Battery doomed?

I am new to EVs and we purchased our first Leaf a couple months ago. It is a 2017 Leaf S with 36000 miles. The bars are down to 6, but we only needed it for a 10 mile commute so I thought that I would be fine with limited range. At full charge when we purchased it said 62 miles on the guessometer.

Last month I got an ODB2 to check on battery health with Leaf Spy. The SOH was around 47% a month ago. Last week it was 43.36% and now today it said 42.9%.

Is this a sign of rapidly degrading battery? Anything that can be done?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Welcome. You should be eligible for a free 40kwh replacement battery. The car will first need, if it hasn't already gotten it, Nissan's free 30kwh Battery Management System (BMS) update. That will briefly reset it to show 12 capacity bars, but most or all of the "new" bars will drop within a month or three. When the capacity gauge drops below 9 bars after the BMS update, the car is eligible for the free 40kwh battery.

The update for 30 kWh cars is at https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=23606&p=610976&hilit=30+kwh+campaign+ntb%2A#p610976.

I fixed a typo: when the capacity gauge drops below 9 bars (IOW when it reads 8 bars or less) is when the car is eligible for free pack replacement - again, only after the BMS update has been done.

Congratulations on winning the free battery lottery! You are so lucky, wish I could find a 2017 with a crappy 30 kWh in it, then qualify for a free 40 kWh replacement pack...

BTW, if you hear of another one, let me know!

That would be great! Does Nissan still honor the battery replacement on used vehicles? I read somewhere
"The warranty doesn’t cover damages or failures caused by:
1.Exposing the vehicle to temperatures above 120F for over 24 hours
2.Storing the vehicle in temperatures below -13F for over seven days
3.Failing to charge the battery for over 14 days when it reaches zero or near-zero charge
4.Damaging the battery physically
5.Exposing the battery to direct flame
6.Opening the battery
7.Having it serviced by someone other than a Nissan LEAF certified technician
8.Disregarding correct charging procedures
9.Using incompatible charging devices"

With it being a used car how would any of those exclusions be determined? Would I just contact the local Nissan dealership to pursue?

Thank you for the quick replies!

The car's BMS keeps track of some of the above. The battery warranty is 8 years/100k miles, regardless of number of owners.

Thank you! I'll contact our Nissan dealership and let you know what happens. Much appreciated!

I was able to get in to Nissan and as you said they did an HV battery reprogram which brought us up to 9 bars. There was also battery plate recall that was done so I don't think the car was especially well cared for

I checked the SOH and it was about 72%. I think that's what I saw 65% was the top for 8 bars. From what you said earlier we are probably closer to a month than 3 before it drops that 7%

Thank you for your help in this! I went back and looked at the leafs that were on my interest list and they all had 11 bars so sorry I don't have any other bad battery cars to refer you to

Congrats! It looks like you will soon get a free 40kWh replacement battery.

Don't worry about the plate recall, it was a pretty minor affair and doesn't affect how the car drives or the battery life. I'm sure many people simply ignored it.

goldbrick said:

Congrats! It looks like you will soon get a free 40kWh replacement battery.

Don't worry about the plate recall, it was a pretty minor affair and doesn't affect how the car drives or the battery life. I'm sure many people simply ignored it.

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Are you talkin to me? :mrgreen:

LOL

So my battery finally dropped below 9 bars and was approved for warranty battery replacement, but apparently they are backordered by >6 months It still suits our needs but that could change if it's over a year. Anyone know what the actual timeline might be for the replacement?

Is it possible Nissan could go back on their warranty? Seems like a long time to get a warranty covered part replaced

What's happening is that Nissan, claiming to be short on 40kwh packs, is offering to buy the cars back. There is negotiation involved, so if they offer that, don't accept their first $ offer as their final one.

So will they not replace the battery at all then? How long after waiting would they happen?

rnlarson2 said:

So will they not replace the battery at all then? How long after waiting would they happen?

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They can't replace what they don't have.
Long story short: Nissan has decided that (car) "buy backs" are cheaper (less trouble) than replacing battery packs under warranty. The secondary problem (which I experienced) are bad cells/modules within packs, which are also difficult/expensive to "fix"...assuming you can get your hands on a replacement module.