Used Gen1 v new battery
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@Mike Schooling can do this. Check out his company here Indra - Custom Electric Vehicle Specialists - Indra - Custom Electric Vehicle Specialists
I think the issue is demand - most of the very early cars are still in the hands of owners who are happy with or can cope with the degraded range. Not many Gen 1 cars were even sold here. That means there isn't going to be much of a market for aftermarket battery replacements, so few people will be offering them.
It will take a lot more cars to be sold second, third and fourth hand before it becomes commercially viable for more than one or two companies to start offering battery refurb/replacement as a third party service. I doubt Nissan will turn out to be very helpful with it, they of course would rather you PCPd a new car.
It will take a lot more cars to be sold second, third and fourth hand before it becomes commercially viable for more than one or two companies to start offering battery refurb/replacement as a third party service. I doubt Nissan will turn out to be very helpful with it, they of course would rather you PCPd a new car.
Gen 1 owner here. Our Leaf is 6 1/2 years old, and has only lost one bar of battery life. SOH is hovering around 80%. In reality the car can still do 55-60 miles per charge (summer), which is not that far away from its original 74 mile range (EPA). It's just not worth spending £1000+ to get back less than 20 miles of range.
If we need to go further than a 50 mile round trip we just take the Volt instead.
If we need to go further than a 50 mile round trip we just take the Volt instead.
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I've only ever read of a person getting a 24kwh pack though. I'm not so interested in that, I'd prefer the 30kwh (or even better the new 40kwh!).
Now the 24kwh model is discontinued hopefully that will be an option.
Are not the Gen1 leafs all approaching the end of battery warranty, if not beyond?
I'd expect Nissan to only offer a replacement car and not be interested in providing battery swaps for the old models. They are a car company after all (in fact more so now they have sold their battery manufacturers)
I'd expect Nissan to only offer a replacement car and not be interested in providing battery swaps for the old models. They are a car company after all (in fact more so now they have sold their battery manufacturers)
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Gen1s were sold into mid 2013, so about a year to go on the 5 year warranty obligation, but also you'd hope they support the cars out to at least ten years old with spares - I think it would be incredibly bad press to scrap a five year and one week old car because a replacement battery simply wasn't available!
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I was told (by my Nissan dealer) that Nissan might only swap bad cells should it fall below the warranty 9 bars level and not necessarily the whole pack. I'm sure they've got a stock of cells even if they haven't still got whole packs.
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Agree with what Edd just said, but while it would bad press, it wouldn't be that bad as it is always going to be the new Leaf models stuff making the headlines, along with Tesla's and other more exciting press. CarWings is also bad press, but not really that bad press as people just accept it, and it gets little publicity.
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It might actually be a better thing in the long run (although not short term) if Nissan did not support Gen 1 car parts and more reasonable pricing. You would then eventually see third party support. Although the right thing to do of course on the part of Nissan would be to continue to support the core elements of those cars.
I suppose if the obligation is only to replace bad cells Nissan can just cannibalise stock cars if they have to - there will always be a few lease returns in the network that they can use. it would be ironic if what kills Gen1 cars is the bits that are nothing to do with the EV drivetrain but are unique to the Gen1 ...handbrake, heater, body panels ...
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But none of those things would kill the car. Having no heater is damn inconvenient, but could be overcome (a Webasto fuel heater or inline electric heater for example) but a battery that's failed means no car.
What's happening in that vid?
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I just wonder if there might still be a market for a car down to, say, 10 bars. I'm thinking here of a 2 car set up where the old Leaf can do all the school runs, supermarket shops and the like and a conventional ICE car for everything else. Just taking myself as a case in point, I reckon 80% of my journeys are less than 10 miles. If I had off road parking for 2 cars I'd be very tempted.
Of course there is.
Many people now buying second hand 24kWh Leafs are doing so on just that basis.
We still have our Volvo V70 diesel, and since having the leaf for 2 months I've not had to fill it up with dino juice. It gets used for long runs (trips to my mum's or brother's), for things that the leaf can't manage (hasn't happened since owning the Leaf, but things like moving sofas, workbenches, long pieces of plumbing pipe, etc) or on the days when we both need to go somewhere.
Previously the Volvo was insured for 12k or year. The split is now 8k (leaf) and 4k (Volvo).
Preaching to the choir, but the fuel savings for 6k commuting alone add up to around £720 (£900 diesel vs £180 elec).
I think that as more middle class 2-car families wake up to this we will see the Leaf hold its value more strongly than other hatchbacks (especially diesel, more due to short-journey DPF issues etc).
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