That's a bit disappointing. The 40s aren't very old at all. Wonder if it's deformed? Saw a scary thing showing some battery packs having warped with heat 
Leaf 40kwh might be returning back to Sunderland…..
For a new battery pack. Possibly. Anyway, after years of faultless motoring with my electric cars my 2018 Leaf 40kwh showed an error message “service EV system, power reduced “. Took the car into my local Nissan dealer today for a fault diagnostic, expecting nothing to worry about, but.….one of the battery cells is showing a “low voltage” which the Nissan dealer judged might mean the car having a return trip to it’s maker in Sunderland for a new battery pack. The dealer stated they would get back to me after contacting Nissan UK over the next few days, they ( my local dealer ) did mention that they would ideally wish to replace the battery pack themselves if allowed. On the drive back home the car was free of any error messages and had full power. I will keep you all posted, get your popcorn ready……
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Do they replace the whole battery or just the bad cell?
That’s a good question. Hopefully I should know once my local Nissan dealer contacts me again later this week. Initially it seems a new full battery pack is needed. I have only heard about one other 40kwh battery pack replacement, a year or so ago, when the owner’s car was low loaded back to Sunderland. My car, and his, are both still under warranty.
If it's actually going to Nissan Sunderland then it's getting a new battery. If it's going 'near to Sunderland' at a dealership in Gateshead (Lookers) then it's getting a battery refurbishment with individual cells being replaced I believe.
As you say, it's VERY rare for a full replacement to take place. By the sounds of it you simply have a weak cell so it should be a quick and easy cell swap rather than replacing the whole thing unless something else has gone very badly wrong.
Assuming you don't have an OBD Dongle and leafspy? It would give you a better idea of what's going on.
Finally, how have you been charging it over the years? Ideally you want to be leaving it plugged in to reach 100% and then keep going a bit longer at least once a month to allow cell balancing to take place. It's possible that if you're one of those people who always just went for 80% that it could have simply thrown the cells out of balance too, and in which case it may even be possible to slowly recover it yourself at home.
As you say, it's VERY rare for a full replacement to take place. By the sounds of it you simply have a weak cell so it should be a quick and easy cell swap rather than replacing the whole thing unless something else has gone very badly wrong.
Assuming you don't have an OBD Dongle and leafspy? It would give you a better idea of what's going on.
Finally, how have you been charging it over the years? Ideally you want to be leaving it plugged in to reach 100% and then keep going a bit longer at least once a month to allow cell balancing to take place. It's possible that if you're one of those people who always just went for 80% that it could have simply thrown the cells out of balance too, and in which case it may even be possible to slowly recover it yourself at home.
Day 2. No news from Nissan. Cell re-balancing is a good point.My plan this week is to take the battery state of charge down to zero then do a 16 hour home slow charge ( with the granny charger ) up to 100%, to see if re-balancing has fixed the issue. This is likely to be Nissan UK advice to my local dealer ( and onto me ) before a battery swap is instigated. The car seemed fine today, no further dash warning messages nor power reductions.
Day 7. Still no news from Nissan UK. Decided to travel to Ludlow from Telford, a round trip distance of about 80 miles to see if my battery pack had a definitive issue. Left home with a 100% battery charge with a GOM projected range of 170 miles. Lovely hot sunny day and I was easily achieving between 4-5 miles per kWh.
Houston we have a problem. When back at home I had actually travelled 83 miles but only had 12% left ( 16 miles ish ). So, in theory a 99 miles range. Not good. Clearly a capacity loss, almost half is absent without leave. So effectively I have a 40kwh Leaf that thinks it has a 24kwh battery pack…….
Houston we have a problem. When back at home I had actually travelled 83 miles but only had 12% left ( 16 miles ish ). So, in theory a 99 miles range. Not good. Clearly a capacity loss, almost half is absent without leave. So effectively I have a 40kwh Leaf that thinks it has a 24kwh battery pack…….
That's not good. Time to poke Nissan with a pointy stick. Cold weather is around the corner so it needs to be sorted.
The car is returning back to my local Nissan dealer again this coming Monday, for some further diagnostic‘s to establish if it needs to return to the factory. Fingers crossed that the pack fault can be repaired at my local dealer…..
