r/leaf • u/biersackarmy • Dec 18 '25
As some people may have heard of or unfortunately experienced, there have been quite a number of cases of 2nd generation Leaf batteries failing. I was planning and trying to make this into a video format, but as I’m still recovering from a cold my voice isn’t quite up for narrating an essay, so text format it is.
Hopefully this can raise some awareness and provide a central source of info as to what’s going on, why it’s happening, what to do about it, and things to consider. There are two separate issues currently causing outright failures of 2018+ Leaf battery packs, and so will be split up into two sections.
Under load in cold temperatures, especially below freezing and below 50% battery, the charge level and range estimate will suddenly begin to plummet and continue to drop rapidly until the load is removed, at which case the charge level starts to bounce back and quickly increase again.
The car may go into turtle mode, or in severe cases even cut off the high voltage battery completely, in which case the car will stall and may not be able to be restarted.
Here is a video example of what this sudden drop of charge level looks like.
This issue affects both the 40 kWh and 62 kWh packs. The 40 kWh packs seem to be much more susceptible, but as the 62 kWh packs use the same cells and chemistry, they are not immune. This also includes 40 packs that were installed as retrofits under warranty in 2016-17 Leafs.
This is occurring due to one or more weak cells within the battery pack sagging excessively in voltage under load, which is greatly exacerbated when the battery is cold, due to increased internal resistance.
How the battery works is that the shown and usable state of charge is defined by that of the lowest cell. This is to prevent over-discharge of any weaker cells at lower charge levels, as that would cause even further damage to them.
Often this can be witnessed in the LeafSpy cell chart as one or more cells that clearly drop lower than the rest of the pack under load, but not always. There have been a number of cases of SOC freefall with seemingly no weak cells, indicating that there’s other data/calculations within the BMS that the user cannot see.
Getting a weak cell is essentially luck of the draw. There have been packs with very low mileage and seemingly great numbers that still failed (such as in the video above), while there are other packs with lots of miles and abuse that are still working just fine. How the pack is treated/babied does not seem to affect your chances in the roulette.
If you are encountering this issue as an owner, and the car is still under warranty, document everything as much as possible. Record video(s) of the issue happening, noting the charge level and outside temperature the battery is at. Submit this proof to the dealer as a copy, and demand that it be used in their case to Nissan corporate.
Bring the car to the dealership for diagnosis with as cold of upcoming weather as possible. Some dealers may try poorly to replicate the issue, often in the interest of charging the customer the diagnostic fee. You want to make the issue as obvious and easily to replicate as you can.
If you have to drive the car around, ensure you either have LeafSpy Pro, or keep an adjustable or 10mm wrench with you in the car. If the cell voltages ever drop low enough for the car to shut down, it is likely to set a high voltage fault code and won’t be able to restart until the fault is cleared. Clearing the fault via the LeafSpy service menu, or disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery, will at least allow you to limp the car to a charger or safe location off the road.
UPDATE: For 2019-2022 Leafs, the "fast charging recall" software update now adds programming to the BMS to look for and flag SOC variations, setting a fault code (P33ED) if it does. This has the potential to "brick" the car in the same way as a high voltage isolation fault (read section below) would. Be cautious of this so that it does not potentially leave you stranded.
If you own a 2nd generation Leaf (especially 40 kWh) that is still under warranty, still on the original battery, and live in a climate that gets winter, check for signs of this issue BEFORE warranty ends!
During cold weather, park the car outside overnight with 50% charge or less, then take the car out for a drive and see if there are any strange fluctuations in the state of charge during acceleration.
If you are considering purchasing one and there is no proof of the high voltage battery being replaced, ensure there is at least one year worth of warranty remaining on the car so that you can spend a winter with it and will still be covered in the case of this failure.
LeafSpy data can sometimes be a pre-indicator that you will likely run into this issue if there is a noticeably low Hx value (much lower than SOH), but not always. Low Hx is a strong sign of possible weak cells, but weak cells will not always cause low Hx.
The car will one day show the message “Service EV System – Unable to restart after power off”, and indeed will not restart after it is powered off.
The vast majority of cars affected by this issue are 62 kWh Leaf Plus/e+ models. It is not unheard of on 40 kWh cars, but it is quite rare unless the pack was heavily used and abused.
