Nissan Leaf Battery Range Upsets Owners

A growing group of Nissan Leaf owners are discontented with their car’s ability to retain power over the not-so-long term, but the company doesn’t seem concerned.

Last week it addressed complaints that the battery might not retain a full charge as little as a year down the line by saying it expects the Leaf to retain 80 percent of its capacity over five years, at which point it will require maintenance, but not replacement.

That’s contrary to what some owners in Arizona are finding after as little as one year of driving and 13,633 miles travelled in one particular case according to Green Car Reports. 

Nissan seems to be maintaining its original statement about the battery’s five-year retention, and said the cases in question were isolated and small compared to the number of units on the road. That’s certainly true, but it doesn’t change the fact that there seem to be owners feeling jilted over batteries with bad charing capacities.

Given the skepticism that already surrounds these vehicles, any question about quality seems like something the automaker would be wise to address quickly and quietly. If people were to start believing that Nissan sells EVs with unreliable batteries, it would hurt sales for the Leaf and probably EVs across the board.

Problems with cars like the Fisker Karma, and before that the Chevy Volt, started media fires quickly that weren’t easy to dismiss. Until now the Leaf has been comparatively problem free, but that could change depending on how vocal the bad battery victims are.

[Source: Green Car Reports]