Just an update. Took my car back to my local Nissan dealer today for further diagnostics.They stated they could charge the car up to 100% with a range of 160 miles. I stated charging was not the issue but that my actual effective range was 99 miles in ideal conditions and that once my car‘s SOC was down to 45 %, that my range would then plummet instantly. The dealer stated that the new “diagnostic readings” would be relayed onto Nissan UK. Feeling a bit nervous at this stage,clearly I have a major battery capacity loss. Let’s hope this turn’s out well…
Drives me potty when a dealer say 'well it's full and says it has X miles so it's fine' They can't fathom that cars lie to them!Just an update. Took my car back to my local Nissan dealer today for further diagnostics.They stated they could charge the car up to 100% with a range of 160 miles. I stated charging was not the issue but that my actual effective range was 99 miles in ideal conditions and that once my car‘s SOC was down to 45 %, that my range would then plummet instantly. The dealer stated that the new “diagnostic readings” would be relayed onto Nissan UK. Feeling a bit nervous at this stage,clearly I have a major battery capacity loss. Let’s hope this turn’s out well…
I mean, my 24kwh Leaf once claimed it had 123 miles range, so the number on the dashboard clearly cannot be trusted...!Just an update. Took my car back to my local Nissan dealer today for further diagnostics.They stated they could charge the car up to 100% with a range of 160 miles. I stated charging was not the issue but that my actual effective range was 99 miles in ideal conditions and that once my car‘s SOC was down to 45 %, that my range would then plummet instantly. The dealer stated that the new “diagnostic readings” would be relayed onto Nissan UK. Feeling a bit nervous at this stage,clearly I have a major battery capacity loss. Let’s hope this turn’s out well…
Thanks for the comments. I might still do a 0-100% charge ( 16 hours at home ) using my Nissan granny charger, to see if the BMS can bring the battery into line whilst trickle charging.I did last week do a 0-100% charge for eight hours at a 32 amp post ( Alfapower network ) but it has made no difference, still only 99 miles of range, or less.
How are your tyres? No signs of uneven wear or under inflation?Thanks for the comments. I might still do a 0-100% charge ( 16 hours at home ) using my Nissan granny charger, to see if the BMS can bring the battery into line whilst trickle charging.I did last week do a 0-100% charge for eight hours at a 32 amp post ( Alfapower network ) but it has made no difference, still only 99 miles of range, or less.
Brake pads not dragging?
Any of these could increase consumption and reduce the range.
Thanks for the advice.Definately not tyres, all nearly new. Recent mot and service so binding brakes unlikely. The issue is my range drops significantly once down to 45-50% SOC. There is a sudden drop down to 15% in a matter of minutes, it feels as if the battery has hit a brick wall and has given up. My real world range last week was barely circa 98 miles ( 83 miles actual with 12% SOC ) this driving on a sunny day at 30-40mph, with an average of 4.8 miles per kWh. The Nissan dealer has stated there is a bad cell which is possibly causing the BMS to reduce power and/or range.
Have you tried using Leafspay at a low SOC? It will perform the LCVI test and report bad cells to you, and also tell you the SOH number reported by the car.
Thanks for the advice about Leafspy. I will let my local Nissan dealer do all the diagnostics for now, they are aware of the issue ( a bad cell ) and are in contact with Nissan UK. The car is under warranty so the ball is in their ( Nissan UK ) court…..
Just to give an update. The car is to be low loaded on Monday for transporting onwards to Fish Brothers Nissan in Swindon. They will either repair or replace the pack. Evidently other than the main factory only they ( Fish Brothers ) have the expertise with pack issues. All in all good news that I am at last getting a fix as my range this week has been getting even worse ( now 80 miles…or less ! ).
Until recently, all major battery problems went to Lookers at Gateshead (not the actual Nissan factory at Sunderland); Fish of Swindon now have the required facilities for that as well.Just to give an update. The car is to be low loaded on Monday for transporting onwards to Fish Brothers Nissan in Swindon. They will either repair or replace the pack. Evidently other than the main factory only they ( Fish Brothers ) have the expertise with pack issues. All in all good news that I am at last getting a fix as my range this week has been getting even worse ( now 80 miles…or less ! ).
Did your battery also fail ? Have a recollection that your Leaf 40 was one of the first with battery issues ?
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