Replacing or repairing a 24/30KWh Battery by a 3rd party

Hi, So Ive been looking since I bought my 2017 Nissan Leaf for a way to replace the battery by outside 3rd party repair shops.( I hold my cars for 12-15 years on average) I have not seen any anywhere. My though process was that there would be a way to replace the battery some day by not going to the dealership. I know these type of shops are open for the Prius ( yes the Prius is only 3-8.8KWh)

So..... Do you know of a store/Shop that offers a way to replace or repair teh cells on these 3oKW Batteries.
Thankyou,
CS

http://store.newpriusbatteries.com/

I found this, and Im hoping to see something like this for the leaf

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "KW".

See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=520169#p520169.

Your Leaf does have an 80 kW motor. See https://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2017-nissan-leaf-press-kit.

There are good reasons to think that a 3rd party refurbishment will never happen but IMO the leaders are:

1. Pouch cells of the type that can be used for direct replacement are going out of style
2. The battery is too heavy to handle without dealership level infrastructure
3. A cell swap is labor intensive.
4. Active Nissan opposition

So far as I know we cannot even use the cells in a 40 kWh pack as direct replacements into the 30 or 24 kWh packs. That is a BAD sign.

The car is guaranteed for 8 years to be at least roughly 65% of original capacity. In 2025 I'm sure the EV market will be very different than what it is today so trying to plan for something that far in the future is difficult at best.

My 2017 Leaf was the first car I ever bought new and most of my other cars have been 10-20 years old as that is where the best value is for me. I do my own car repair work and find a lot of parts in local junkyards. It is sort of a hobby but also keeps my transportation costs very low.

I do plan to keep my Leaf for a long time (10+ years) but if/when the battery doesn't have the range I need I expect the options to be completely different than what is out there now. If I had to do it today, I would buy a battery from a wrecked car and swap the cells. IMO, the biggest hurdle is finding a used/wrecked car with cells that aren't already degraded too far and that make it worth the effort.

cwerdna said:

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "KW".

See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=520169#p520169.

Your Leaf does have an 80 kW motor. See https://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2017-nissan-leaf-press-kit.

Click to expand...

Ok I feel Like Sheldon from the big Bang Theory just chimed in.....
I went back and edited it.
Thank you Sheldon for educating me

I know of at least two companies that are trying to build a business out of refurbishing EV battery packs and yes they have already experience refurbishing Leaf packs. I will post the links to the companies when I get a chance. Nissan should also be offering refurbished packs in a few years from Japan plant, so, by the time your 2017 Leaf needs a new battery there should be plenty of companies around that offer refurbished packs.

One thing that really impressed me with Nissan is the 2018 Leaf is hardly a year old and you can already buy a service manual for it. Not that I plan to do any serious work on my 2018 Leaf, at least until it is out of warranty, but it’s nice to know I can get the manual I need to pull it apart if I have to. Doing things like swapping out battery packs gets a lot easier when you can get the manual that tells you how to do it.

One other thing you might want to consider, if you are willing to pay the price for a new battery pack, I have heard that Nissan offers a full 8 year/100,000 mile warranty on the new pack even if the pack is sitting in a ten year old car. That is quite a bit of security for such a large investment. You just have to decide if the car is worth hanging onto for the life of the new pack.

TexasLeaf said:

I know of at least two companies that are trying to build a business out of refurbishing EV battery packs and yes they have already experience refurbishing Leaf packs. I will post the links to the companies when I get a chance.

Click to expand...

Here are the links I promised;

http://www.thebatteryclinic.co.nz/nissan-leaf-ev-battery-reconditioning/

https://hybridindustries.webs.com/

TexasLeaf said:

TexasLeaf said:

I know of at least two companies that are trying to build a business out of refurbishing EV battery packs and yes they have already experience refurbishing Leaf packs. I will post the links to the companies when I get a chance.

Click to expand...

Here are the links I promised;
...
https://hybridindustries.webs.com/

Click to expand...

LOL!!!!

Please see below:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21888
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=513194#p513194
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=460259#p460259
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=460337#p460337
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=519598#p519598
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=518997#p518997

Until we hear actual success stories from this outfit, no thanks.

http://www.thebatteryclinic.co.nz/nissan-leaf-ev-battery-reconditioning/ is in New Zealand and their page says:

November 2018 Update: Success!!!
...
The second stage of this project will be looking at how we can reduce the cost of repair. Because currently the costs outweigh the value of the vehicle. So watch this space EV Owners help is coming!

Click to expand...

You should have plenty of time to find out if anyone comes up with one. Here's a thread on a recent one, Fenix Power, that looks promising
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26597

goldbrick said:

The car is guaranteed for 8 years to be at least roughly 65% of original capacity. In 2025 I'm sure the EV market will be very different than what it is today so trying to plan for something that far in the future is difficult at best.

