Brand New Leaf won't charge after 2 days of use

[Stoaty]

When they replaced my charger, I asked if they could tell me what they found to be "broken". They said no they would not tell me. I told them I thought that was kind of "shitty" (paraphrase), since the car would not always be under warranty, and it was kind of important that I knew what happened.

They said " We fixed the problem that THESE chargers were having, so it won't be an issue in the future".

Am I the only one who is disturbed by Nissan's lack of transparency with this stuff?
I DO own the car...right?

If Nissan doesn't want to fess up and tell us what the problem is and replace all of our chargers, they should warranty our chargers for as long as the car is still running. Looks like another issue for Chelsea to bring up with Nissan. Are they really serious about selling these cars???

 

[cwerdna]

If Nissan doesn't want to fess up and tell us what the problem is and replace all of our chargers, they should warranty our chargers for as long as the car is still running. Looks like another issue for Chelsea to bring up with Nissan. Are they really serious about selling these cars???

Maybe they're really only serious about leasing these cars... :roll:

 

[Ingineer]

When they replaced my charger, I asked if they could tell me what they found to be "broken".
They said no they would not tell me.
I told them I thought that was kind of "shitty" (paraphrase), since the car would not always be under warranty, and it was kind of important that I knew what happened.

They said " We fixed the problem that THESE chargers were having, so it won't be an issue in the future".

Not sure if this is true, and they redesigned the front end on these chargers, or I just got handled.
If they truly redesigned them, maybe you should count yourself lucky that the charger went now, and you have one of the "new" ones.

Am I the only one who is disturbed by Nissan's lack of transparency with this stuff?
I DO own the car...right?

The dealer does not do component level repair, they simply replace the Nichicon unit as a module. If there has been a revision, it will have a different part number, easy to check.

Don't make the mistake of confusing the Dealer for Nissan. The dealer is an independent entity that has an agreement with Nissan.

-Phil

 

[KillaWhat]

The dealer does not do component level repair, they simply replace the Nichicon unit as a module. If there has been a revision, it will have a different part number, easy to check.

Don't make the mistake of confusing the Dealer for Nissan. The dealer is an independent entity that has an agreement with Nissan.

-Phil

Hi Phil;

All my conversations were with "Nissan", not the dealer.
While I know there are no component level repairs done at the dealer, there ARE component level repairs done by me.

If this is MY car, I wanted to know what failed, so if it ever happened again, I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel.
I specifically asked to be told what had failed, and got a call back from Nissan's EV division telling me some crap about proprietary Blah Blah BS.
I then asked if I could have an engineer call me back (figured we'd speak engineer at each other, and I'd find out which little widget failed).
I got a call back from the same woman saying NO again, and proceeding to explain that this was a new design charger, and it couldn't happen again. (She is clearly NOT an engineer. More like the PR person for the Titanic)

The whole thread about Nissan not telling us what a battery pack would cost, and our not being able to buy one anyway, is more of this sort of attitude that pervades my Leaf experience. Keeping in mind that I Love My Leaf (Just not super happy with Nissan)

I also love my Dealer.
I told him on Day one of my charger failure that we were going to need to change the charger.
On day 4, he tried to order a charger based on my assertion that the charger was obviously not working, and, as stated, there are no dealer serviceable charger repairs.

Nissan WOULD NOT SELL my dealer a charger.
They had to authorize the warranty exchange only, which they eventually did.
What if someone breaks into my leaf, (obviously after being frustrated by the warranty process), and steals my charger.
Will they sell me a charger then?
Steals my Li Pack?
What then?

If I had to guess, based on those I know who pre-purchased Leafs, than Most of "US" have a Technical background, and by nature, NEED to f'n know what's going on inside "the black box."

My training makes me suspicious when there is no transparency.

Arrgh!