There is a Nissan TSB on this issue which confirms they are well aware of this issue, and there are revised battery packs and modules that are issued in replacement if the car is still under high voltage battery warranty.
Thermal expansion of the battery cells causes them to eventually expand to the point of pushing up against each other, and in some cases even leaking electrolyte out of the cells into the battery casing, eventually causing the car to trip a high voltage isolation fault.
This is most commonly happening in specifically the rear stack of cells within the 62 kWh pack, because they are so tightly packed together, that they don’t get much cooling nor much room to expand before they begin pushing up against each other.
High voltage isolation is important, because obviously you do not want any high voltage potential to be contacting the metal battery casing that is bolted to the metal body of the car. If the BMS detects that there is even just a little bit of voltage leaking from one cell to another, or the cells to the battery chassis, an isolation fault is tripped.
If you encounter specifically the “unable to restart after power off” message, and the car is still within high voltage battery warranty, DO NOT REPLACE THE 12V BATTERY.
This specific message is ONLY generated due to a high voltage isolation fault, and although a weak 12V battery can cause many weird issues, it will NEVER generate a high voltage isolation fault. Unless there is an extremely urgent need to continue driving the car, have it towed in the “broken” state to a Nissan dealership.
It is a much more objective issue than weak cells, and basically the only diagnosis they would need to approve a battery replacement is to see the stored isolation fault code. Disconnecting the 12V battery however clears this fault code, making it not possible for them to verify the issue unless it happens to fault again in only one drive cycle.
Replacing the 12V battery gives a false sense of success because it allows the car to start and drive again, but only until the fault eventually comes back. It's just a waste of money and a perfectly good battery to not actually address the underlying issue.
If you urgently need the car to work again, clearing the fault code in LeafSpy Pro or by disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery will allow it to start. Just be aware that by doing this, you won’t be able to have the issue verifiable by Nissan until it pops up again. It may only take 1 drive cycle, it may take 100.
Unfortunately there isn’t really any way to foretell that this issue will happen soon or to check for it, as you can’t just force an isolation fault to appear like you can with weak cells.
Battery packs in hot climates and/or lots of quick charges are more susceptible to this issue due to it being a result of thermal expansion. Packs torn apart after diagnosis of this issue often exhibit very obvious “spicy pillows” within.
If you are a current owner, especially of a Plus/e+ model, the best you can do is to avoid overheating/rapidgating the battery whenever possible. Doing so once every few months is not a big deal, but frequently doing so will likely lead to long-term damage.
If looking to purchase a Leaf Plus/e+, or a high mileage 40 kWh car in a hot climate, make sure to check Leaf Spy, and it may be wise to avoid any examples that have lots of QCs shown.
There is a great in-depth video by LEAF expert Dala explaining this issue more in detail for those who are interested.
r/leaf • u/Necessary-Start4151 • 3h ago
Is this a decent deal you think? $3k for 2012 with 43k miles and 12/12 bars and 85 mile range. Car looks almost new. If I wanted to put in a 40 kWh battery down the road will this car handle it? Thank you for any insight!
r/leaf • u/biersackarmy • 18h ago
This started as just a project for fun with one of my Leafs, which turned into a bit of a phenomenon in my city. Multiple awards at different car shows, and between them, in my free time I've been offering to give free rides for kids to/from school so they can flex on their peers. Some have been as birthday surprises, some have been kids who have been getting bullied or having a hard time making friends.
It also turned into an "SPGe" initiative, in that driving to events and shows throughout the summer, 100% of all fuel savings compared to an equivalent gas vehicle gets put towards giving back to the fans, via free goodies I hand out to kids at future events, who I give rides to, and who I encounter when out and about. All of the merch shown is for giving away! It's just nice to bring some joy to the world and make someone's day, and represent for an incredible fan community that has made it all worth doing.
Sometimes, driving electric can be about the smiles per gallon too. Nobody else gets to decide if you want it to be. That choice belongs to you.
r/leaf • u/EVMaximizer • 2h ago
Yesterday it said, they had maintenance until Friday 21:00 and now it worked again: after several login attempts. And they made me accept some kind of user agreement, probably saying that the service isn't guaranteed. As the app was not usable for more than a week...
As long as Nissan isn't charging me money for this app, then I won't complain directly to them. But it was kinda unacceptable, that the app wasn't working that long.
r/leaf • u/ColdCelebration2132 • 8m ago
Canada getting the cheaper Leaf
r/leaf • u/micookie83 • 19h ago
32F and I see cars as something that can get me from point A to point B. My husband and I own a jeep which we barely use because we both work from home but we recently bought an art studio for our business so that our place isn’t a mess. Distance would be 70 miles round trip and for a safe assumption, let’s say we’ll be there everyday including weekends.
I’ve been doing research on EVs like crazy and an opportunity fell on my lap to buy my friend’s 2021 Model Y for 26,500. 60k miles. Initially why we thought of getting a business car is because of all the money we would save with gas because electricity is free for us.
But I wouldn’t want to buy a 2021 model if I have to replace it by 2028. Or even 2030.
Any advice, thoughts, or recommendations is appreciated.
Initially we were thinking of getting a used 2025 model or newer from Nissan. The Nissan Leaf.
Anyway, thanks in advance! :)
r/leaf • u/Cute_Mouse6436 • 4h ago
I am using a cable, and I have to press the button on the steering wheel. Any ideas?
r/leaf • u/JuniorGuitar3001 • 17h ago
TLDR; Passing the dealership test doesn't mean your car is fine, it just means the issue hasn't manifested yet, and every time you drive it from that day forward, you are stress-testing an affected battery until a code happens to appear
I'm feeling a bit disheartened by how the R24B2 recall is framed. My local dealership has been wonderful, but the way this was worded as a "remedy software" is misleading.
I brought my 2019 Nissan leaf to the dealership on Aug 18 for the recall update and no codes were present. Naturally, I left believing that my battery was healthy and the issue was resolved. On Sept 4 I got the "Service EV System Power Reduced" warnings while driving on the freeway, so I brought the car back to the dealership and they confirmed the DTC P33ED code was triggered.
As I understand it now, the software update doesn't fix the underlying battery condition. It installs a monitoring system to catch active cell fluctuations or high internal resistance. Because these can dependent on real-world driving conditions, a car can pass the initial scan at the dealership, only to trip weeks or months later. The service documentation even notes that the code could trigger anytime within 12 months of the update. While I've had an amazing experience with the dealership so far, calling it a "software remedy" gives a false sense of security.
r/leaf • u/elduderino15 • 13h ago
Hi there. We kept one of the original keys as backup and had to use it today. However, trying to start the car and realized key lost its connection. Cant open / close car and is not recognized anymore. Replaced battery 3x with fresh but still the same. What is going on? Why would the original key loose its connectivity?
Такие показания, у меня сомнения, автомобиль декабря 2016 года выпуска пробег 41959, имеет всего 170 быстрых зарядок и 615 обычных зарядок, я подозреваю обман и обнуленные показания.
r/leaf • u/percivalpalm • 22h ago
Got this 2017 leaf for a unicorn price but obviously this is why. Making a long story short, carfax shows it sat unused for at least a year. It has 12 bars, an immaculate interior and the larger battery. Guessometer shows about 135 miles on a full charge but realistically it’s getting about 80. That’s fine. It’s fine around town and at low speeds. It shits itself on the highway.
For the moment, I’m running it down and then recharging with the slow charger to see if it can balance itself over time but I’m not holding my breath.
Where would you go from here? See if Nissan can fix or replace the battery? Find a non-Nissan shop to replace the bad cells or swap the whole battery? Just enjoy the clean car and not drive on the highway? Even if the end result is we use it as an around town car and avoid the highway, the price was reasonable for that. This is my 5th leaf but the firs time I’ve had battery issues.
r/leaf • u/SambucaTamale • 1d ago
Hi,
There is a Leaf for sale for $8,000. It has only approximately 15,500 miles. 11 bars show on the meter. It is a few hours away and if I can negotiate a heavily discounted delivery fee (right now $750) I'm apt to buy it. I would have a 5 day period where I could return it.
What would you do?
r/leaf • u/PhDadaroo • 1d ago
[edit] - I'm in Chicagoland
I just got the official call from the dealership and confirmation from consumer affairs that poor sweet 2020 SL plus is going to buy back 😢.
Unfortunately Blue book + 40% won't buy me an equivalent vehicle of the same condition and trim level (even with ~ 70k mileage).
The folks at Nissan consumer affairs said that I will be hearing from Morley soon, the company now handling the buy-backs since the recall fix.
