Are you close to loosing the 4th bar but maybe not within the warranty cut off? ( an alternative warranty suggestion )

Maybe it’s just me, but I am not really happy about Nissan's current battery warranty: I have tried to “baby” our Leaf’s batteries as much as I could, but last September at 38k I lost my 3rd bar in sunny S CAL and with the math on what you all have been posting about the loss of bar 4, it will be close, but most likely off by a couple of weeks or months ( my 60 months are over in June, just before the relentless summer heat )

The warranty as it is, seems unfair to me: as close to loosing the 4th bar yet not anywhere close to the 60000miles and from all you reporting here, it seems fair to say that ALL early batteries are degrading faster than they were to be expected ( via Nissan original marketing ) in warmer climates. Wether or not they do to exactly within the warranty terms ( cutoff at 60 month or 60000miles) just does not seem right.

My suggestion is, to allow for a replacement of the batteries at a discount, the earlier you need it the bigger the discount for these 1st generation batteries, something like this:
New battery warranty replacement plan:

loss of bar 4 at 60 month or 60.000: free of cost
loss of bar 4 at 65 month or 65.000: 75% discount on replacement
loss of bar 4 at 70 month or 70k: 50% discount,
and so forth…

I am no numbers guy, the details need to be worked out, but you get the idea...

To me this would not only seem more fair but also more ecologically responsible, which is one reason I wanted to be an early adopter. The present warranty - on the contrary - gives you an incentive to "mistreat" your batteries just to make it for a free replacement. But that is not what I believe, any of us really wanted.

A discounted warranty option would give responsible drivers a much better reason to keep their cars running as long as possible on the original set of batteries.
And it would also make Nissan into what I want to believed they wanted to be: The first really committed car company to make electric work!

But again: maybe that’s just me? What do you think?
If there were enough of us, maybe there'd be a way to campaign for this...

That's a fantastic plan!

I don't see it happening, but it does seem very fair.

I may or may not be in the same boat as you. Well, I am almost certain I will not meet the cutoff (on both miles and time), but I'll probably be close on both counts. I just lost my 3rd bar at 54K miles and 51 months. I DO have the full hot summer to go, but I'll probably mileage out before the summer is over. I expect to lose the 4th bar at about 65K miles and 61-62 months?

Like you, I tried to baby my battery. I only ever charged it to 100% if I really needed it, and never let it sit at 100%. And we didn't even have quick charging here for the first 2.5 years of its life! And while it certainly gets hot here, it's not AZ hot. So I do feel that my battery is degrading faster than others, just not quite fast enough...

Personally, I would go directly to a DCQC, and start banging on that battery hard.
Run it down with 80mph highway miles or an inverter, and hit it again.
Don't let them "win".

or not.......

Get a bumper painted and have them use the 160F baking room to cure the paint :twisted:
Maybe get that done a few times for the front and back on separate weeks.

KillaWhat said:

Personally, I would go directly to a DCQC, and start banging on that battery hard.
Run it down with 80mph highway miles or an inverter, and hit it again.
Don't let them "win".

or not.......

Click to expand...

+1

Get the temperature bar (on the left) up near max at least once a week. Just drive hard and QC for the day.

Yes, I agree. Great first post Monki. It would have been much nicer than the hard cut off and less hard feelings for the early adapters that just miss it.

Nissan?

monki said:

New battery warranty replacement plan:

loss of bar 4 at 60 month or 60.000: free of cost
loss of bar 4 at 65 month or 65.000: 75% discount on replacement
loss of bar 4 at 70 month or 70k: 50% discount,
and so forth…

------

To me this would not only seem more fair but also more ecologically responsible, which is one reason I wanted to be an early adopter. The present warranty - on the contrary - gives you an incentive to "mistreat" your batteries just to make it for a free replacement. But that is not what I believe, any of us really wanted.

A discounted warranty option would give responsible drivers a much better reason to keep their cars running as long as possible on the original set of batteries.
And it would also make Nissan into what I want to believed they wanted to be: The first really committed car company to make electric work!

But again: maybe that’s just me? What do you think?
If there were enough of us, maybe there'd be a way to campaign for this...

Click to expand...

OP- I've been thinking the same thing!!!

I really, really, really like my Leaf. 2011, early adopter, bought in CA and shipped to GA. I've never been an early adopter of anything (smart phone only 2 years ago!)

However, I feel betrayed by Nissan. I went to the initial test drives, listened to the Nissan people and believed I'd have a functional car battery for at least 8yrs/100k miles. The settlement really only rewards inefficient drivers. I "babied" my leaf also. Trickle charged to 80% first year. Getting good efficiency (>4.0) and never going too fast.

I'm at 38k miles, and 5 years of ownership will be in August 2016. I'm down 2 bars, probably going to lose the 3rd by this summer, but no way to get to lose the 4th bar (unless someone can tell me a sure-fire way!).

