Nissan takes steps to address Leaf battery woes
Nissan has announced that it has taken steps to help alleviate worries over the battery packs in its Leaf electric vehicle. The Japanese auto giant announced this week that it intends to replace some underperforming battery packs in Leaf vehicles and it will extend warranty coverage to address battery issues for approximately 18,000 owners of the Nissan Leaf EV within the United States.
The battery pack replacement and change in warranty coverage comes from complaints of battery capacity loss and poor performance by some Leaf owners in warm weather states.
Andy Palmer, Nissan's executive vice president, in an email to owners offering enhanced warranty coverage, said, "With this action, Nissan becomes the first and only manufacturer in the automotive industry to provide limited warranty coverage for battery capacity loss for electric vehicles."
The extended battery warranty coverage will be available for all 2011 through 2012 Leaf EVs and will go into effect this spring. The coverage will address any battery pack that falls below nine bars of the maximum 12 bars available on the vehicle's battery capacity gauge during the first five years of ownership or 60,000 miles of driving.
If the battery packs fall below nine bars before the 60,000-mile mark Nissan will repair or replace the battery at no cost under warranty. Nine bars of capacity on the vehicles charge gauge is about 70% of the batteries original capacity.
Concern over the Leaf’s driving range is one of the main reasons consumer cite for not purchasing an electric vehicle. Nissan has struggled with sales of the Leaf since the car was introduced.
Source: Detroit News
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