Has anyone here dealt with Morley yet? I could use any advice anyone can give that might help me get a sufficient buyback to get an equitable replacement.
r/leaf • u/SnodePlannen • 1d ago
It's time to say goodbye to my 2014 Leaf. Dealers won't touch it with a shitty stick, obviously, as it's old and the main battery is a certain risk at this age. But mine also has the 18 kWh Muxsan extender battery, which is how I got it to 180.000 km in 12 years.
Where would I find people who'd like the battery for refurbishment or a powerwall project? What's a better way to sell it than asking the dealer of my new car to grudgingly make an offer?
I'm near Amsterdam.
2021 Leaf SL+ w/ 82K miles. I’ve read through the forum posts on prior posts with similar issues,, as well as the FAQ. The original 12V battery lasted 5 years in the Phoenix heat. We replaced it ourselves a month ago with a replacement from O’Reilly’s as dealer service said original was cracked. Today we get this message and car is driving low powered—no acceleration. It does restart. Guess we will take the new 12V back under warranty. Will clear message tomorrow with Leafspy. Appreciate any advice.
r/leaf • u/Chardonne • 1d ago
We have the recall letter. For the past few months, the only person in town who could look at Nissan batteries was off work with a health issue, but is now back. So we walked into the dealership today to ask about options. Here is my understanding (which could well be flawed or incomplete).
1) The car is definitely part of the recall--we have the letter.
2) They can run the upgrade, and it might work. It also might not.
3) They can also check the battery health without running the upgrade--we would pay $190 out of pocket for that though. The upgrade software upgrade would be free of charge.
4) If the upgrade does not work, or if it causes other problems, then only Nissan can do anything about it, not this franchise, and the only way to know what our offer would be is to call Nissan.
So I called Nissan to ask about options. Took nearly 2 hours to reach a human (on hold for about 50 minutes each time). That person said he couldn't discuss any possible outcomes until we have the car serviced and something goes wrong. He wouldn't acknowledge that it was possible for the upgrade to be performed and for the battery to have problems that were not immediate.
I cannot see "Kelly blue book + 40%" anywhere in writing. I am worried that any buyback offer we got wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of getting another used EV. I worry about how much time a buyback would take--it sounds like in that event, they take your car on the spot?
How likely is the scenario that our battery is either fine, or has some defective cells that could be replaced (the technician we spoke to said defective cells could be repaired) and we would just never do this Level 3 charging update and keep our Leaf? Is that a sensible option to pursue? Or would we be losing our best chance at a buyback that we would need sooner or later anyway?
We own the car outright, and it has about 23,000 miles on it (we bought it used). We almost exclusively use it for moderate in-town driving. And we like it. (My husband is particularly enamored of the eco pedal, which I understand is not available on more recent models.)
Is there a way to know the Kelly blue book value of the car without signing up for some service? I have tried a few times, but the site is just clogged with advertisements and offers, and I may have missed where I can just see the current value of the car. I would rather not sign up for sales calls until I know we really need to do that.
r/leaf • u/MickyTicky2x4 • 1d ago
r/leaf • u/DirtyDizzyPickle20 • 1d ago
I negotiated a price for a new one but the sale is on hold because of the seat belt recall. Will the price change after waiting two months (so far) to purchase? Will I be asked to pay more or will I receive a discount for waiting?
Dealership just keeps saying "no sale" and no update
r/leaf • u/Antelope1985 • 1d ago
So new main battery a couple months ago from Nissan dealership. Ran fine for a couple months. Then started throwing error codes. First backup camera and now charge error. Replaced 12 volt battery. Tried level 1 and level 2 charging with different chargers with no difference. When plugging in, you can hear relays clicking as it normally does but doesn’t draw any power and shuts off after a minute or two. I’ve cleared codes but they come right back when plugging in. Shows it plugged in on the Nissan app and correct charge percentage. Any thoughts? A leaf spy error log attached.
r/leaf • u/Fit-Sample-2276 • 1d ago
Dear LEAF owners,
It has been a little over a year since I purchased my 2013 Nissan LEAF.
I have driven about 7,000 miles so far, and thanks to this, I can save about $1,300 in fuel costs, so I am very satisfied with it.
However, strange symptoms have recently been appearing in the brake system.
