Catastrophic Failure

2 weeks ago I went out to go to work and noticed the fail light on the charge cable was illuminated. I unplugged it and checked to find the battery state of charge was @ 47% and there was a big red warning in the dash display.
I called Nissan Roadside Assistance and had the car taken to my selling dealer up the street.
It turns out that the control and inverter modules had literally melted. They were replace under warranty by Nissan. Next the 300 amp fuse in the sealed battery box was found to be blown. They had to drop the battery to renew it and then seal it back up. Now they are getting codes for something on the battery positive terminal that will require replacement of the battery.
Anyone else hear of this happening?

Sounds like a short circuit. I read similar stories after people jump started EVs with cables swapped. If that is not you, then ... perhaps rodents ?

All that and the car didn't catch on fire?
I am very impressed.

No rodents or any other external cause suspected. They checked those things first to determine if the financial responsibility would fall on Nissan or my home/auto insurance. They are covering it all under warranty.
The charge cable is ok and the 50 amp circuit breaker in the house wasn't tripped. My wife is in insurance so she checked the lightning strike map and there was no lightning that night.
I'm very glad it didn't do a Ford by catching fire and burning my house down. Not sure if I want to keep it in the garage anymore though...

Out of curiosity, what year and mileage is your vehicle?

I actually had been thinking of putting a smoke alarm in my garage anyway. I doubt the EV rate of fires is really higher than ICE but either way, it wouldn't hurt. I just wasn't sure if I would hear it from inside, but that's easy to test. They are only $30 bucks, so its not like its a huge cost. The fire extinguisher in my garage cost more.

That's what a warranty is for I suppose. Brand new vehicles have major failures now and then. My parents brand new Nissan Titan had to get towed to a dealer because something broke with just a couple thousand miles on it.

It's a 2018 (manufactured in March, 2018) with18,000 miles. Bought it new in late August, 2018.
I put 54 miles of highway driving on it each way to work (108 miles total) 5 days a week and charge it nightly. Plus some weekend driving. I live in SC so it's usually in the 90-100 degree range in the summer.

6-8 weeks to get the new battery in; on top of the 3 1/2 weeks they've had my car already. I guess the bright side is that I'll have a new battery at 18,000 miles. I asked them to switch out my Nissan rental for one that has ProPilot. This having to actually drive a car sucks...

That is an upside.

Did Nissan make any updates to the cell chemistry in 2019 on the 40 kWh battery?

Between the inverter and the battery, that is most of the drivetrain. I guess you will find out if the motor is fried once the other parts are replaced. I have to admit, I would be clamoring for a new car.

Oilpan4 said:

All that and the car didn't catch on fire?
I am very impressed.

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Why would it there are fuses.

SageBrush said:

Between the inverter and the battery, that is most of the drivetrain. I guess you will find out if the motor is fried once the other parts are replaced. I have to admit, I would be clamoring for a new car.

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Anything to drive up Nissan's costs.

s
Tesla is the only option, of course. /s

The above post is nothing but an unwarranted attack on a reasonable post. Please edit it or delete it.

EVDRIVER said:

Oilpan4 said:

All that and the car didn't catch on fire?
I am very impressed.

Click to expand...

Why would it there are fuses.

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Has tesla not discovered the miracle of fuses?

Oilpan4 said:

EVDRIVER said:

Oilpan4 said:

All that and the car didn't catch on fire?
I am very impressed.

Click to expand...

Why would it there are fuses.

Click to expand...

Has tesla not discovered the miracle of fuses?

Click to expand...

Every fuse in a Tesla is solid state.

Wow. To their credit the battery came in and was installed by Friday. Car was washed a vacuumed so we went for a ride on Saturday. I lifted the hood to show some mechanic friends what it looks like and noted a coolant smell. Not good. Looks like the cap is not holding pressure and is venting through the hose. The coolant level was at the minimum mark. Today I plugged in the cable and all 3 lights lit up. Which is bad as only 1 is supposed to. I double checked the power at the wall and it was good. Plus there is a popping noise in the upper left front suspension area they didn’t get to look at while they had it. So it’s back to the dealership in the morning for Zoe. O

If the battery was still almost completely charged you would have gotten three charge lights, probably with one of them flashing. Had you used a lot of charge on the drive?

No, it’s not the lights on the car. It’s the lights on the charger before it’s even plugged into the car. They got a new cable in today and should have the coolant cap in tomorrow. Definitely gonna keep an eye on t he coolant system for a while.

They didn't verify L1/L2 charging works? Geez.

I don't think they have the means to. I spent some time with the tech who is working on my car. This is the first Leaf he's worked on since he went to Leaf training in 2010 and 2013. The $15,000 electric vehicle tool cart had never been opened. They had to get a new pair of lineman gloves because theirs had expired. After spending some time with the tech I'm confident in his technical skill and product knowledge. I've been a mechanic for 35 years so I'm in a good position to make that judgement.
Well gotta go pick up the car. I'll let y'all know how it goes.