Warning: Battery Replacement Cost Increase (now $8500)

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
L

Lothsahn

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2018
Messages
712
I just called Nissan about a replacement battery because my 2011 Nissan leaf is down to 8 bars and I only get about 35 miles on a charge. I was informed that the battery replacement cost is now $7000 plus labor and taxes (up from $5499). This means replacement costs are around $8500. This change occurred a couple months ago. I expressed my displeasure that as battery pack costs continue to drop, Nissan has actually raised their pack pricing.

Wanted to warn everyone out there that this change occurred. This makes it significantly more expensive to repair your used Nissan Leaf, so plan accordingly. It doesn't look like Nissan has any plans to lower pack pricing as manufacturing costs drop.

Also, they said the refurbished battery program in Japan likely won't be coming to the US anytime soon due to EPA regulations.

References:
[1] https://insideevs.com/breaking-nissan-prices-leaf-battery-replacement-5499-new-packs-heat-durable/
[2] https://electrek.co/2017/01/30/electric-vehicle-battery-cost-dropped-80-6-years-227kwh-tesla-190kwh/
 
Well...that stinks. Maybe this will be more incentive for third party operators to get into the game. I'm actually somewhat relieved the refurbished batteries aren't allowed by EPA regs here. I have a 2017 S and I'm relying on a new battery within the 8 year warranty if it drops too far, too fast.
 
Seems like Nissan is pricing this deliberately high so that almost no one takes them up on the offer. Guess they figure it's more hassle than it's worth.

Doesn't bode well for longevity of EVs though, if this mentality is typical. So much for more environmentally friendly EVs, so many older LEAFs will now end up at the scrap yard.

Shame on you Nissan!
 
I am very disappointed to hear this as I have been planning all along to buy a replacement battery once my 2012 LEAF doesn't meet my driving needs. So far it still meets 95% of my driving needs as a two bar loser. I was hoping to make my LEAF last a good 15 years. That seems to now be doubtful and I am very disappointed.
 
That is really not nice. :x

I had previously considered a replacement battery to be a very viable option, especially since I haven't lost a bar yet and was figuring it wouldn't need it for about another 5 years. By then, I figured battery prices would be lower. With that, it seems very viable for this to be a 15+ year keeper.

Nissan - This is not the way to keep your early adopters happy. We do have some influence in the marketplace with consumers. You really should care and try to keep us happy.

Any possibility of buying these batteries direct from Nissan's supplier? Probably not individually but an aftermarket vendor might be able to swing a deal and buy a bunch? Or do the batteries have proprietary electronic codes such that the car will not function with non-Nissan supplied batteries?
 
Lothsahn said:
I just called Nissan about a replacement battery because my 2011 Nissan leaf is down to 8 bars and I only get about 35 miles on a charge. I was informed that the battery replacement cost is now $7000 plus labor and taxes (up from $5499). This means replacement costs are around $8500. This change occurred a couple months ago. I expressed my displeasure that as battery pack costs continue to drop, Nissan has actually raised their pack pricing.
Click to expand...
Did you call Nissan corporate (e.g. their EV help line) or a dealer for this price?
 
cwerdna said:
Lothsahn said:
I just called Nissan about a replacement battery because my 2011 Nissan leaf is down to 8 bars and I only get about 35 miles on a charge. I was informed that the battery replacement cost is now $7000 plus labor and taxes (up from $5499). This means replacement costs are around $8500. This change occurred a couple months ago. I expressed my displeasure that as battery pack costs continue to drop, Nissan has actually raised their pack pricing.
Click to expand...
Did you call Nissan corporate (e.g. their EV help line) or a dealer for this price?
Click to expand...

The call was with Nissan corporate (specifically their EV help line, not the normal Nissan USA line). The information was provided by a rep from Nissan corporate. I have not yet sought a case review for a discount, which, when I'm ready to do the battery replacement, I will likely do. For now, 8 bars still meets the majority of my driving needs, and I likely won't have to replace the battery until it falls below around 5 bars.

I may also seek to have a 3rd party replace the battery, as there are a few on the forums here that do so. That said, it's not straightforward, it's with Junkyard parts, it's not covered by a warranty, and a dealer still has to agree to program the battery as the car will only do 25 MPH with an unrecognized battery. So, not easy.
 
If this forum is anything to go by, very few customer paid pack replacements have occurred. I wonder why Nissan thought it important to rub salt in owner wounds.
 
Likely they are trying to move from their old battery design going forward. Consider how costly it will be to warranty packs if they go to a new design, it's not like they can make a bunch of extras and store them. If they had a design that they could continue to use going forward it would make sense to sell replacements, if they go to TMS this will be an issue. Going forward it will make more sense to buy a new car based on the present landscape.
 
EVDRIVER said:
Likely they are trying to move from their old battery design going forward. Consider how costly it will be to warranty packs if they go to a new design, it's not like they can make a bunch of extras and store them. If they had a design that they could continue to use going forward it would make sense to sell replacements, if they go to TMS this will be an issue. Going forward it will make more sense to buy a new car based on the present landscape.
Click to expand...
The last 24 kWh LEAFs were sold in 2016, so they have to provide warranty packs at least into 2021. Consumer bought packs appear to be only a very small fraction of the total Nissan will deliver.