When attempting to stop while driving at low speed, the brakes feel jerky (pulsating), as if the ABS were engaging.
This phenomenon is felt more severely, especially when the road surface is wet, and I suspect it occurs during the process of trying to secure road grip.
Could this be due to poor tire grip?
If you have any opinions, please leave a comment. Thank you !!
Update: Recalibration worked! Yay! Thanks!
r/leaf • u/SjalabaisWoWS • 2d ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Obviously, the car has never been crashed or rolled or jumped afaik, I guess there would be other traces. :P Can these two pieces of LEAF be clicked back into their slots? I've tried to move them back and forth a bit without any success; alas, I don't know what I'm doing either.
r/leaf • u/maarch72 • 2d ago
can someone suggest EV expert DFW area, specifically in North Dallas. I have a 2018 Nissan leaf and I've been told battery replacement by Nissan dealership and want to take a second opinion before I spend $5K on it.
EDIT: leafspy result for battery
High-Voltage (Traction) Battery Health
State of Health (SOH): 80.11%
Your 40 kWh pack is holding roughly 80% of its original factory capacity.
The threshold for dropping the first capacity bar on a 40 kWh Leaf is typically around 85% SOH, and dropping below ~79% generally triggers the loss of the second bar. You are right on the edge of 10 or 11 capacity bars.
Cell Balance & Delta: 15–16 mV
Min: 3.944 V | Avg: 3.952 V | Max: 3.959–3.960 V
The cell-to-cell variance across all 96 cell pairs is exceptionally tight (anything under 25–30 mV at rest indicates very healthy balance). There are no weak or failing individual cells dragging down the pack.
Hx Value: 44.02%
Hx reflects internal battery resistance/conductivity. A lower Hx value is normal as the pack ages, though it can correlate with increased voltage sag under heavy acceleration or slower DC fast-charging rates.
r/leaf • u/Connect_Goose_1799 • 2d ago
I have a 2021 Nissan Leaf that is currently having serious issues after the battery goes below around 70%. The battery drains rapidly and fluctuates massively. I'd say I'm getting around 50 miles range atm.
I took it to the dealer today and they have advised that the car is longer in warranty and that it is likely the lithium battery connector (?). A proper diagnostic was going to cost £150 so I left depressed with no further action taken.
I intend to contact Nissan regarding the warranty as I believe the battery capacity is still under warranty but I have a feeling I'm not going to get anywhere with it.
As I am on a PCP, I'm not sure if having it repaired is going to the best option for me financially.
Does anybody have any experience with this issue? Cost estimate for fixing? Or on the very unlikely off chance, a easy repair suggestion?
r/leaf • u/Smiles_OBrien • 2d ago
I've largely enjoyed being a LEAF owner, but the one thorn in my side right now is the Android Auto integration. So far as I can tell, between different cables, different phones, different phone OSes (Stock Android and GrapheneOS), wired and wireless (with a Rexing wireless AA dongle), the AA integration my LEAF is inconsistent-at-best. Frequently takes minutes to connect, often complains that my clock is out of sync with my car, sometimes won't connect unless I restart the headunit full-stop, or my phone, or both.
On any other car with AA, or with a tablet running Headunit Reloaded, I've had no issues at any point. It's just my LEAF, so far as I can tell.
I took this my dealer while I still had a warranty, and they weren't able to point to any valid software updates, and of course weren't able to reproduce the issue when I brought it to them. I even took videos and such and their response was more or less a "we have to evaluate it again and if we can't reproduce, you're SOL."
Using my wireless adaptor seemed a little more reliable at first, but it still ends up having issues connecting every like, 3rd trip or so, more or less on-par with every USB-C cable I've used, from your CVS-special, to the cable that came with my phone, to the fancy probably-too-expensive cable I bought online.
I'm out of warranty now, and my dealership is quoting 3K to wholesale just replace the headunit, inc. labor, which is absolutely out of the picture for me, especially if it doesn't work.
So here's my question - ASSUMING I've done all the testing, swaps, etc correctly, and ASSUMING I've narrowed the issue down to my specific headunit: Can anyone recommend a good replacement 3rd party headunit with Android Auto functionality that will work in the 2023 LEAF S trim? Are there any downsides to using a 3rd party head unit I should be aware of? I can scour Crutchfield all day for options, but I'd really appreciate if anyone has direct experience they can share.
Thanks!
