Apologies for the belated update.

It’s been over a month and a half since our battery replacement and it’s been great – our LEAF is like a new car again. We’re now charging to 80% and have quite a bit of range left after a day of running errands in Hilo.

Here’s the estimated range after driving downhill from hour home into town.

The replacement required that we leave the car at Nissan for about a day. It would have been done sooner had it not been for some part that had to be fetched from Kona – the battery pack was different from the original and some adapter was required. We were told that our pack replacement was the first on done at the Hilo service center – they now have experience with the process so this should, hopefully, result in more efficient replacements (once the battery pack arrives).

The battery pack was shipped in a large crate. Here it is on the forklift.

Many thanks to the helpful folks at Kamaaina Nissan for helping us obtain the replacement.  Our LEAF will continue to be our main utility vehicle.  It’s compact size makes maneuvering and parking easy.

If you’ve triggered the battery replacement warranty on your LEAF or sense that you’re about to (you’ve been at 9 bars for a while), reach out to Nissan to determine your options.  Note: You may be able to get a new battery at a discount if your battery capacity has dropped close to 8 bars at the time that you’ve run out the warranty clock.

For early LEAFs, the battery is warranted against capacity loss below 9 bars for 5 years or 60k miles (whichever is first). For LEAFs with the 30kWh battery, the warranty period is 8 years or 100k miles!

Lastly, be patient with Nissan – the replacement is contingent on getting the battery shipped from the mainland.  This may take several months but it’s worth the wait.

–Noel

— 5OCT2016 UPDATE —–

This is an update regarding our 2011 Nissan LEAF battery replacement.

We were notified a couple of weeks back that the battery pack had arrived. (It took over 2 months for the battery to arrive.)  We were offered a September 29 appointment but opted for one a week later.

Today, we dropped off our LEAF for the battery swap at Kamaaina Nissan in Hilo! They offered a rental car and were prompt in processing the early drop off (we were originally supposed to drop off the vehicle at 0800, tomorrow). Several people checked in with us during the visit.  They inquired about our experience with the LEAF and addressed questions that we had about the repair and the remaining warranty on the car.

The car should be ready for pick up on Friday afternoon.  We look forward to the restored range and functionality. We plan to keep our LEAF for a long while so this is a very welcome warranty repair.

According to the Nissan, a battery swap should now take around 15days – they appear to have ironed out the kinks with the replacement process, particularly the battery ordering and delivery.

We’ll report back on how our LEAF performs in a few days.

-Noel Morin

——–

17JUL2016

Aloha, Big Island EV Association.

As reported in an earlier email update, our 2011 Nissan LEAF had dropped to 8 bars recently and we were in touch with Kamaaina Nissan in Hilo to coordinate the battery warranty replacement. On this page, we’ll share updates on our experience with the process. In the interest of expedience, this will be a simple list of events that, hopefully, conveys details of the process and what one might expect when dealing with Nissan on the matter.

Our Nissan LEAF is a 2011 model – this (together with the 2012) is the first generation of the vehicle. This version had a battery that had escalated battery capacity loss, especially in extremely hot climates. Nissan responded with an updated battery and software so later versions apparently are less prone to range loss. Nissan also offered a warranty update for 2011-2012 LEAFs. InsideEVs published an article on this matter a while ago. This warranty indicates that Nissan will replace the battery if the capacity falls below 9 bars (70%), for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“…Nissan LEAF®Lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles with the 24kWh battery and 96 months or 100,000 miles with the 30kWh battery, whichever comes first…”

Coordinating the Battery Replacement

In June of this year, we dropped another bar to 8. At this point, we were about 1 month and about 5000 miles away from the expiration of the battery warranty so we were ecstatic to see this.  We immediately contacted Kama’aina Nissan for an appointment and were able to bring the car in promptly.

On June 23rd, we took the car to Nissan. The technician promptly plugged the car into their Level 2 charger. In hindsight, this may not have been required as they should have been able to see the capacity bars remaining via the dashboard display. We waited a couple of hours longer as a result of this. Importantly, we were told that they needed to confirm with the mainland as they interpreted the warranty coverage as being relevant only if the capacity dropped “below 8” bars. This required a call to a ‘tech line’. We could not wait any longer at the shop so we decided to follow-up in a few days to give them time to consult with the manufacturer.

After a few days, we called Nissan Consumer Affairs to obtain some clarity around the process. During this call, the agent initiated a 3-way conference with Kamaaina Nissan and clarified what needed to be done. They confirmed the battery warranty coverage and we were asked to bring the car back in so that certain information (e.g., battery serial number and vehicle data) can be collected.

On July 7th, we brought the vehicle back for the final data collection and to determine the next steps. The battery pack, we were told, will take about 2 months to be transported from Tennessee, and we will be contacted when it is on-island for the replacement. We’re relieved and happy that our LEAF will have a dramatic increase in range and that Nissan is standing behind its word.

LEAF Impressions

Our LEAF has served us well – it continues to be our daily driver and is perfect for the quick trips around Hilo. Its size allows for easy maneuvering and parking in busy parking lots and roadside slots. It transported our son to a school in Mountain View (making 2 round trips daily for over a year). Aside from the battery capacity loss, the only ‘issue’ that we’ve had to deal with was the reduction gear replacement (also covered under warranty). The remaining issues have been maintenance items (replacement tires and wiper blades) during the time that we’ve owned it. Best of all, it’s been largely powered by solar energy since 2011! Besides not having to use gas, we’ve not had to deal with oil changes, transmission service, and even brake pad replacements.

What’s next?

Stay tuned for an update in a few months – we’ll update this post with details of the remainder of the experience.

-Noel

Note: Our Treasurer (Emily) had the battery on her 2011 LEAF replaced many months ago and this had to be done at the Kona Nissan location.  Her car had to be towed over there for the battery service. East Hawaii LEAF owners can now have this type of service done in Hilo!

Many thanks to the folks at Kama’aina Nissan for their support of EV adoption in Hawaii. In case you weren’t aware – you can now find inventory, full service, and even a Level 2 station at the Hilo dealer.