and it will be compatible with 2011-2013 model vehicles. For those owners who have already had a replacement due to heat-related capacity loss, we intend to provide a transferable coupon for a battery with the updated chemistry to use within five years.
Battery replacement program:
We still expect to be ready to offer this by mid-2014, and are trying to use your feedback to refine it. We want to address the two biggest questions that we are seeing on the forum now. As we stated before, this program is still in development, so we don't have specific answers for every question. We will be able to provide more specifics as they are finalized.
Q. Why is there no outright price for a swap?
A. There are two main reasons we decided against releasing an outright battery price: 1. Customer research steered us a different direction; and 2. the evolving costs of batteries over time make it impractical to do so.
Weighing feedback from current and potential owners, we found that most favored a monthly payment approach and wanted to have ongoing assurance on the health of the battery. This approach provides the best balance of cost to the owner and increased receptivity among potential future buyers.
Q. Can I exit the battery program and keep my car in a functional state with a battery that I own?
A. We understand this sentiment and are investigating as we finalize the program. We are open to constructive suggestions and dialogue. Based on suggestions here and in other places, we are also evaluating mileage and capacity options to lend a degree of flexibility to this program.
Finally, we are very proud of LEAF, and are committed to supporting you, our customers. We take your feedback seriously.
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