Quote $18k - battery for 2014 Leaf

[EVPowers]

It needs to find a workshop to do the installation but it's easy and they provide remote assistance. Seeing is believing, feedback from those clients is true. you can probably see their YT channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ4dSjKWzDk

First of, that still is not an assembled pack.

And even if it was, it still is NOT $6,000 INSTALLED.

I certainly have the skills to do the work as shown by Yaste, but I'm not doing it for free.

And it isn't the easiest job. For example, depending on the year of the car, it can be a fair amount of work just to get the cover of the pack separated from the base. And repairing the damage done from cutting through the hardened seal is time consuming.

While I appreciate people posting the same suppliers info over and over, it doesn't change the fact that only time will tell if their products will be viable long term.

As mentioned before if anyone has money to risk on this type of gamble, give me a call. Maybe I can work a deal on reducing my installation labor for your roll of the dice on this project.

 

[mckensie]

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[mckensie]

I just priced some used LEAF SV+ and SL+ at a New Jersey dealer. They're advertising a 2021 SL+ with under 20,000mi for $16,800! Sounds like a good value, and a hundred times better than spending $18000 on a 10yr old low range LEAF Gen1. (of which I also own one)
https://www.edmunds.com/nissan/leaf/2021/vin/1N4BZ1DV3MC553231/?radius=50

 

[cwerdna]

I just priced some used LEAF SV+ and SL+ at a New Jersey dealer. They're advertising a 2021 SL+ with under 20,000mi for $16,800! Sounds like a good value, and a hundred times better than spending $18000 on a 10yr old low range LEAF Gen1. (of which I also own one)
https://www.edmunds.com/nissan/leaf/2021/vin/1N4BZ1DV3MC553231/?radius=50

Keep in mind per the dealer description in that listing:
"VEHICLE OVERVIEW Price without rebates: $20799. The advertised price includes Federal EV Tax Credits of $16799. Prior to purchase, please determine your eligibility for this credit and any local credits offered by your state or county. Reference: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/used-clean-vehicle-credit..."

I've seen this craziness in tons of used EV listings, where they put up a lowball price by deducting $4K from the extra sale price. https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/used-clean-vehicle-credit does me no good because I'm single and well above the $75K income cap since I live in Silicon Valley (you should see our housing prices here) and work in tech.

And, if someone who can qualify and doesn't see the notes in the listing, they might be under the wrong impression that they can get $4K off the listed price (via Federal tax credit). Nope.

All the early LEAF's were 24KW/hr. Later 40 Kw/hr.

Battery capacity is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). "kW/hr" makes no sense when talking about energy nor battery capacity.

 

[mckensie]

No way a 62 kWh pack from Asia for $6,000 is an assembled pack. It is not proven long term.
An assembled pack usually is paid for in full before it is shipped, then it takes 2-3 months for it to arrive.
The tariffs from certain Asian countries is pretty harsh. So many are moving their operation to ship from other, lower tariff countries.

If anyone in the US wants to gamble their $$$$$ on an Asian pack, let me know, I'd be happy to cut you a deal on the install labor just to see the mess your money buys. None of the companies have been willing to send (discounted) packs here for evaluation.

Seriously, call me 608-729-4082 You can be the guinea pig and let's roll the dice using your cash. Sounds like fun.

Take it easy "EVpowers". Not everybody is as wary of Chinese manufacture as you are. Chill TF out, dude.

 

[mckensie]

Yaste 's 62kwh to the USA only costs around $6k including taxes and duties and everything! brand new CATL modules.

I've seen 62kWh batteries on FB LEAF Group advertised for about $8500 delivered to the US. They're made with CATL modules (the largest lithium battery manufacturer in da world), thus should be of good quality. Though I'm sure EVPowers will snicker up his sleeve.

 

[lley]

I've seen 62kWh batteries on FB LEAF Group advertised for about $8500 delivered to the US. They're made with CATL modules (the largest lithium battery manufacturer in da world), thus should be of good quality. Though I'm sure EVPowers will snicker up his sleeve.

I believed it will no more than $6500, I saw their ads about the US client.

 

[EVPowers]

Take it easy "EVpowers". Not everybody is as wary of Chinese manufacture as you are. Chill TF out, dude.

I feel like I'm pretty chill. I apologize if it comes across otherwise.

The Chinese manufacture isn't the issue.

It is the fact that these packs don't have a long enough track record in the US to know how they will last long term.

Additionally, th suppliers are asking that customers here must pay full price to be a test subject for these unproven batteries.

 

[Araknai]

The promise of cheap EV batteries years ago never happened. Suppose Covid had some effect. To answer your question. FORGET finding salvage. Don't belive me? Try. They are on a pipeline you are not in. Not saying you can't go to auctions, hunt, but good luck.

How to tell? If in car LEAF spy is a fairly cheap smartphone app that uses Bluetooth ODSII donkey. It will tell general health. The dash display and range is there as well. All the early LEAF's were 24KW/hr. Later 40 Kw/hr.

I have done battery upgrades myself twice sourcing via salvage auction... wasn't that difficult, and I'm hoping to do more.

 

[cornbinder89]

I feel like I'm pretty chill. I apologize if it comes across otherwise.

The Chinese manufacture isn't the issue.

It is the fact that these packs don't have a long enough track record in the US to know how they will last long term.

Additionally, th suppliers are asking that customers here must pay full price to be a test subject for these unproven batteries.

I think you are a realist.
The original Leaf battery was likely made in China.
Most of the counterfeit products in the market today also come out of China.
Being careful who you are dealing with esp when dealing with the sums of money for a battery, which will often exceed the value of the care, before replacement is wise.