I would even buy a new battery pack once I was down to 7-8 bars, but someone posted how you'd be screwed if you get into a collision and the insurance company wants to total the car (and making that $6k battery worthless to you).

A pro-rated warranty would be very fair. Once i hit the 4 bar loss, I am still going to put in a claim with Nissan. It will most likely be unsuccessful, but at least they'd know why I won't buy a Nissan again.

End rant.

Of course that is what should have been done, but it's not gonna happen. Water under the bridge at this point. No point in beating a dead horse.

how many people took more (or even near) 22,000 miles to lose their 4th bar? I mean you just need to drive it. you should lose your bar way before 60,000 miles. as far as time? well, I think you have wasted enough of it by now and its not working so I have to suggest another strategy...

DaveinOlyWA said:

I mean you just need to drive it.

Click to expand...

Yup. The sooner you give up on hopeless dreams of Nissan doing the right thing and the faster you get busy working the hell out of that battery the better. Get LeafSpy if you haven't already and report back with your Ah and SOH metrics in between driving up and down some mountains at full throttle!

Rktennis said:

OP- I've been thinking the same thing!!!

I really, really, really like my Leaf. 2011, early adopter, bought in CA and shipped to GA. I've never been an early adopter of anything (smart phone only 2 years ago!)

However, I feel betrayed by Nissan. I went to the initial test drives, listened to the Nissan people and believed I'd have a functional car battery for at least 8yrs/100k miles. The settlement really only rewards inefficient drivers. I "babied" my leaf also. Trickle charged to 80% first year. Getting good efficiency (>4.0) and never going too fast.

I'm at 38k miles, and 5 years of ownership will be in August 2016. I'm down 2 bars, probably going to lose the 3rd by this summer, but no way to get to lose the 4th bar (unless someone can tell me a sure-fire way!).

I would even buy a new battery pack once I was down to 7-8 bars, but someone posted how you'd be screwed if you get into a collision and the insurance company wants to total the car (and making that $6k battery worthless to you).

A pro-rated warranty would be very fair. Once i hit the 4 bar loss, I am still going to put in a claim with Nissan. It will most likely be unsuccessful, but at least they'd know why I won't buy a Nissan again.

End rant.

Click to expand...

It took me 7 months in Arizona to lose 2 bars. You have run out of time... Too bad, I could have helped you get there, given a few more months of time than what you have, in the AZ climate.

Rktennis said:

I'm at 38k miles, and 5 years of ownership will be in August 2016. I'm down 2 bars, probably going to lose the 3rd by this summer, but no way to get to lose the 4th bar (unless someone can tell me a sure-fire way!).

Click to expand...

You have a lot of miles to spare during that period. If you buy ELM adapter today and some monthly access to at least one DC charger (do you have DC port?) you COULD take a week off and go grazy with DC charging and driving at speeds above 70mph. Going below 5% SOC is going to heat the pack a lot. It is possible to get 11 and 12 temperature bars if weather is appropriate (20C or more).
You can lose 2 bars during 12k miles. It is possible to block airflow above the battery.
It is possible to load the Leaf with sand bags.

Everything is possible, not always reasonable.

Get the ELM adapter today. Few bucks really.

I'm worried about running out of time. I only put 7-8k miles on per year, so it would take a concerted effort.

I am a teacher, so I actually have the summer off. For $6000 value of getting a new battery, I'd have no problem "working" on losing bars. I could consider it my summer "job"!! However, I am concerned that I would lose 1.999 bars before my 5 years is up, and have ended up wasting my time and not getting my "paycheck" of a new replacement.

I do have the following in my favor: Hot GA spring/summer, access to highways to go 75plus mph, and a quick charge at a local dealership.

I have a 2012 bought used I just learned today my battery warranty is up November this year. I have 36k on my car and only dropped two bars, so how many bars more do I need to drop in 7 months ?? I'm in So Cal. Does running the AC help ? I see speeding helps and dcqc, what else ? Should I stop running in Eco mode ?? I've put on over 10k miles in a year.

S

Thanks

I wouldn't do anything until you get LEAFSpy and quantify more accurately if you're at the BEGINNING or the END of losing the third bar. Maybe you have 1.1 bars to go, or maybe 1.9. You could beat on the car all summer and wind up just short and losing your 4th bar in December and then be S-O-L because you accelerated your battery aging unnecessarily.

Even then it may be a tall ask to lose even a full bar in 7-8 months (much less almost 2). I've lost 3 bars and have until Dec 9th until I age out (I'll more likely mileage out instead--currently have 55.3K on the clock). I've lost my bars roughly on an annual basis. Unless you're fairly certain that 3rd bar is about to drop, if I were you I'd just drive the car normally and enjoy it.