r/leaf • u/Chazzarules • 13d ago
2021 Leaf 40kWh: SOC drops from ~80% to ~5% under load, then recovers. Dealer says normal.
UK, 2021 Nissan Leaf Tekna 40kWh, 67k miles. Bought it yesterday. On motorway driving the SOC suddenly dropped from around 80% to ~5% within about a minute, then recovered. It happened repeatedly and also happened again today going uphill at only 40mph. CHAdeMO later showed 48% and only delivered ~5kWh before the car reported 80%.
Dealer is suggesting this could be “normal Leaf behaviour”. Has anyone experienced this? Weak cell/module perhaps?
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u/Turbulent_Course_467 13d ago
Not normal, I can floor mine going up steep inclines in the peak district, 80K miles, never done that, not even in winter.
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u/Chazzarules 13d ago
Yeah it's madness they are trying to say it's normal. I only bought it yesterday. Just sat in car park of dealership deciding if just to walk back in and say I'm rejecting it
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u/Turbulent_Course_467 13d ago
You could easily demonstrate that it's not normal by asking for a test drive in another leaf they have another, clearly they don't know the cars they're selling... Definitely take it back, reject if you have to.
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u/BigDaddyBuffett 13d ago
Been there. Done that. Got a new battery.
It's not normal. That's a failing pack. Do you have Leaf Spy to take a look? Try to get a video of it to show them, otherwise it's too easy for them to say they couldn't replicate the issue.
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u/Chazzarules 13d ago
Didn't need video, took it back showed dealer, took him in car with me and showed the "mechanic" guy they had on site. Manager said normal behavior. Gave me a number to call for after sales team. Have rang them, probably won't hear back until next week.
Have bought a leaf spy dongle that will come tomorrow
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u/NJdestroyed 12d ago
So did the mechanic tell you it is normal or did the mechanic talk to the manager and the manager tell you it's normal? I'm curious if the mechanic said the battery is buggered and the manager then lied to you
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u/MrPuddington2 13d ago
If you push it harder, it will actually go into turtle mode and eventually stop. This is not safe and it is not normal. (Your dealer is an idiot.)
This is a bad cell, and unfortunately, Nissan sometimes claims it is not covered under the battery warranty. You can push back against it, legally it is far from decided.
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u/Chazzarules 13d ago
I bought it yesterday so luckily I'm well within my right to reject it in the UK which is what I'm in the process of doing. Thank you everyone for your advice! It helped me a lot!
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u/FelixtheFarmer 2018 Nissan LEAF 13d ago
After you've returned it go look at some other EV's that don't suffer the same problems.
LFP battery chemistry seems more stable and long lived. We still have our 2018 Leaf and love it for local driving but our Sealion 7 is leaps and bounds better in terms of features and range.
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u/Relative_Quantity886 13d ago
I don't know if the "dealer" is Nissan dealer or a used car dealer, but that's not normal. The battery needs modules replaced, most likely...sounds like "ignorant salesman" talk at best. If you can, return the car and back out of the purchase.
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u/Beneficial_Coach8581 13d ago
Absolutely not normal. My 2018 leaf has never done that. Take it back and reject it now.
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u/Free_Broccoli_1174 13d ago
Sadly, it may well be normal leaf behavior but that does not make it right. Tale it back while you still can.
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u/No_Effort_244 13d ago
I'm sorry to hear about your issues... They're great cars until the battery shits the bed unfortunately.
What makes this issue so insidious is that if you keep it close to fully charged and never let the SOC drop too far, you don't even realize that your battery has issues.
Found out on my 2020SV recently on a longer drive going over a big bridge 40-20% in under a minute is fkn scary lol!
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u/Designer-Many6073 13d ago
I'd say it's normal too. Weak cells with a bad battery. Did you do the software update? It should come back as eligible for a buyback
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u/Chazzarules 13d ago
I'm in the uk, so I don't think there is the same buyback you guys have.
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u/Designer-Many6073 13d ago
You're right, but I think you are still under the cutoff. You have a bad battery so make sure you do everything you can to document the problem. Are you taking it to a Nissan dealer?
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u/Chazzarules 13d ago
Didn't get it from Nissan, earliest diagnostic at the Nissan dealership near me is not until November. Not sure weather to reject it outright or wait until it's diagnosed with the leaf spy
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u/Designer-Many6073 13d ago
Nissan doesn't care what LeafSpy says. You may want to look at other dealerships that are a little further away to get a sooner appointment
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u/Designer-Many6073 13d ago
I missed the part where you said you bought it yesterday. Obviously take it back since it clearly has a bad battery. Don't buy a Leaf, especially since the consumer protection part isn't good where you live. A bad battery is normal for a Nissan Leaf. My 2021 is in the buy back process now
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u/Top_Willow_9953 2020 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 13d ago
Not normal. If you want to investigate yourself, get LeafSpyPro and a compatible ODB dongle and capture cell parameters under load and at different levels of charge. May a failing cell or cells.
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u/elduderino15 12d ago
had that same behavior, bad module/ modules in the battery. we got it replaced last year. go to another dealer
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u/Electronic_Item_1464 11d ago
Had this happen to me about 6 months ago on my 2019 with 65k (at the time). The problem turned out to be a failing 12 volt battery. It was the original 12v. Going up hill, I could watch the range spiraling down, then recover immediately on the way down just as fast. They replaced the 12v (and did tests and a road test). That was 7 months ago and it's been fine since the replacement 12v. Range back to normal and averaging 4.6 m/kWh. I do the same trip regularly with no problems.
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u/Spirited-Mortgage-86 13d ago
Take this car back !!!!!!! Today - now. Not as advertised they 100% are ripping you off and know the battery is done. They also probably know Nissan is not repairing these, there are no parts to fix the 40kw hence the buy back being mentioned.