AZ Nissan Leaf owners reporting abnormal battery capacity losses [w/video]

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:13:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Hatchback, Nissan, Electric

Apparently, some Nissan Leaf owners are finding the crispy weather in Phoenix, Arizona a bit too severe for the batteries in their electric cars.

The CBS affiliate in Phoenix reports that a growing number of the area's Leaf owners have lost large chunks of battery capacity, and the forums at MyNissanLeaf.com indicate that similar complaints have been recorded in other parts of Arizona, Texas and California. A table of battery capacity losses is being kept online here. We contacted Nissan regarding the issue of reduced capacity in hot climes and received this response from spokesman John Schilling:

"We are aware of the handful of customers that are concerned; we are studying their individual situations and experiences."

Nissan North America Director of Product Planning Mark Perry said in a recent video, "Heat is definitely not a friend of batteries. But I'm talking about severe 130-, 140-degree Fahrenheit kind of heat... Don't park your Nissan Leaf - or any electric vehicle - where it's going to be more than 120 or 130 degrees."

In the same video, which you can find embedded below, Perry says, "In just normal conditions, you don't have to worry about it." Thing is, "normal conditions" mean different things to different people, including those who live in Phoenix, Arizona, where daily high temperatures average over 100 degrees several months of the year.

According to CBS5, Nissan "does not consider the issue a problem" but is "investigating five complaints about the rapid loss of battery capacity... all of them in Arizona."

It's interesting to note that the issue of the Nissan Leaf battery's lack of an active thermal management solution was brought up way back in January of 2010. At the time, Nissan's Perry said, "We don't need thermal management in the U.S. ... We've gone on record saying that the pack has a 70 to 80 percent capacity after 10 years."

As you'll see in the video below, however, Nissan's warranty only covers the output of the Leaf's battery pack, not its capacity. Where that leaves heat-drenched Leaf owners remains to be seen. Scroll down for videos from both Nissan and CBS5.

Continue reading AZ Nissan Leaf owners reporting abnormal battery capacity losses [w/video]

AZ Nissan Leaf owners reporting abnormal battery capacity losses [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nissan announces Leaf rollout plans, 8-year battery warranty

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: Hatchback, Nissan, Electric

Nissan Leaf EV - Click above for high-res image gallery

At the Plug-in 2010 Conference in San Jose, CA today, Nissan North America's executive vice president, Carlos Tavares, announced that the Leaf's battery pack will be covered by an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty - exactly what Chevrolet is offering on the Volt pack. He said that feedback from people interested in the Leaf was important in setting these levels, so that explains why Leaf hand-raisers received email surveys about the topic recently.

For what it's worth, the official Leaf battery warranty is what about half of AutoblogGreen readers voted for in our unscientific poll on the topic. Almost 45 percent said the eight-year/100,000-mile level was good for electric vehicles, while a few more thought 10-years/150,000 miles was the preferred level.

In other Leaf news, Nissan has also announced its official rollout plans. As we already knew, the electric car will first launch in December, in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee. Firm orders from these five states, which make up the so-called EV Project, will begin in August.

Following that initial wave, the machine will be sent to Texas and Hawaii in January 2011. Next up will be North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Alabama in April 2011. The rest of the nation will see their Leafs beginning in the fall of 2011 with availability in all markets nationwide by the end of that year.

There are plenty more interesting tidbits to glean from Nissan's press release on the matter, which can be found in its entirety after the break.

Gallery: 2010 Nissan LEAF

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan announces Leaf rollout plans, 8-year battery warranty

Nissan announces Leaf rollout plans, 8-year battery warranty originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments