Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

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jonescg
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Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by jonescg »

Hi all,
Elisa Millar from Nissan Australia called me to share this with our members - if your first Gen Leaf is showing signs of depleted range (SOH of 8 bars or less) it may be replaced with a new battery of 24 kWh for about $10k. You can't keep the old pack as part of the deal.
***


Dear

Capacity of Lithium-ion batteries decrease with time a usage, which is a normal fact of battery technology. Nissan put in place a battery exchange program on April 1st for any customers of a series 1 LEAF where their Lithium-Ion battery no longer provided the owner with the capacity to support their driving range requirements.

This exchange program is only available to Nissan LEAF owners where:

1. The Nissan LEAF is an Australian delivered vehicle
2. The Lithium-Ion battery pack shows a State of Health of 8 bars or less
3. Only in exchange of a working Lithium-Ion battery pack
4. The replacement of the battery must be undertaken at a LEAF certified Nissan Dealer

As of the 1st of April 2019, the retail price of the Lithium-Ion battery pack is $9,990, plus the cost of fitment for this exchange. The removal and replacement time is capped at 5.8 hours.

Whilst the cost is above $10K after labour, it is a 24Kw battery and when you consider the costs of a home battery storage system of that capacity – it actually compares quite favourably.

Thanks,

Ben Warren ベン・ウォーレン
National Manager
Electrification and Mobility
Nissan Motor Co. (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Phone: 1800 035 035 (Customer enquiry line)
***

Edit - I'm happy to direct folks to Nissan Australia for any battery replacement queries.
AEVA National President, WA branch director.
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Adverse Effects
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by Adverse Effects »

at $10K they should be allowed to keep the old pack considering in japan there replacing them for under $3K
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Bryce
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by Bryce »

Re prices and keeping the battery pack: the cheaper Japanese packs are repackaged good cells from recycled Leaf packs - not new ones. (BTW: the Japanese pack is US$2600 plus fitting, which is around Au$4000, plus fitting). The Japanese second-hand packs are a change-over price.

New packs in the US are around US$6000-ish fitted (around Au$9000) so Au$10,000-ish fitted seems a fair price to me.

BTW: I'm not sure if the US price is change-over though.

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brendon_m
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by brendon_m »

Bryce wrote: Thu, 27 Jun 2019, 05:37 BTW: I'm not sure if the US price is change-over though.
I'd guess so. Nissan seems to have a strong desire to keep their packs out of the hands of us lowly commoners. I have heard of deals with 2nd life companies that buy the packs for home storage so there are probably contacts that force Nissan to reclaim the old ones
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by francisco.shi »

In Australia there isn't anyone currently recycling Lithium battery packs.
Also you are not allowed to export uncertified lithium batteries because of recent fires on container ships. That means that if you are not allowed to keep the pack in Australia it means Nissan is trying to keep the used packs out of the market.
The electronic recyclers will give you some money for the packs but at present they are storing them and hoping for the problem will somehow fix itself.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by dgh853 »

jonescg wrote: Wed, 26 Jun 2019, 13:41 Whilst the cost is above $10K after labour, it is a 24Kw battery and when you consider the costs of a home battery storage system of that capacity – it actually compares quite favourably.
LOL. What an odd comment as if Leaf owners are weighing up whether to upgrade their battery pack or install a home energy system. Maybe they're suggesting we should buy the $11,000 battery (fitted), buy an $8000 bidirectional Chademo charger, spend another $2,000 wiring it into the house somehow and then the Leaf provides backup power to the home (at least when it's in the garage).

Hmmm, that doesn't really compare favourably any more ;)

Anyway, I'm glad to see the option is there albeit pricier than overseas and no doubt a few Leaf owners will take it up as the car is very reliable and I could see them easily lasting 20-30 years with 10 yearly battery replacements. Kind of negates much of the fuel savings unfortunately.
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Adverse Effects
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by Adverse Effects »

Bryce wrote: Thu, 27 Jun 2019, 05:37 Re prices and keeping the battery pack: the cheaper Japanese packs are repackaged good cells from recycled Leaf packs - not new ones.
Cheers
Bryce
hmmm NOPE you didnt even ask where i got that info

that info came from a artical in japan about there battery replacement scheme (i posted a link to it about a month ago)

they are NEW CELLS in an old housing and are a higher capacity

a simple google search would have stopped you making a statement like that "google search Nissan leaf battery replacement scheme"
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by brunohill »

