The Battery Replacement Thread

[mwalsh]

Am I nuts?

I don't think so, but for myself I do wish we had more data on how the new battery packs are going to fare over the long-haul. Since you only lost 2 bars over 60,000 miles, I don't think you'd have quite the same comcern over this issue than me, especially with the lizard pack.

I say, "Do it!", but remember to make sure they give you the battery registration IC card too - you bought the pack; it's yours; you should be able to move it to whatever LEAF you choose to buy in the future, if it's something that makes sense to you.

 

[JohnOver]

remember to make sure they give you the battery registration IC card too - you bought the pack; it's yours; you should be able to move it to whatever LEAF you choose to buy in the future, if it's something that makes sense to you.

What is the registration IC card? I haven't heard of that.

I'm still fantasizing about buying a crashed leaf and scavenging the battery from it and using it to boost up the capacity of my solar system battery (currently at 10 kWh). I would have loved to keep my "dead" pack for that...

 

[Valdemar]

^^^ That was exactly my plan but turns out Leaf's battery needs to be "married" to the car at the time of install using a special card that comes with a pack and the Consult tool. The theory is a new battery controller also comes with the same type of card so you might be able to buy one, put it on the used pack, and beg a dealer to perform the battery registration using the card that came with the controller.

 

[mwalsh]

What is the registration IC card? I haven't heard of that.

Contains the ID of the pack controller, which is written to the VCM via Consult III+. The car won't drive in other than limp mode if the IDs don't match.

 

[JohnOver]

Contains the ID of the pack controller, which is written to the VCM via Consult III+. The car won't drive in other than limp mode if the IDs don't match.

Thank you. I'll ask for that...

They quoted me $6400 (and I needed new front rotor and resurfaced rears), so they kept it and will do it all in one go. I got a 2013 loaner with 16,000 miles (& 92% SOH). No nav, so I don't have all the screens to look at. I also spent a while figuring out how to open the nose hood when I got to work...

 

[mwalsh]

They quoted me $6400 (and I needed new front rotor and resurfaced rears), so they kept it and will do it all in one go. I got a 2013 loaner with 16,000 miles (& 92% SOH). No nav, so I don't have all the screens to look at. I also spent a while figuring out how to open the nose hood when I got to work...

Yeah, I think we'd figured $6000-6500 would be the ballpark at most dealerships, so that's right in line with what was expected.

Keep us informed. I think you're the very first to decide on doing it out-of-pocket. Congrats!

Edit: Did they mention a long lead time on getting the pack? We've heard as much as 3 weeks. It might make more sense to keep your car until the pack arrives. Unless your brake work won't wait?

 

[zack]

Am I nuts?[/quote]

Don't get the battery, buy the used Lancer and tow the Leaf till it's charged up, then you pull the Lancer around, you'll never get stuck and never pay for electricity again!

 

[TimLee]

^^ :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JohnOver]

Am I nuts?

Don't get the battery, buy the used Lancer and tow the Leaf till it's charged up, then you pull the Lancer around, you'll never get stuck and never pay for electricity again!

Maybe you're nuts? :lol:

 

[JohnOver]

Yeah, I think we'd figured $6000-6500 would be the ballpark at most dealerships, so that's right in line with what was expected.

Keep us informed. I think you're the very first to decide on doing it out-of-pocket. Congrats!

Not sure is congratulations is the right word... :-/

The parts department originally told Nick that it was $6900 without the labor! I told him that I had heard it was $6500 installed. He went away and came back with $6400... I wonder what he would have come back with if I had said $6000 installed.

Edit: Did they mention a long lead time on getting the pack? We've heard as much as 3 weeks. It might make more sense to keep your car until the pack arrives. Unless your brake work won't wait?

They said that the pack was in Sacramento so it would be here Tuesday or Wednesday and it was just 2 hours of labor to swap them out. This is not their first battery swap. Nick said that someone had gotten one swapped under warranty 4 bars down, after less than 30,000 miles. Almost 100% Quick Charges!!! Maybe I should have abused my battery too...

BTW, this is at Nissan Sunnyvale.

 

[JohnOver]

Am I nuts?

Don't get the battery, buy the used Lancer and tow the Leaf till it's charged up, then you pull the Lancer around, you'll never get stuck and never pay for electricity again!

Maybe you're nuts? :lol:

Of course Zack, I mean that in the nicest way possible...

 

[DaveEV]

They quoted me $6400 (and I needed new front rotor and resurfaced rears), so they kept it and will do it all in one go. I got a 2013 loaner with 16,000 miles (& 92% SOH).

