Power Train Problems of Nissan Leaf - part 2

During the last 3 winters I have noticed the car do something strange when going up an extended highway inclines. The battery % along with the estimated miles left will drop suddenly (~40% in a minute) and when I would go over the top of the hill most of the battery % and miles would return. During the 2021-2022 winter, I noticed this happen only once or twice. During 2022-2023 winter, I noticed this happen more often but I did not know what was causing it except it seemed to only happen on very cold days and also when the battery % prior to the drop was around 50% or less. During the current 2023-2024 winter, this issue became common. It no longer had to be very cold but just an extended incline and battery at 50% or less. It usually happened between exit 42 and exit 39 on interstate 80 in new jersey. It has become so common that I was able to record it. The videos show the car will lose over 40% of battery in about a minute. However, once I would go over the hill most of the battery % would come right back. In one video the “battery charge is low charge now” warning is triggered. On a few occasions, when I had around 30% of battery prior to going up this hill and the battery started to drop suddenly, I had to make a rapid emergency stop on the right shoulder midway up the hill. When stopped the battery would recover back to around 30% and I was able to get over the hill. This obviously created a safety concern. My car battery is still covered under Nissan’s ev battery warranty. I have taken the car to two 2 Nissan dealerships. One of the dealership was able to replicate the issue, but stated the only way they will approve the warranty repair is if they disassembles the battery. They stated once they approve the warranty repair they can order the battery but that it might take up to 8-9 months to get the battery. They stated that during this whole time my car will be inoperable and Nissan will not provide or reimburse for a loaner car.

See all problems of the 2019 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

The error occurred on 11/3/2023. The car got me to my destination. Error occurred past the 1/2 way point. The next day was busy w/ personal issues. Later in the afternoon, I was by the vehicle, I called the Nissan roadside assistance number. It was at this point that I was informed that no one was available or that my location was out of network. I was then instructed to find my own tow & arranged everything. I did. The vehicle completely died enroute to the Nissan dealership. The ev motor locks the wheels & there is no way to disengage the motors lock on the cv axle. The vehicle is in the Nissan service department at flagstaff Nissan currently. My Nissan Leaf sv plus is currently has 33,258 miles on it. It is currently covered under the basic warranty of Nissan north America. The Leaf was purchased on Saturday, June 12th, 2021. As of11/16/2023, there is no estimated time of repair. I do try & call everyday. The dealership has issued me a loaner to use during the absence of my malfunctioned vehicle. The dealership is solid & I do recommend them. There are several flaws with this 2021 Nissan Leaf sv plus and they are as follows: 1. The Leaf has an outdated level 3 charger that is being fazed out in north America. 2. The Leaf has no active thermal management for the battery. 3. The Leaf’s passive cooling is negated as the battery is too large to enable proper air flow. 4. The Leaf nearly stranded me out in the middle of nowhere. 5. The Leaf’s battery will degrade at a high rate as there is no atm for the battery. Based on the listed evidence, you can see that my confidence in the Leaf has been shattered. I thought the Leaf would be super reliable & would never let me down. After this incident, I realized that the “hate” was actually hard & heavy concerns that I thought was invalid. I have buyers remorse, big time.

See all problems of the 2021 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

Stuck in a snow drift, slightly down hill, rocking the car forward and back, twice it went into an uncommanded full throttle forward. Even after removing my foot from the accelerator with no other control inputs the car was in high speed forward mode. I had to hit the brake each time to get it to shut down. Glad there was nothing to hit each time.

Car shifted into neutral at highway speeds and would not go back into drive on 3 separate occasions over the past 6 days. Car is an ev and there was no warning and the battery soc was 50% or more on all occasions. Can can be shifted from neutral to park only, not drive or reverse. Very unsafe to have to cruise to a stop on busy highways without much or any shoulder depending on where the car stops with snow banks. Had to have car towed. The incidents happened separately on 1/27, 1/28, and 2/2 all on the highway at ~60mph. I will upload some pictures of the dtc codes and battery stats for the vehicle. After the incident on 1/27, I replaced my 12v battery with a new one (having done some searching for possible cause), but the issue happened again on 1/28 and 2/2 after the 12v replacement.

See all problems of the 2016 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

While driving at highway speeds (65mph) on a cold day (10-20f), the car lost all drive power with no warning. Driver was able to coast to the road margin. In another situation this could have been a catastrophic accident. Driver called 911 for police protection and tow. At this point car was completely unresponsive but still on. The car could not be turned off, turned on, shifted into drive, or any other action performed. The car has shown at least 3 other cold weather failures at highway speeds with various error states (ranging from turtle mode, a complete loss of the info display, and sudden power losses). Our mechanic said "I almost died today, this car is not safe to drive on the highway".

Makes clicking sound when changing from park to drive mode or drive to park, park to reverse, etc. The click is loud enough to hear with windows closed. The clicks are also heard when starting to accelerate or when decelerating. I first noticed this a few months ago, but these clicking sounds seem to be getting louder.

See all problems of the 2020 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

The car stopped responding to accelerator pedal and eventually stopped in the middle of the road just before a hill. Haven't noticed any error messages and instrument panels seemed normal. Switched off power and then turned on again, the car worked normally. I am going to bring the car to a service center but it seems hard to find an appointment.

See all problems of the 2015 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

A sudden loss of propulsion with out an audible warning. The vehicle operates at creep speed. I notice it because the can not accelerate. A moment of confusion sets in in trying to figure out what is going on. A tell tale light of a turtle comes on. I have to work my way through traffic to pull on the side of the road. This is a concern on a busy highway. The tell tale light goes away after cycling the power by turning the car off and starting it all over. It gives me the impression that the trouble went away. This issue occurred once a year. I didn't think much of it. It is now happening once a week in the past two months. Someone can get hurt in the worst case scenario. I believe the warning light should remain on until the issue is resolved. I noticed the issue happens when the climate is hot and I am driving with the ac on. The battery temperature is in the safe zone. Nissan didn't take it seriously. I took a picture of it.

