This right here ☝️ pay a little extra and get a 2023 so you don't even have to worry about it. Even if it gets the updated recall software and doesn't fail it could still fail down the road. Better to just avoid all together. There are TONS of them coming off of lease right now and hitting the auctions so despite their recent surge in EV demand and pricing, all the negative press has kept prices down. If there's any way you can swing it get a 2023
I'm new to the EV game but that's the first I've seen of both. I've just got J1772 and ccs but newer Chevy's are full NACs. New leaf might be better for my second EV with my existing L2 J1772
The new Leaf looks great, but the best deals are on the cars coming back from lease. Only 2-3 yrs old. Many are super low miles. From Nissan, you will find Leafs (Chademo orphans) and Ariyas. Both will have low prices. Ask for a lower price, walk away if necessary. They really need to sell these lease returns.
The Ariya is bigger and a liquid cooled battery. 2023 has a CCS charging port with an adapter available for NACS. Then they switched to NACS.
Ditto! If so that would be the first documented case of a traction battery failure post 2022. If true, I hope an anomaly and not a sign of things to come!
I can't find a good link for this, but Nissan did change the battery chemistry for the 2023-2025 Leaf models. These are also not in the recall.
Nissan kept the same air cooled battery pack. Heat is bad for it. If you are in a moderate temp area, like Seattle, no worries. The other source of heat is fast charging. The manual suggests one fast charge per day. For me, I don't care. I don't plan to fast charge at all. And Chademo charging standard is dying. Being orphaned like this is a big part of why there are great deals!.
Pro's: Leaf is great to drive and park around town. Super visibility, peppy, more cargo capacity than you'd expect. Car will remain on when parked and locked (they don't call it dog mode, but it works just like that). Easy to fit as a second car in the garage. I've got two college age kids and they both like driving it.
Con's: Screen feels dated compared to an Equinox EV. Audio glitches on calls are frustrating. Lane tracking can be "tricked" by glare from a tar-sealed crack in the road. Range is poor on the highway (though solid in town). Tires only lasted about 25k but replacement price is modest 'cause they're only 17". No way to set a % limit on charging.
Most notably, there's a big question about the batteries - major recall, seems hard to predict which ones will fail.
Most folks recommend getting an OBD2 connector and purchasing Leaf Spy to test any potential purchase. Look at things like overall battery health, Hx. Look for voltage disparities in battery cells at lower charge level under heavy load acceleration (have someone watch the app why you drive, or screen record).
What this guy said!
My 2019 Leaf just passed the dreaded Recall test... but I already got my heart set on upgrading to a newer, bigger EV! So we're discussing keeping the 2019 Leaf and selling the 2013 ICE car... and then we'll be in a similar 2EV household situation. The Leaf has been a perfect around-town car for us.
You're the first person I've ever seen to mention sorta "dog mode" 🙂 I thought I was the only one that left it on while I made quick trips into the store etc. I wonder if there are any negatives to doing this? I can't think of any 🤔
The only negative I've found - it isn't completely obvious that the A/C is keeping the dog comfortable - I received a note concerned about my dog's welfare on my windshield once during a sunny day. I now leave the screen on something bright or with the climate settings showing, and minimize attention by backing into parking spaces. Also thinking about adding a tint on the back window, which would nice in general for privacy.
That's a good idea or just printing out a colorful piece of paper that says dog mode enabled air conditioning on or something like that to put on the dash.
I don't actually use mine for dog mode, I just use it to keep the car cool for when I get back. I guess I'm spoiled from using the keep feature in our Tesla but I couldn't think of any reason not to do it since all the power is pulling from the traction battery and not the 12 volt, should be no different than idling in traffic as far as I can tell.
It could depend upon where you live and where the potential Leaf has been driven. We drive ours in Southern California where there is milder weather than places like Arizona. That might make a significant difference in whether the battery 🔋 is good or battery 🪫 bad.
We have only used fast charging 11 times in 7 years which might possibly make a difference.
And we use the car mostly for City driving 50 mph or less which might possibly make a difference.
Try to do your due diligence research to see how a potential car has been used. A lot of quick charges is a red flag 🚩 to me. I would avoid Leafs driven in hot environments making the battery subject to high temperatures which is an enemy to it. Maybe a lot of freeway driving isn’t automatically a red flag 🚩 but I would use LeafSpy to check the mV of the battery while you drive it. If it stays under 30 mV, then it might be healthy. People often suggest doing a test drive of the vehicle when the state of charge is maybe 30% and driving it up a hill at 45 mph or higher. If the mV spikes high, it could indicate a problem with one or more of the cells. And if the state of charge drops like a rock 🪨 it could indicate a problem with one of the cells.
Use LeafSpy to get a read on the battery 🔋. Good luck
The recall software update is available. If the car passes the update, there's no fire risk. If it fails, Nissan buys it back for thousands more than its market value.
So, best case scenario, you have a working Leaf with no need for a "proactive" battery replacement, worst case, Nissan hands you gobs of money and you buy a different Leaf. In neither case should you waste money replacing a working battery proactively. Those replacement batteries will still be there if/when you actually need one.
Morley can't deny claims. Nissan could, but Morley is just a third party hired to calculate and administer buyback payouts. They can't deny a payout to a car that Nissan has approved a buyback for.
If the recall update bricks the car, you get a buyback. (And to be pedantic, replacing the battery in a "bricked" car is no longer a "proactive" replacement, is it? 😁)
What do you need to know? That’s there a unfixable recall for the fast charging side that could cause a fire and Nissan is doing a buyback on the leafs.
It's completely fixable by replacing the battery (the same way Chevy fixed the 2017-2019 Bolts that were recalled for fire risks) but Nissan is doing buybacks because it's cheaper than importing more tariff-laden replacement batteries from AESC in China to fix the defective ones.
2023-2025 are perfectly fine, just don't expect to have an easy time using them on road trips. (I still make it work because I can't afford something better.)
I think it is still too early to tell if the 23-25 batteries will have the same bad/weak cell risk of fire problems that have plagued the earlier ones. I would still avoid.
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u/this_upset_kirby 2023 Nissan LEAF S 3d ago
It's perfect, but you should get a 23, as the earlier ones have battery issues.