Why did they say you needed brake work? I think you're the first I've heard of needing brake work, given the regenerative braking the LEAF should be able to go a lifetime with just periodic brake fluid flushes. Of course, maybe your commute over HWY17 has something to do with it, though I would still think that regenerative braking would get you to at least 80k miles before needing any brake work.

Does the $6400 include the brake work?

Anyway, let us know how the new pack works. For $6400 I would be very tempted to just sell/trade in the current LEAF for hopefully $12k, then buy a new LEAF S. Nissan is offering $3500 NMAC cash on top of whatever deal you can manage with the dealer, so $29k - $7.5k tax credit - $2.5k CA rebate - $3.5k NMAC cash = $15.5k.

I think you should be able to add in the QC package and tax and still end up about the same out of pocket, except that now you have a new car with full warranty and 6.0 kW L2 charging.

 

[edatoakrun]

="JohnOver"

I'm at the dealer getting my 60,000 mile "checkup". I have only lost 2 bars so they won't give me a new battery. Since my commute (home) is 34 miles and 2000' of climb up the mountain, If I charge to 100%, I have 9 miles (or so) left on the GOM. So I am definitely thinking about replacing the battery with the 2015 version, which would get me back to where I was... and another 60,000 miles. (Leaf Spy Pro says I have 76% SOH, 5 QC, 5442L1/L2)...

Am I nuts?

Well, maybe misinformed would be more accurate.

You do realize that "9 miles (or so) left on the GOM" is close to meaningless as a report on available capacity, when you end your drive with a significant ascent?

I drive a 50-60 mile (low-speed) trip ~10 times a month, with a ~1600 ft net, ~2000 ft total descent down to the Valley floor, and with the same ascent returning.

Starting with "80%" charge, I get back home between the LBW and VLBW, usually with only three-to-five miles showing on the GOM in winter, but with 15%-20% of my total available battery capacity (from"100%" to turtle) remaining.

MY LBC currently reports ~23% capacity loss, nearly as much as yours, but that is ~twice the actual average available capacity loss (from"100%" to turtle, as verified by recharge capacity and range tests) my LEAF has experienced since delivery.

Have you ever tried to confirm that you actual capacity loss is anywhere near the 24% your LBC is reporting? You have a lot more miles on your battery than I do, and at higher speeds meaning a lot more total kW throughput, but your Battery also probably has not experienced as high average battery temps as mine has.

They quoted me $6400 (and I needed new front rotor and resurfaced rears), so they kept it and will do it all in one go. I got a 2013 loaner with 16,000 miles (& 92% SOH).

Why did they say you needed brake work?...

Sorry, ="JohnOver", but (unless you've been regularly starting your descent from home to work with 100% charge, using the discs rather than regen) it sounds to me, that when you asked them to take $6,400 to replace a decent battery, that dealer may have figured you might bite for some other questionable repairs.

You might be lucky you didn't also get the estimate for Johnson rod replacement...

 

[fooljoe]

Why did they say you needed brake work? I think you're the first I've heard of needing brake work, given the regenerative braking the LEAF should be able to go a lifetime with just periodic brake fluid flushes.

I used to think that was true - until the software update took all my regen away...

 

[Reddy]

I'm at the dealer getting my 60,000 mile "checkup". I have only lost 2 bars so they won't give me a new battery. Since my commute (home) is 34 miles and 2000' of climb up the mountain, If I charge to 100%, I have 9 miles (or so) left on the GOM. So I am definitely thinking about replacing the battery with the 2015 version, which would get me back to where I was... and another 60,000 miles. (LEAF Spy Pro says I have 76% SOH, 5 QC, 5442L1/L2)

As Ed said, a GOM reading 9 mi after going up 2000 ft means that the computer thinks you'll continue driving up hill for the next 9 mi exactly the same. You probably have plenty of battery left, maybe even as much as 50% (see the longest drive link in my signature).

 

[JohnOver]

Why did they say you needed brake work? I think you're the first I've heard of needing brake work, given the regenerative braking the LEAF should be able to go a lifetime with just periodic brake fluid flushes. Of course, maybe your commute over HWY17 has something to do with it, though I would still think that regenerative braking would get you to at least 80k miles before needing any brake work.