See all problems of the 2017 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

Car goes into turtle mode, losing all power. Has happened a few times, each time has been coming off a highway or heading up a steep hill and then travelling at low speeds. When car is turned off and on, codes reset. I have a reader for the obd, it is showing fault p2138 000a ev/ hec acc pedal pos sens 1,2, err evc-196. As power is completely lost, this could easily cause an accident. Once reset the car acts like normal. Every instance has happend with a battery state of charge of over 30%.

When stationary, vehicle will not shift into park, and will roll unless parking brake is applied. Dealership will not cover this under their powertrain warranty even though it is part of the powertrain according to the NHTSA and is a major safety flaw. Dash displays an error that reads "t/m system malfunction visit dealer", and "when parked apply parking brake".

See all problems of the 2014 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

Recently I got a Nissan Leaf. Battery has been act incorrect miles . I drove 2 miles it count as 5 miles. Charging was incorrect. I was charge on quick charge took me 40 munite for 30 miles.

See all problems of the 2011 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

This is not related to anything specific that happened to my vehicle, but it is related to consumer safety and protection. Nissan settled a class-action lawsuit and amended their battery replacement/repair warranty shortly after they introduced the Leaf to the us. Very soon after this amended warranty went into effect Nissan sent a letter to all Leaf owners and asked us to bring our car in for a "software upgrade" that would give us a better range display. I suspect that this "upgrade" actually keeps the capacity (range) display above the threshold that would otherwise obligate Nissan to repair/replace the battery. Is your agency the appropriate on to bring this suspicion/complaint to and request an investigation or should I contact someone else. I do not have evidence, but it is more than a hunch. Before this alleged ""fix" my car had lost 2 bars of display, after, only 1, yet it has been driven and recharged much more extensively than before the "fix". Also, Nissan has been unwilling to share data on the Leaf or its battery, and insists that they are the only company who can diagnose the battery, and therefore, the only company who can decide if the warranty should be honored in any case. This is troubling. I would appreciate it if any resources could be devoted to looking into this software "fix" - though I understand budget and personnel constraints may inhibit this without evidence beyond my circumstantial experience and my gut feeling. Still, it bears contacting you to ask, as we have seen how other major auto makers are willing to bend rules and laws in order to pad the bottom line. Thank you!!.

My 2015 Leaf s is 3 weeks old with less than 700 miles. I was descending an 8% grade hill in b mode with a sharp bend at the bottom. As I went to apply the brakes, the pedal went to the floor and b mode cut out. The car was now rolling down the hill and accelerating under gravity with no brakes and without b mode slowing the car. I was expecting to hit a brick wall at the bottom of the hill when suddenly, after no more than two seconds, the brakes and b mode came back on and I safely stopped. On reflection after the incident, it was as if the whole computer/electronics momentarily shut down and then rebooted. I didn't notice if the dash lights went off or not.

2013 Nissan Leaf. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle electrical system issues. The consumer stated on two rare occasions, he accidentally pushed the power button in quick succession to turn off the vehicle. All systems shut down, no power steering, no brakes, etc, but the vehicle rolled backward out of the garage.

See all problems of the 2013 Nissan Leaf 🔎.

I was driving in heavy traffic on the 101 freeway in camarillo, CA on the way to work. Car suddenly flashed multiple conflicting diagnostic codes (traction control, brake system, electrical system) and reduced power to the car and put it in turtle mode. I was able to move from the middle lane (of three lanes) to the side of the freeway and called Nissan service. Power was only available to the dashboard and car would not go into forward or reverse. Car was towed to dealer after calling Nissan road side assistance. Dealer replaced the accelerator pedal pressure sensor and returned car back to me after car was in service for three days. Car drove fine for two days on very short trips. My wife drove the car again and it died again on highway 33 in ojai in town. She had no power to move the car out of traffic. She powered down the car and powered it back up and was surprised to find that power was restored. She was able to drive it back home (about a mile) and we had Nissan roadside assistance tow it back to the dealer. Car has been in the shop now for almost two weeks. Dealer is in communication with the factory to get a new computer that controls the power distribution system to other car components. However, dealer cannot give us an estimated delivery date of the part. It seems they may have to get it from japan. Dealer is very friendly but is not able to get car fixed in a timely manner. I also am concerned that they don't really know the source of the problem. I am very concerned that if the problem happens again, either my wife or I will get into an accident on the freeway. Car was is just a month old when this started with no other apparent problems.

I have run into what I believe is a small design flaw. While user error is clearly involved, a simple software fix could prevent this from happening. Scenario: 1) Leaf is parked in grocery store parking lot on a slight downhill slope. 2) startup sound is turned off. 3) push start button while not pressing on brake pedal adequately - Leaf goes into accessory mode. 4) try to shift into reverse, not looking at dash screen to see that Leaf is in accessory mode. 5) press down on parking brake lever to disengage parking brake. 6) press accelerator. Result: the Leaf is still in accessory mode, but has shifted into neutral after step #4. Once parking brake is off and foot is on accelerator, there is nothing to keep the Leaf from rolling forward. This is not hypothetical, it happened to me twice in the last year. One time I hit a shopping cart, but fortunately put the brake on in time and the front license plate holder protected my Leaf from damage. Comment: in my opinion, trying to shift into drive or reverse while the Leaf is in accessory mode should not put the Leaf in neutral--it should still be in park. This simple change would prevent the possibility of this happening. The Leaf can still shift to neutral in accessory mode by moving the shifter to the left and holding it there for 2 seconds.