If Nissan really has as much battery life projection data as TickTock says they showed him this week, and if they are using different definitions of annual driving mileage in different US cities, this information clearly needs to be available to prospective buyers prior to sale. Vague statements, identical throughout the nation, that you can expect battery capacity to be a certain percentage after a certain number of years are clearly misleading if Nissan fails to state that A) There are regional differences, B) By "years" Nissan means X driving miles in Phoenix and Y in Seattle, and C) These numbers are statistical medians, not quantities that any given buyer should expect.
I've been generally supportive of Nissan in this whole thing because I believe that they deserve lots of props for going all-in on the first mass market BEV and I feel that as early adopters, we should expect some rough edges. But as it is becoming clear that Nissan is using more and more undisclosed caveats to explain their case that this is normal, I am more persuaded that they knew more than they shared with buyers and that they need to step up with extraordinary support for buyers who were misled.
I'm of the opinion that Nissan can yet save the day, both for the LEAF and for the success of EVs in general, by providing support plans that amaze and delight affected buyers in hot climates and by providing sufficiently bulletproof warranties that completely calm the worriers in other regions and allay fears of resale value implosion.
Information available to new buyers would include full disclosure of Nissan's battery capacity degradation projection data and the annual mileage expected specific for the region of the sale. For the affected owners, I would expect the following steps to fit my definition of "amaze and delight": Offer the option to sell back the cars to Nissan at prices equal to the lease residual values; Offer five year unlimited battery pack replacement when the useful range on affected LEAFs charged to 100% drops to 60 miles (or some other predetermined limit) at the first LBW, with no penalty to the owner for charging to 100% regularly, regardless of region or current odometer mileage ("affected owners" to be defined in the same way); To demonstrate support and appreciation for Nissan's current customer base of early adopters: If new battery chemistry is available for model years 2013 through 2016 that is significantly more long lasting or greater in driving range by 20% (or other figure), provide an upgrade path for current owners either by offering the new battery as a retrofit, or if not technically feasible, offer to buy back affected early cars (same definition of "affected" as above) at very favorable above-resale market values, as trade on the new LEAF (one time only).
In my opinion, Nissan still has an opportunity to save the day here, and steps like these would go a long way toward restoring lost trust and allaying the fears of previously enthusiastic but currently unaffected customers in cooler regions. Half measures, paying off the few and having them sign NDAs, hiding behind "this is normal and expected" fall completely flat for the broad base of LEAF owners. Since early adopters are the most enthusiastic about EVs and are Nissan's best ambassadors to the future EV buying public, weaseling out with the usual half measures will do more harm than good to the company's plans in the US, both for EVs and for Nissan's core market.