Do you have a link to the article ????
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by coulomb »

brunohill wrote: Thu, 27 Jun 2019, 22:04 link to the article ?
The very first, highlighted hit from the Google search he posted:

https://insideevs.com/news/337360/nissa ... lder-leaf/
MG ZS EV 2021 April 2021. Nissan Leaf 2012 with new battery May 2019.
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brunohill
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by brunohill »

Looks like they also published this:-

https://insideevs.com/news/351314/nissa ... sqQuyX7WxY

So you will never need a new battery as our leafs will all be in landfill in 3 years time. They appear to me to have a slightly twisted interpretation or misunderstanding.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by photomac »

When I bought my LEAF I received a letter saying the battery had [ EDIT: it was 5 years not ] 8 years warranty. I assume that still applies
Last edited by photomac on Sat, 17 Aug 2019, 16:45, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by reecho »

So fitting 30Kwh and 40Kwh packs into Classic Leafs are becoming a real option...

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/10/a- ... 2hWZEdal5o
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

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bje
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by bje »

I've just learned from Nissan Customer Care that the replacement battery comes with a 12 month warranty, so this "replacement program" is really a non-starter. Now thinking very seriously about ditching my LEAF.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by francisco.shi »

How much degradation does your battery have?
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by bje »

Four capacity bars gone and range now barely adequate for daily use.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by Chuq »

bje wrote: Sun, 19 Apr 2020, 12:13 I've just learned from Nissan Customer Care that the replacement battery comes with a 12 month warranty, so this "replacement program" is really a non-starter. Now thinking very seriously about ditching my LEAF.
I understand your concern. Mine has just dropped to 8 bars as well. Fortunately for us my usage is low enough that the Leaf is still very practical for us, so will keep it for many years to come. If you were to sell yours then someone in a similar situation to me might find it useful - but often people who don't have an EV yet are extra cautious about range, so it might be a tough sell.

As an aside - I've been working from home the last couple of weeks, my wife has also, and my kids have been on school holidays. The Leaf has only needed to be charged for about 2 hours on a 2.4kW charger every 2-3 days (and that's keeping the SOC between 40-80%). The petrol car has been used once (for a 10 km round trip - only did so to make sure it didn't have issues from lack of use!)

If we knew how long the Covid-19 restrictions were going to be in place it would almost be worth selling the petrol car (seeing as we plan on replacing it with an EV next year, and if we're not really allowed to travel long distance then we don't need it)!
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by bje »

The idea of increasingly using LEAFs for granny trips is not really a solution to re-powering EVs. Admittedly, being one of the first commercially available EVs, the LEAF is the first model to face this problem. It has to be dealt with by the manufacturers sooner or later. It makes the sustainability credentials of electric cars a bit of a joke when these cars, that should last a very long time, have a shorter life than the cheapest ICE cars on the market.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by brendon_m »

bje wrote: Mon, 20 Apr 2020, 10:58 The idea of increasingly using LEAFs for granny trips is not really a solution to re-powering EVs. Admittedly, being one of the first commercially available EVs, the LEAF is the first model to face this problem. It has to be dealt with by the manufacturers sooner or later. It makes the sustainability credentials of electric cars a bit of a joke when these cars, that should last a very long time, have a shorter life than the cheapest ICE cars on the market.
Theoretically newer EVs won't have to face this issue as much because they have proper thermal management (except for the leaf because Nissan are stubborn)
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by antiscab »

retrofitting battery cooling may be possible. I wonder how similar in shape a zoe battery is to a leaf
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by francisco.shi »

Is there any chance of you replacing the cells? Potentially with higher capacity?
Cells are around $300/kWh so a 24kwh battery would be about 7k worth of cells and you would have a new battery.
I am also pretty confident some company will come up with an aftermarket replacement. As more and more EVs come on the market there will be an opportunity to sell replacement battery packs. Just like the prius.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by bje »

I wasn't really looking for an engineering project, just for my manufacturer to help me.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by francisco.shi »

Unfortunately the manufacturer only wants to help themselves.
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by brendon_m »

bje wrote: Mon, 20 Apr 2020, 14:34 I wasn't really looking for an engineering project, just for my manufacturer to help me.
Its quite sad that most old EVs (and cars in general) will be scrapped because the manufacturers just want to sell a new car and it just becomes too hard/expensive to keep them on the roads
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Re: Nissan Australia Leaf 1.0 battery replacement

Post by bje »

It also substantially undermines their resale value, which in turn undermines EV adoption.
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