Battery Options for 2012 Leaf

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cwerdna

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
13,674
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
I haven't thought about your post carefully but I'd rule out holding your breath for Fenix. They seem to be eternally late with nothing to show for it other than blog posts, social media posts and some videos of people talking.

There are other options available now.

Also, one prob with pouring a lot of $ into an out of warranty car w/limited range is that used Bolts are getting cheap. See https://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action/?mdId=36274172&mkId=20053&page=1&perPage=20&rd=99999&searchSource=SORT&sort=price-lowest&stkTypId=28881&zc=55111, for example. I can speak w/experience that its range is a GAME changer vs. my 11 bar (soon to be 10 bar) '13 Leaf SV w/no CHAdeMO.

I haven't checked CCS infrastructure in your area but if you got a Bolt w/DC FC inlet (it's not standard on either trim), that might satisfy your needs. And, there's an 8 year/100K warranty on Bolt's EV bits including the battery pack. See page 322 of https://my.chevrolet.com/content/dam/gmownercenter/gmna/dynamic/manuals/2017/Chevrolet/BOLT%20EV/Owner%27s%20Manual.pdf for example on the '17. I believe on later model years (it is on '19), the Bolt warranty info is in a separate warranty booklet (e.g. page 19 of https://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/chevrolet/na/us/english/index/owners/warranty/02-pdfs/19_CHEV_WM_.pdf).
 
Thank you for the quick reply.

Currently the cheapest Bolt in my state is $14,500 with 95k miles on it (https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inven...ectedEntity=d2397&zip=55025#listing=280444077). When shopping around I did test drive a 2017 Bolt with 50k miles that had an asking price of $18.5k and was not impressed. The dash on the Bolt was reporting 120 mile range fully charged. I thought the 2012 Leaf had a better ride, nicer interior and less visible corrosion. I was willing to gamble on getting a future battery upgrade.

While Nissan seems to be somewhat reluctant to support keeping the older Leafs on the road I think it remains to be seen what Chevy is going to do to keep older Bolts viable in the future.
 
Woah... did something happen to the OP? There was a post I was replying to and I don't see it now.

Like on Leaf, GOM is based upon recent driving history so the value you see is basically meaningless. Yeah, the Bolt's interior is crappy. As for corrosion, we don't have that prob in California.
vfrider said:
While Nissan seems to be somewhat reluctant to support keeping the older Leafs on the road I think it remains to be seen what Chevy is going to do to keep older Bolts viable in the future.
Not sure what the means... I don't expect GM to do any better than Nissan is doing w/older Leafs. Nissan has been unwilling to provide a path for people to upgrade to larger capacity batteries nor willing to backport the % SoC display screen to '11 and '12 Leafs nor the transmit data nag that comes up only once a month on '13+ US Leafs vs. every single time on powerup on '11 and '12 Leafs.

The only accidental upgrade is those who get their 30 kWh batteries replaced under warranty are now receiving 40 kWh batteries due to the former being discontinued.
 
cwerdna said:
LeftieBiker said:
It looks to me like the post to which you were replying is still there.
I don't see it and for vfrider, it shows he only has 1 post which was his reply to my reply.

I now know what happened, but I don't know why. Looking at the moderation logs, this morning I got an approval request for a post that I had already approved and that had in fact started the thread. Since it appeared to be a duplicate of that post I rejected it for that reason. For some reason, the original post went away at the same time. As near as I can tell I didn't do anything wrong to cause that, but I apologize anyway.
 
I remember reading the original post and thinking I should reply when I got a chance. To vfrider: Your estimated daily mileage is within the car's capability for now and it sounds like you could add some charge at home between trips. If you have L2 (240 volts) charging, you should be able to use the car as you described in your original post even with significantly more battery deterioration. The 2012 has heated seats and steering wheel so you may be able to use those to minimize the need for cabin heat in the winter. The electric water heater system on the 2011 and 2012 will definitely reduce your range in cold weather, but you can preheat the cabin while plugged in and you can add some charge between trips so I think you will be OK for now. Therefore, I don't recommend spending money on a new or used battery until the range becomes insufficient for the way you want to use the car. The 2011 and 2012 models actually have some nice features that are missing on later cars (like headlights that are adjustable by turning a knob on the dash).
 
LeftieBiker said:
The OP will also want to add the heater On/Off switch noted in Tips & Tricks, which I will link shortly. This makes use of the liquid-based heating system at least optional.

Yes, I should have mentioned that. I had made a temporary modification with a resistor, but was about to order the on/off switch kit (includes plug in wiring harness with off, high, low three-position switch) when the 2011 met its untimely demise.
 
cwerdna said:
Hope a moderator can restore the OP's post or the OP can try to reconstitute it...

I looked for a way to do that, but didn't see one. I still don't understand why disapproving a duplicate of it deleted it. That makes no sense. You can't mistakenly delete a post while thinking you are refusing a new post request, either - that would be like thinking you are cooking while driving a car.


This shows the value of having at least one response that quotes the original post...
 
Thanks for the replies and the link to the tips and tricks. I took a break from this forum out of my initial frustration of having my post removed. I understand that happened as a result of some glitch.

Since that post I did take my Leaf to a local Nissan dealership in the Twin Cities to get a quote for a new battery pack. The short version of the story is:
1) A new warrantied traction battery is $8800 installed.
2) I found out my Leaf had an extended warranty and Nissan would have covered the full cost if I had taken my Leaf into the dealership 9 days sooner.
3) After making a case for my Leaf with Nissan Consumer Affairs, Nissan declined to do anything for me.

I am not bitter amount the extended warranty outcome because that was a surprise. However, considering the dealership has a used 2017 Leaf at an asking price that is less than my quoted repair, I do not think that Nissan is doing much to support their customers.

I hope other owners of used Leafs will utilize what I learned the hard way to investigate if Nissan will cover a battery replacement for free. Even if it seems the Leaf is too old, there may be a transferable extended warranty in play.

As of now I am going to take the advice to see how things go this winter without taking any action on the battery.
 
vfrider said:
2) I found out my Leaf had an extended warranty and Nissan would have covered the full cost if I had taken my Leaf into the dealership 9 days sooner.
Easy for them to say that now, but I very much doubt it is true.
 
The only Nissan warranty that might cover a traction battery replacement for degradation is the Preferred Plus in combination with a 2015 Leaf, bought while the Leaf was still under warranty. Any other warranty we have encountered would not. So don't beat yourself up about that.
 
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