I believed it will no more than $6500, I saw their ads about the US client.View attachment 5208

In this post we see a supposed US customers post with a bunch of Chinese characters at the top and bottom of the post. Makes me question where that supposed report is from?
In short, right now, the best batteries come from China, but also the most counterfeits come from China also.
If it seams to be "much cheaper, but the same item" beware!

 

[cwerdna]

I think you are a realist.
The original Leaf battery was likely made in China.
Most of the counterfeit products in the market today also come out of China.
Being careful who you are dealing with esp when dealing with the sums of money for a battery, which will often exceed the value of the care, before replacement is wise.

In this post we see a supposed US customers post with a bunch of Chinese characters at the top and bottom of the post. Makes me question where that supposed report is from?
In short, right now, the best batteries come from China, but also the most counterfeits come from China also.
If it seams to be "much cheaper, but the same item" beware!

Yes except for "The original Leaf battery was likely made in China." Original the packs were MIJ from https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...o-emission-nissan-leaf-begins-at-oppama-japan.

"Nissan LEAF’s lithium-ion battery modules are manufactured at the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) operation in Zama, Japan, which is a joint-venture of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and NEC Corporation. The battery module, which contains 4 battery cells, are assembled at Zama and then shipped to the Nissan Oppama facility, where 48 of them are assembled into the electric car’s battery pack."

Eventually, US market Leaf modules and cells were made in the US:
https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...f-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-in-tennessee
https://www.commercialappeal.com/st...-take-control-smyrna-battery-plant/897768002/

- you can find more videos like this by Googling for nissan smyrna battery production and selecting Videos.

AESC began as a JV between Nissan and NEC: https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/release-802293a55e09aa3ecd57e61fdfa767e6-080519-01-e.

Eventually, Nissan bought NEC's share and sold most of the combined part to Envision, a Chinese company.
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/180803-01-e?source=nng&lang=en-US
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/02/c_137942498.htm

 

[cornbinder89]

I stand corrected.

 

[cwerdna]

Here's another one about the Smryna, TN battery plant (formerly AESC): . It seems to be listed at https://us.aesc-group.com/contact/.

It looks like Envision AESC dropped the Envision part given what I see at these:
https://www.aesc-group.com/en/aboutus.html
https://ground.news/article/major-a...esc-group-chinese-parent-company-name-removed
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/20230613-OYT1T50145/ (if I have it translated to English)

I've seen 62kWh batteries on FB LEAF Group advertised for about $8500 delivered to the US. They're made with CATL modules (the largest lithium battery manufacturer in da world), thus should be of good quality. Though I'm sure EVPowers will snicker up his sleeve.

Then you should be willing to put your $ where your mouth is. Buy a random Chinese battery pack and have it installed in a Leaf. Use it as your daily driver including in rainy and hot weather + for road trips including DC FCing for 8 years...

How will you know they're actually from CATL and not counterfeits? Even 14 years ago, https://web.archive.org/web/20240427012959/https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/on-microsd-problems/ found counterfeit microSD cards. If you don't want to read the whole thing, maybe start with "The first thing I had to do was collect a lot of samples. The key is to attempt to collect both regular and irregular cards in the wild..."

What happens if there are problems? What will you do? Who would you go to? You want to do remote diagnosis with someone thousands of miles (e.g. Shenzhen is over 6800 miles from San Francisco) away and 15 hours ahead of Pacific time? What if replacement parts need to come to you? You have the means of safely removing the pack, opening it up, swapping out modules or whatever else inside the pack (e.g. LBC), resealing it then re-installing it?

 

[EVPowers]

At this point in time the only thing I'm installing for customers is
- 40 kWh LRN battery packs I have sourced through my US supplier.
- Vetted Degraded/Used packs from other Leafs. Preferably not ones that are from impact crashes.

I don't see a way to 100% protect my business from the huge liability of building packs from modules/kits.

Me handling, cutting, and modifying packs for kits puts me in a tough place when trying to prove that a pack failure (fire?) isn't related to my work.

As I've said many times, if I truly have a customer who want to go that route, I'm happy to spend their money however they want. But I'll make sure we are on the same page for expectations before proceeding.

 

[Zero Emissions]

Hi. Thought I would share. Just dropped to 8 bars on my 2014 Leaf SV, 24kWh, with 87500 mi. Nissan quoted me replacement at $18,000+. They could not tell me what the replacement battery’s capacity would be. They only said that it comes from Japan and the last one they replaced took 9 months.

Heck Id sell you my 2017 LEAF with a brand new 40KW battery for 18 grand all day long. Clearly the dealer is crazy...Yikes.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

The market is soft on EV's. Its never an investment or will be a rare vintage worth 6 figures. Age and milage count, even with newreplacement battery. Your Gen 1 LEAF with upgraded 40kW battery is worth more to you for sure. However will others appreciate it? You'd likley not get your investment out, as a used late model factory 40kW LEAF can be had for less. Again EV's not an in investment. You uograde because you love the car and want to drive it forever. Cars of all kinds should last 20 yrs or more.

 

[cwerdna]

Once again, battery capacity is measured in kWh, a unit of energy. It's not "kW" nor "KW".

kW and kWh are totally different metrics.

 

[mckensie]

Once again, battery capacity is measured in kWh, a unit of energy. It's not "kW" nor "KW".

kW and kWh are totally different metrics.

I'm sooooo tired of lazy (or ignorant) writers mixing up units for EV's/solar energy. Just read an article where they quoted this in the very first sentence "the installation will produce 10 megawatts per year"...ugh.