This is not making sense to me.

Perhaps $8500 is for the 30 kWh pack ?
 
Consider how costly that will be to make those packs that long unless they keep suing the same design. Unlike stockpiling parts packs don't have a shelf life. Should be interesting to see how they handle that.
 
EVDRIVER said:
Unlike stockpiling parts packs don't have a shelf life. Should be interesting to see how they handle that.
Click to expand...
Yup.

This is actually why I am skeptical of the entire idea of buying a replacement pack aside from cost.
@DaveInOly likes to say that packs are a JIT production item but is that really true, and even if true in the past, will it be true here on out ?

Only the new owners of the battery plant know for sure.
 
SageBrush said:
EVDRIVER said:
Likely they are trying to move from their old battery design going forward. Consider how costly it will be to warranty packs if they go to a new design, it's not like they can make a bunch of extras and store them. If they had a design that they could continue to use going forward it would make sense to sell replacements, if they go to TMS this will be an issue. Going forward it will make more sense to buy a new car based on the present landscape.
Click to expand...
The last 24 kWh LEAFs were sold in 2016, so they have to provide warranty packs at least into 2021. Consumer bought packs appear to be only a very small fraction of the total Nissan will deliver.

This is not making sense to me.

Perhaps $8500 is for the 30 kWh pack ?
Click to expand...

I can assure you it's a 24 kWh pack. I specifically asked this and I was told that retrofitting a 30 kWh pack was not possible with my car, due to differences in wiring between the 24 and 30 kWh. Honestly, I'd think if it was a priority, the engineering could be done to retrofit a 30 kWh, but I understand that would require engineering that Nissan would rather spend on new vehicles.

Either way, it was $7000 (plus tax and labor) for a 24 kWh pack, so with labor and tax that should be around $8500.
 
No, but they expect you to buy a new EV from them every 3 - 5 years it seems, since they are pricing replacement packs so high that effectively the car becomes disposable when the range is no longer enough. So much for environmental responsibility. I think some laws need to be passed to force EV manufacturers to foot the bill for reconditioning or recycling these packs, if this new attitude from Nissan becomes the norm. Good luck with that from a Trump government though.

For anyone living in a hot climate, purchasing a new 2018 LEAF would be nuts - you are far better off leasing. Hopefully the 2019 with TMS will have more longevity, so the original pack will still have useful range after 10 years.
 
borugee said:
Is Nissan done with EVs? Do they want customers to go away?
Click to expand...

Nah. Their new cars are priced competitively. They just don't want you bothering them for a battery replacement. It's not part of their plan. If it had been, the batteries would have been plug-and-play and backwards compatible between model years -- allowing an older car to not only refresh the battery but gain added range beyond new. But they apparently didn't sufficiently value the customer loyalty that would have encouraged.
 
If this turns out to be true, not a temporary snafu and the price for a new 24 kWh battery for the near to medium term and there's no ~$2850 10+ "refurbished" battery for the US, this is VERY bad news. :(

Very few people will want to fork over this kind of $ on a car that has little value by the time the driver wants a replacement. If it were a 30 or 40 kWh battery, the % of folks willing to pay this price would go up.

Nissan did claim at the time of the $5499 announcement (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17168&p=374490) that they were losing money (subventing): https://insideevs.com/nissan-says-leaf-battery-replacement-money-loser/.

Perhaps now that AESC (NEC and Nissan JV) has been sold to a Chinese company, they're getting stiffed or that Chinese company at least wants some profit? Maybe Nissan's tired of making $0 or losing $?

One would've figured that the per kWh cost should've come down in an almost 4 year time span...
 
If I am to believe this new $8500 battery price, then they are doing the same business model as the cordless drill business. Their batteries only last a few years. When you want to buy new batteries, they cost $110 each, while NEW drills with the batteries are only $200.

HOWEVER... With such a large base of Leaf owners, I cannot imagine that the cells in the battery pack are so exclusive that only Nissan can provide them. I am SURE that other companies make the same battery cells, and a company can find a way to replace the cells in the original battery pack.... Not requiring any other new tech to make the pack compatible to the car...
 

Similar threads

Antonio Peterson
If Nissan is ignoring your problem, getting a lawyer helps!
Replies
8
Views
972
Flyct
F
O
Do we have a battery capacity warranty? Or a battery warranty?
Replies
9
Views
2K
Dooglas
D
H
$12k to replace 24kwh battery?
2 3
Replies
44
Views
7K
electricfuture
E
L
Battery replacement for Nissan Leaf ZE0/AZE0/ZE1
Replies
1
Views
702
lley
L
M
REPLACING the 12v OEM battery in a LEAF (any MY or trim level)
Replies
18
Views
1K
frontrangeleaf
F

Latest posts

Back
Top