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Nissan Actively Discourages Battery Replacement on the Leaf, Upset Owner Claims

Being one of the early makers of all-electric vehicles, Nissan has had a fair share of issues with the Leaf, mostly regarding battery performance, battery degradation and battery replacement. It’s still struggling on that last count, according to one owner.
Canadian says Nissan has discouraged him from replacing the battery on his Leaf, telling him to buy a new car instead 41 photos
Photo: YouTube / CBC News
Three years ago, Clayton Brander from British Columbia, Canada bought himself a used 2013 Nissan Leaf, thinking that this would be him doing his bit for the environment. Driving an all-electric vehicle would also cut costs for him, of course – that played a significant part in the decision.

This turned out to be the case, until now. Brander tells CBC Canada that he knew he would have to replace the battery on the Leaf after some years, but he was expecting it to be an easy, relatively cheap affair. He imagined he’d pay some $5,000 for a new battery.

That figure has tripled now, which makes the battery more expensive than the car itself – assuming he’s lucky enough to score a battery. Brander says he’s been to two Nissan dealerships, three local repair shops and has been writing to Nissan Canada for months, but he still can’t get a battery to replace the old one. One of the dealers even suggested that he buy a new Leaf instead, since getting the battery seems improbable.

“It seems like these things are going to end up in the landfill,” Brander says. “It makes more sense for them financially, I imagine, to sell new cars than to service the old cars. […] They got all the kudos for introducing the electric vehicles to the masses, so that looks really good. But they're losing them now by not supporting these older models and just pushing new vehicle sales, instead of saying, ‘Look, we can still keep these out of the landfill’.”

Brander says that’s why he decided to go to the press with his story. He doesn’t want a new car and, clearly, he doesn’t want to pay a fortune on a new battery because it doesn’t seem fair to him.

“I love the car,” he explains. “Honestly, in three years and 40,000 km [24,855 miles], I've replaced a set of tires and windshield wiper fluid. Nothing breaks down. It's a fantastic little vehicle. I think electric vehicles are the way to go.”

Brander’s strategy of going to the media worked, with Nissan Canada saying in a statement to the same media outlet that they’re working on a solution to this. They wouldn’t say whether that implied a new battery or a new car, but they did stress that Leaf owners have driven 4.8 billion km (2.9 billion miles) around the world, preventing “more than 2.4 billion kg [5.2 billion pounds] of CO2 emissions.”

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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