PS, Phil;
My New EVSE Upgrade works great.
My next door neighbor leased a Leaf 2 days ago, and is using it until her free Blink EV Project EVSE gets installed.
Thanks

 

[RegGuheert]

I got a call back from the same woman saying NO again, and proceeding to explain that this was a new design charger, and it couldn't happen again. (She is clearly NOT and engineer. More like the PR person for the Titanic)

:lol: Thanks for the chuckle!

 

[HairyCairy]

(She is clearly NOT and engineer. More like the PR person for the Titanic)

:lol: Thanks for the chuckle!

+1

 

[Ingineer]

The Nichicon charger is not that complicated. The only "black box" aspect it's it's firmware, but as far as repairs go, it should be pretty straightforward.

Rest assured if there is a big aftermarket demand for charger repairs, I'll do them. As it is, I presently repair about 2-4 Gen II Prius Combination Meter boards because nobody else is. (There is a design flaw in these)

Unless you can speak Japanese, and somehow can get in contact with an actual Nichicon engineer, "Nissan" doesn't know anything. They simply swapped it.

They might know if there is a rash of these, but I suspect we'd know here if that were true.

-Phil

 

[GerryAZ]

The Nichicon charger is not that complicated. The only "black box" aspect it's it's firmware, but as far as repairs go, it should be pretty straightforward.

Rest assured if there is a big aftermarket demand for charger repairs, I'll do them. As it is, I presently repair about 2-4 Gen II Prius Combination Meter boards because nobody else is. (There is a design flaw in these)

Unless you can speak Japanese, and somehow can get in contact with an actual Nichicon engineer, "Nissan" doesn't know anything. They simply swapped it.

They might know if there is a rash of these, but I suspect we'd know here if that were true.

-Phil

It is good to hear that you will address repairs if ever needed. I have been a little nervous about the chargers after reading of a few failures and I intend to keep my Leaf for a long time (if I can buy a replacement battery when it becomes necessary).

Gerry

 

[gbarry42]

Rest assured if there is a big aftermarket demand for charger repairs, I'll do them.

This is the obvious remedy, and I was going to suggest it myself. What worries me is that these chargers go out infrequently, and there may not be enough demand to be worth your time. So, just know that in that case, we all secretly hope you'll figure out the problem anyway, and drop us a hint if the need arises.

 

[Gizmoe1164]

I am one of those 11 Leaf Owners. My Leaf is back in the dealership again with the same problem, being the On Board Charger (OBC) is dead again, and yes I have the GE Wattstation EVSE Wall Charger. I live in Hawaii and am presently in Iowa on a business trip. The car is ready to be picked up when I get back home on the 12th of Nov. Completely covered under warranty just like last time, and no problem with being provided a loaner ICE car. What is different this time around is that Nissan USA shipped an upgraded OBC to the dealership with improvements within it that are supposed to protect it during variances in the local power grid. In addition, Nissan USA is offering to provide me a different EVSE Level 2 Charger installed at their cost, brand name ECO in place of my GE Wattstation; with the understanding that I'll let them have that GE Wattstation for them to conduct their independent diagnostic testing. The service manager told me that Nissan has no problem with my charging my Leaf with my GE Wattstation pending installation of the Nissan provided/installed ECO charger.

 

[materwelon]

hmm...so I didn't read all this about the wattstation before buying one...I've had my Leaf just shy of 2 months. Charged fine at a ChargePoint station yesterday, plugged it in at home last night (as I have every night) and apparently didn't charge. I walked into the garage to leave, and the wattstation standby light wasn't illuminated. Shrugged, but started the car and it had clearly not charged (though I don't know if it didn't charge at all). I can't turn the wattstation on (I've checked the breaker and all was fine, I unplugged the wattstation for good measure and reset the breaker - still nothing). The kicker is that I can't even trickle charge, and they had to tow my car to the dealership this evening. I won't know what they have to say until tomorrow, and they also wouldn't give me a loaner "until they know what's wrong with it". So, thankfully, I have the day off tomorrow and will deal with it then. I called GE as well, but they didn't call me back. :?