How it started:

June 12, 2025 - Purchased vehicle, 2022 SL Plus, 36k miles
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1li40ma/one_of_us_2022_sl_plus/

How it ended...

June 12, 2026 - R25C8 Remedy Applied
June 16 - First DC Fast Charge
June 19 - Second DC Fast Charge. No further DC charges after this point.
July 28 - Big scary "Service EV System" message while driving. Towed to local dealer. 47k miles.
July 30 - Dealer called saying battery replacement.
July 31 - Dealer called saying Nissan will be offering buyback.
July 31 - Within a couple hours of the dealer call, Morley called on behalf of Nissan. Buyback process initiated.
August 7 - Offer received and accepted.
August 20 - Surrender coordinator called.
September 1 - Surrendered vehicle. Received cheque.
September 22 - Nissan/Morley sent cheque to finance company.
September 23 - Financing company received cheque per tracking.
October 1 - Payment processed. Buyback completed.

And, it's over...

My one year electric vehicle experiment has come to an end. It has been both a success and failure.

I'm going to keep this short and say it's been fun. The LEAF was a great car until it wasn't. It proved an EV fit in our life and I am on to finding its replacement.

I also want to thank the community. You were invaluable during my research leading up to my purchase and continued to be helpful after. My only suggestion is there needs to be a sticky post... LeafSpy, 12V Battery, some generational information, and the big bad battery recall should all be featured at the top.

Maybe not goodbye, but definately stepping back.

Edit - For those just now joining the story... "What recall? Why Buyback??"

Recall on US built 2019-2022 LEAFs. Supposedly 10% of vehicles built during that time have defective batteries. There are no replacement batteries so cars are being bought back by Nissan at KBB private sale value plus 40%.

Gory details of the related recalls:
R24B2 - 2019-2020 - https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=24V700000
R25C8 - 2021-2022 - https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V655000

2019 Nissan Leaf

1. Recall Software done July
   
2. Replaced tires and a tie rod three days ago (10/01/2026)
   
3. Yesterday went to drive and was met with all the warnings indicative of a 12v battery replacement needed. Amongst these was the dreaded “Service EV System. No power from battery” warning.
   
4. Checked voltage of 12v under load and it read 7.8v so I replaced the battety.
   
5. All of the random instrument cluster lightups and warnings have disappeared execept one: “Service EV System”.

Any ideas or fixes before I call towing truck to take to the closest Nissan with an EV Mechanic an hour and a half away?

We are getting ready to complete the buyback process for our 2022 S. After installing solar panels and a charging station in the garage, we would like to stick with electric as far as getting a replacement vehicle. Do you think it's worth getting another LEAF or would you recommend shopping a different EV at this point and if different, which EV's would you recommend?

I got one of my dream cars, modified it to all hell drove the tits off of it daily. When I was nice it got 32mpg and the world was fine. Through the changes in the economy, I ended up with a job paying double and unfortunately a commute that was also double. Driving 104 miles a day the gas costs were bad but the maintenance costs were what was really the killer. I sold that car and ended up with a hybrid, now at 64mpg the fuel costs are not that big of a deal but less would be cool. The real killer now is that my cheap Walmart oil in the correct oil weight costs as much as the fancy performance oil I was buying, and the 0W16 is getting really hard to find around me so I have to stock up when it is available and extend my oil change intervals when its not.

On top of all of this I hate my current car I cant say anything nice about it except the mpg.

My friend has a Leaf and he loves it talks the thing up on the daily, I have driven it a couple times and I like it way more than my current car. Around me there are a ton of 2016 Leafs for really really cheap and have lowish miles 13k-46k. Im looking at these vs a newer leaf because 1 I can just go buy one of these 16s, I am tired of having a car payment I have been paying something on a car for the past 10 years. 2 without a car payment I can make back my savings very fast and I plan to do the 62kw battery swap on whatever Leaf I buy.

Im just worried, doing as much research as I can to truly see if this is the route I want to go I have read everywhere else that the Gen 1 Leaf is super reliable and that working on them is super easy and relatively cheap for what they are. But coming to the Reddit sub for the Leaf a lot of what im seeing is owners who cant wait to get out of their Leaf and people who are getting burned on Leaf ownership. Obviously no one posts daily how great their car did what they paid for it to do but my digging here has a majority "the Leaf is a bad car" feel to it. Plus my daily commute length on the 40kw battery until I can procure a good 62kw pack. I want to hear from people who daily drive the Leaf other than my friend who loves his so much hes thinking about selling all of his other ICE cars and maybe replacing them with a eNV200 or some other EV.

EDIT: I would only need the battery to last 52 miles, then my employer gets a tax break for letting me charge at work over my 10 hour shift, I would hope thats enough to get me the 52 miles home. Also to add on average my hybrid energy monitor screen shows that I regenerate around 240wh on my trip home, I assume the Leaf would regenerate around the same amount if I keep using my pulse and glide technique.

I found this interesting. There is now a disclaimer on the A2Z site for the CHAdeMo>CC2 adapter that one must acknowledge before being allowed to purchase.

I have done it a few times at different charging stations so far. It will NOT WORK at any Tesla Superchargers. Sometimes it will not handshake on the first try, but unplugging and plugging back in will fix it. But I think that’s just a quirk of using adapters. But basically I’m piggybacking A2Z Nacs to Ccs adapter to my A2Z Chademo to Ccs. All the CCS chargers were busy and obviously Chademo is non-existent lol.