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I've heard it's only applicable for gen2, not gen1, am I right?

Andrey said:

goldbrick said:

The car is guaranteed for 8 years to be at least roughly 65% of original capacity. In 2025 I'm sure the EV market will be very different than what it is today so trying to plan for something that far in the future is difficult at best.

Click to expand...

I've heard it's only applicable for gen2, not gen1, am I right?

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The Gen I capacity warranty, which was added by Nissan after a lawsuit began, is for 5 years or 60k miles.

The Leaf 30 carries an 8 year degradation warranty and is Gen 1.

joeriv said:

The Leaf 30 carries an 8 year degradation warranty and is Gen 1.

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True enough. I should have been more clear. The 5Yr/60k warranty applies to 24kwh packs, and the 8Yr/100k mile warranty applies to 30kwh packs, and, IIRC, to 40kwh and 62kwh packs as well.

joeriv said:

The Leaf 30 carries an 8 year degradation warranty and is Gen 1.

Click to expand...

I wonder why I see everywhere people call different model years of same gen (2010-2017) as two different gens (2010-2012 and 2013-207).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf
I thought the same and current gen is 3.

There is not that much difference between a 2015 and 2106 and some 2016 cars had 24kWh packs while some had 30kWh packs. A 2018 is obviously very different than a 2011-2017 with a completely new body style, etc. Plus all 2018-2019 have 40kWh or 62kWh packs, at least in the USA.

I don't know if Nissan calls their cars Gen 1 vs Gen 2 or that is just what the rest of the world calls them. In any event, there are significant differences between 2011-2012 vs 2013. Then some significant changes between 2015 and (some) 2106/2017. Add in the variations of trim level (which vary around the world) which also changed year by year and it gets complicated.

Andrey said:

joeriv said:

The Leaf 30 carries an 8 year degradation warranty and is Gen 1.

Click to expand...

I wonder why I see everywhere people call different model years of same gen (2010-2017) as two different gens (2010-2012 and 2013-207).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf
I thought the same and current gen is 3.

Click to expand...

In 2013 The Leaf was "refreshed" with several new features, and the US production of the Leaf in Smyrna, TN began. The appearance of the body remained virtually the same, albeit with the Japanese-built car's front fender marker lights getting omitted for US production, but several aluminum panels were replaced with steel, the onboard charger was moved from the cargo area to the front motor compartment, numerous suggestions made by previous Leaf drivers were implemented, and even the power curve of the motor changed, for various reasons including the use of less expensive magnets in the motor. The battery chemistry was improved as well, although Leafs built in Smyrna through March of 2013 received the older, more degradation-prone battery chemistry - but in the newer battery case, oddly enough...

Call it "Gen 1.5"...

^^^
Yep.

http://sfbayleafs.org/news/2013/01/2013-nissan-leaf-product-highlights/
http://sfbayleafs.org/commentary/2013/09/2013-vs-2011-nissan-leaf-whats-new-whats-gone-whats-changed/

I would also call model years 2013 to 2017 "gen 1.5". It was a mid-cycle refresh.

I would call model year 2018 thru present gen 2. I don't know anything about the wikipedia entry. I often ignore those as some are full of crap and wonkiness (e.g. the Prius entries use incorrect designations like "XW20" and "XW30". No! There were NHW10, NHW11, NHW20, ZVW30, etc.))

LeftieBiker said:

joeriv said:

The Leaf 30 carries an 8 year degradation warranty and is Gen 1.

Click to expand...

True enough. I should have been more clear. The 5Yr/60k warranty applies to 24kwh packs, and the 8Yr/100k mile warranty applies to 30kwh packs, and, IIRC, to 40kwh and 62kwh packs as well.

Click to expand...

Correct.

Goldbrick: The warranty is by capacity bars, not by any percentage. It needs to be down to 8 bars before capacity warranty expiration. Nissan is free to muck w/the definition/amount of each bar.

There is a shop in Chicago that will do this sort of work, replacing or updating any hybrid or electric vehicle pack I bet. Probably just to original specs, or installing a new or used one.

http://www.besthybridbatteries.com/

I pulled a PTC heater out of a 2013 Leaf salvage they had there, they had already removed and done something with the pack, I assume put it in someone's car for them. They had all manner of vehicles on site; Prius, GM 4 mode hybrid trucks, etc. The guy there was a little grumpy with my dickering antics, but I got a working PTC heater for $50 (my gamble, it worked). Aside from being grumpy, they did seem like they knew what they are doing and there were a couple customers there they looked like they were actively at work.

Their website looks like they will build replacement packs and ship to a pre-vetted capable shop local to you for installation.