Cost to perform the "Annual EV Battery Usage Report"

[derkraut]

Here is an excerpt from the Leaf battery warranty document:

"Vehicle maintenance, including maintenance of the Lithium-Ion battery, is required as a condition of Nissan’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty. Battery maintenance includes performance of an annual “EV Battery Usage Report”. These include checks at 12 mos., 24 mos., 36mos., 48mos., 60mos., 72mos. and 84mos, which can be performed by a Nissan Certified LEAF dealer or any qualified repair facility. The 12 and 24 month checks will be performed at no charge to the customer, provided the work is done at a Nissan Certified LEAF dealer. Damage or failure resulting from a failure to have these required services performed, or that could have been avoided had these services been performed, is not covered under the Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty. (See your Nissan dealer and read the actual limited warranty for complete details)".

So....What do you suppose the dealers might charge to perform this mandatory check, starting at 36mo? It looks like it must be performed by a Nissan dealer in order to maintain the battery warranty.

 

[davewill]

Should be fairly minimal. It's not like they have to take anything apart. Just plug in their tester, and run the report.

 

[IBELEAF]

Should be fairly minimal. It's not like they have to take anything apart. Just plug in their tester, and run the report.

Considering that replacing cabin filter in my car costs $100 which I can do in 2 mins for $20 I would say not likely.

 

[Stoaty]

Hopefully no more than $50, since a big part of this requirement is probably so Nissan can collect data on how the battery packs are performing over time--not that I begrudge them this information.

 

[smkettner]

Probably will not cost me a penny. I think I will pass.

 

[Randy]

You have to have the test done annually to keep the battery warranty in effect. The first two tests are free at Year 1 and Year 2, and then after that we would be on the hook.

 

[davewill]

Probably will not cost me a penny. I think I will pass.

And that's why the phrase "Penny wise, pound foolish" was coined. I've never understood the impulse to skimp on maintenance.

 

[DarkStar]

HSo....What do you suppose the dealers might charge to perform this mandatory check, starting at 36mo? It looks like it must be performed by a Nissan dealer in order to maintain the battery warranty.

When I picked up my LEAF, I asked if there was any estimate of the cost for the battery check. My salesperson handed me their maintenance inspection checkoff form, let me know that the battery inspection is part of the maintenance inspection, then let me know that their maintenance inspection is free for the lifetime of the vehicle.

It took me a second to read between the lines, but eventually got the point!

 

[EVDRIVER]

You can have it done independently. I would bet that since Nissan wants the info dealers my charge minimal or waive the fee. This is so far away I may have a new EV.

 

[smkettner]

Probably will not cost me a penny. I think I will pass.

And that's why the phrase "Penny wise, pound foolish" was coined. I've never understood the impulse to skimp on maintenance.

Except is this really maintenance? Would the test show with any certainty a cell will go dead in the next three months?
If a single group of cells goes bad three months after the five year test does Nissan pay for that?

 

[davewill]

Probably will not cost me a penny. I think I will pass.

And that's why the phrase "Penny wise, pound foolish" was coined. I've never understood the impulse to skimp on maintenance.

Except is this really maintenance? Would the test show with any certainty a cell will go dead in the next three months?

I don't know. Do you? Does Nissan? Will the test procedure evolve over time as they get results in? Since the battery is just about the only item on the car which is likely to be a maintenance problem, is this really the place to skimp?

If a single group of cells goes bad three months after the five year test does Nissan pay for that?

The warranty certainly reads that way. They definitely suggest that they WON'T if you don't do the required maintenance.

 

[garygid]

One dealer offered to do the LEAF Battery Check for free, but was unable to get their Diagnostic machine to connect to the CAN buss.

I will try to get the test done ASAP, as a well-body health baseline check.

 

[DeaneG]

When I picked up my Leaf at Boardwalk, they handed me a copy of a battery check with several different categories and a star rating (1-4 or 1-5) in each. The categories were something like number of times fast charged, portion of charges that were to 100% instead of 80%, etc. I wonder if this was the consumer end of the "battery health report".

 

[TaylorSFGuy]

My comments are not related to the cost of the inspection, but I am unsure why the manual says the report must be done every 12 months regardless of mileage.

Is this an attempt to hold off any bad news for the first year? Or would the variety of usage help them see how miles driven impacts the batteries?

There are a number of drivers putting some significant mileage on their cars. It seems to me that Nissan would want to know what is going on in the real world sooner rather than later. The warranty is limited to miles driven, not months. I expect people will be reaching 100K in year three.

 

[Stanton]

My comments are not related to the cost of the inspection, but I am unsure why the manual says the report must be done every 12 months regardless of mileage.

Is this an attempt to hold off any bad news for the first year? Or would the variety of usage help them see how miles driven impacts the batteries?

Data collection, plain and simple: they have to choose SOME interval, so they chose 12 months (I think a reasonable trade-off between cost and time--I also think this will be a "free" service due to the fact that Nissan wants the data).

There are a number of drivers putting some significant mileage on their cars. It seems to me that Nissan would want to know what is going on in the real world sooner rather than later. The warranty is limited to miles driven, not months. I expect people will be reaching 100K in year three.

Seriously? It would take me almost 10 years to put 100k miles on a car, which is one reason why I'm a good candidate for an EV. I would be surprised if that "number of drivers" is > 1% (if even that).

 

[SanDust]

As noted in the first post, the Leaf warranty covers three years of battery checks. So if you're leasing for three years or less you're covered.

 

[TomT]

Since you would be turning it in at 39 or 48 months on a longer lease, you'd technically be covered anyway since it would not be due before the expiration of the lease...

As noted in the first post, the Leaf warranty covers three years of battery checks. So if you're leasing for three years or less you're covered.

 

[TEG]

By the way, here is a picture of the sample report they provided:

 

[Herm]

When I picked up my Leaf at Boardwalk, they handed me a copy of a battery check with several different categories and a star rating (1-4 or 1-5) in each. The categories were something like number of times fast charged, portion of charges that were to 100% instead of 80%, etc. I wonder if this was the consumer end of the "battery health report".

Nissan knows exactly the condition of the battery, but they may not want to give you a hard number. I think the purpose of the annual report is to educate you.. and that must mean that constant 100% charging (among other things) is really detrimental to the life of the battery...

Perhaps they should have just increased battery capacity a few kwh, deleted the stupid nav, and reserved the top 5-10% of battery capacity to extend life. They might not charge to 100%, no one has actually measured the voltage on a fully charged pack. Is it 4.15V per cell?

The chemistry Nissan (mostly the electrolyte) uses may be immune to 100% charges, LiFePO4 is, but classical lithium cobalt chemistries benefit even if you reduce top charging to 95%.

 

[Volusiano]

When I picked up my new Leaf, I asked the Leaf sales manager about the cost of doing the annual battery inspection and he doesn't know. He referred me to the Service manager but he wasn't around. So we asked one of the Service rep who was still around at the time and he sheepishly offered that it shouldn't cost anything since it's such a minor thing. But then he wasn't really confident of his answer.