I took it in for the 60k, but the brakes were doing a different kind of grabbing than before MUCH worse at low speed and kind of a shudder at speed (felt like warped rotors to me). I've been having to get creative as my pack got weaker and charge to more than 80% (especially in the cold), which means that I've only been getting about 5kW of regen all the way down 17. So I had to use friction to keep in line with traffic. With the new battery I could run the heater and get enough regen so that I still had 10 bars after 10-12 miles of dropping the 2000 feet.

Does the $6400 include the brake work?

No. That's the battery replacement (all in).

Anyway, let us know how the new pack works. For $6400 I would be very tempted to just sell/trade in the current LEAF for hopefully $12k, then buy a new LEAF S. Nissan is offering $3500 NMAC cash on top of whatever deal you can manage with the dealer, so $29k - $7.5k tax credit - $2.5k CA rebate - $3.5k NMAC cash = $15.5k.

I'm not the kind of guy to flip cars every 3 years... Plus I don't want to get locked into a 2014 or even a 2015 model year. I'm holding out for a true 200+ mile range... I figure that will be in 2016 or maybe 2017. Another couple of months with this battery and I won't be able to get home. Right now, if I'm even barely aggressive on 17 climbing the hill I get home with a flashing 5 and low battery warning.

 

[Valdemar]

I'm not the kind of guy to flip cars every 3 years...

Emotions and principles aside, given your circumstances it just seems to be a more economically sound course of action that will produce the same or better results than getting a new replacement pack out of pocket.

 

[JohnOver]

You do realize that "9 miles (or so) left on the GOM" is close to meaningless as a report on available capacity, when you end your drive with a significant ascent?

Yep. I was scratching the posting out from my phone and didn't/couldn't be too wordy. I've been making this drive since 2011, I definitely understand that the GOM is wrong - every time.

Lately I have been having to drive in the right lane up 17, to take it easy, and it's killing me!

I drive a 50-60 mile (low-speed) trip ~10 times a month, with a ~1600 ft net, ~2000 ft total descent down to the Valley floor, and with the same ascent returning.

Starting with "80%" charge, I get back home between the LBW and VLBW, usually with only three-to-five miles showing on the GOM in winter, but with 15%-20% of my total available battery capacity (from"100%" to turtle) remaining.

MY LBC currently reports ~23% capacity loss, nearly as much as yours, but that is ~twice the actual average available capacity loss (from"100%" to turtle, as verified by recharge capacity and range tests) my LEAF has experienced since delivery.

My every-day commute is 35 miles each way at freeway speed (65+). So, 20 kW output on the flats for 25 miles (8.3 kWh), then I only have less than 8 kWh to climb the hill. If I drove like I used to I would need 10 kWh to get up the hill (10 miles @ 60 MPH @ 60 kW).

Have you ever tried to confirm that you actual capacity loss is anywhere near the 24% your LBC is reporting? You have a lot more miles on your battery than I do, and at higher speeds meaning a lot more total kW throughput, but your Battery also probably has not experienced as high average battery temps as mine has.

No I haven't. The LEAF Spy PRo was telling me that I had ~16 kWh capacity left (when charging to 100%).

Why did they say you needed brake work?...
Sorry, ="JohnOver", but (unless you've been regularly starting your descent from home to work with 100% charge, using the discs rather than regen) it sounds to me, that when you asked them to take $6,400 to replace a decent battery, that dealer may have figured you might bite for some other questionable repairs.

Because I felt felt what felt like warped rotors.

You might be lucky you didn't also get the estimate for Johnson rod replacement...

Ha!

 

[KJD]

I'm at the dealer getting my 60,000 mile "checkup". I have only lost 2 bars so they won't give me a new battery. Since my commute (home) is 34 miles and 2000' of climb up the mountain, If I charge to 100%, I have 9 miles (or so) left on the GOM. So I am definitely thinking about replacing the battery with the 2015 version, which would get me back to where I was... and another 60,000 miles. (LEAF Spy Pro says I have 76% SOH, 5 QC, 5442L1/L2)
I usually keep my cars for 100 -120,000 miles, so this would get me to the mythical 200+ range LEAF (or maybe more from other manufacturers).
Am I nuts?

What are the chances of installing an outlet in your parking lot at work?

If you could charge up at work, the 34 miles home should be a breeze.

 

[beachfitrob]

You need to invest in Leaf Spy and an OBD II to see what you really have left. I live in Houston, and sometimes I get LBW at 27%. That's really a LOT.

I got this one and it works perfectly. Samsung S4 phone.

http://rcbullock.blogspot.com/2014/09/bluetooth-obd-2-for-nissan-leaf-and.html