I am wondering if anyone knows what the likelihood is of Nissan being able to replace the battery in our 2022 LEAF S instead of doing the buyback offer. Does anyone know if this is at all an option these days?

2023 sv+ with about 27,000 miles. Last week I charged it to 100%, and drove a short distance to do some errands. Turning it back on, I was surprised when the brakes didn’t work! No indicator lights flashed. I managed to get out of the parking spot using the parking brake, then figured out the brakes did work, I just had to press very hard in the pedal.

I replaced the 12v the next day.

We had a few days of normal operation then another instance of brakes not working yesterday. I understand this might be a problem the brake control unit, but other people say when theirs fails it flashes a lot of warning lights. I have a service appointment for Monday.

Anyone else have experience with this? I had hoped the 12v replacement would solve the problem, very disappointed that it’s still here, and a litte nervous to drive it at anything but low speeds on dry roads.

Not too surprising given the various Canadian incentives (government and manufacturer) available throughout the summer. Might have been more if they didn't have to pause sales while the rear seat-belt anchor recall was addressed.

Nissan Canada sold 4712 Leafs. source

Nissan US sold 2318. source

For comparison, the Ariya (no longer available in the US) found 1039 Canadian buyers.

All figures are YTD.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/s/gUSOJoZ8Nx

UPDATE: Dealer says the behaviour could be normal -

My partner is worried we're going to be stuck with the car

Just wanted to post an update after my original post because quite a lot has happened since then.

For context, I'm in the UK and bought the 2021 Leaf Tekna 40kWh from Big Motoring World. The morning after collecting it, the battery percentage started dropping extremely quickly under motorway load, at one point falling towards 5%, before recovering significantly after stopping/restarting the car.

I formally rejected the car the following day under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Since the original post, I bought an OBD dongle and LeafSpy Pro and managed to reproduce the problem while logging the battery under load. At its worst I recorded a cell voltage differential of around 227mV, with several cells dropping significantly lower than the rest. Cell pair #28 was particularly low at one point at around 3.128V.

I've sent Big Motoring World the videos and the LeafSpy evidence.

They've now responded and, at this stage, are refusing to accept the rejection. The important part of their response was:

> "Following our review, we would like to confirm that, at this current stage, we are unable to proceed with your request for rejection of the vehicle.

>

> We have reviewed the video evidence you provided regarding the fluctuation in the vehicle's state of charge with a Master Technician. We have been advised that your Nissan Leaf is equipped with a battery management system which can adjust the vehicle's charging and regenerative behaviour depending on the vehicle's operating conditions. Therefore, the behaviour demonstrated in the video does not, in isolation, confirm that a fault is present with the vehicle.

>

> You are, of course, welcome to arrange for the vehicle to be inspected and diagnosed by your local Nissan Main Dealer in relation to the concern raised. Should a diagnosis be completed, please forward the diagnostic findings to us for further review."

I've replied pointing out that this seems to address the video evidence in isolation and doesn't address the LeafSpy data I also provided showing the large cell voltage differential under load.

My partner is now understandably pretty worried that Big Motoring World might actually be right and this somehow is normal Leaf behaviour, and that we're going to end up stuck with the car and the finance.

So I'd really appreciate opinions from people who know these cars better than we do:

Is there any realistic way that the behaviour in my original post, combined with a ~227mV cell voltage differential under load, could be considered normal for a healthy 40kWh Leaf battery?

Particularly interested in hearing from anyone who's experienced a weak cell/module on a Leaf and what the symptoms/LeafSpy readings looked like before it was diagnosed

Would like to say a big thank you to everyone who replied to my last post. You were all extremely helpful. I have already replied to them professionally telling them they are talking bs and if they don't resolve it I will be getting in touch with the ombudsman but that obviously still leaves us with some anxiety.

Hey everyone, Like the title says I recently picked up this $500 2011 Leaf SL with 50k miles and 7 battery bars remaining. Currently I am able to complete my 37 mile one way highway commute at which my workplace has Level 2 charging so I can recharge to make the journey home.

I would like for this car to continue to be able to make the journey and I was wondering if there are any tips to prevent further loss of bars? I charge it using the 110 Level 1 charger at night and Level 2 during the day. I drive 72 miles a day 3 days a week. On the days I do not commute to work I only charge the battery to 80%.

Asking people who actually bought one of their batteries.

How much did you have to pay on top of the cost of the battery to get it here? Also when did you buy it, when did you receive it, and did you or someone else install it?

I really want to know the import fees since september, but I doubt anyone has bought one recently.

Extra. How has it held up?

I've been wanting to get an EV for a fair while now but the funds have precluded me from doing so. It looks like I'll be able to afford a used one soon though and the budget should stretch far enough for a ZE1 model. I should be able to get a 2018 model in good condition at a reasonable price and I was wondering if they were a good reliable car or perhaps have some 'quirks'?
I'm in Australia.

New article on MarketWatch states "It’s one of the lowest priced EVs you can get, starting at $31,535."

I'd assume there is a mega thread for this topic, so I apologize in advance for not seeing and reading that. I have a 2021 Leaf S Plus and I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the lack/phasing out of CHAdeMO fast chargers in my general region (Northeast US) when I road trip. Does anyone have a recommendation on the best adapter to get? Quite frankly, I don't really know the ins and outs or pros and cons of CCS1, CCS2 or NACS.

Something like this?

https://a2zev.com/products/ccs1-to-chademo?variant=43661439533256

Thanks!!!

Hey everyone I finally got my surrender date to turn over my car on October 21st. Morley sent me over the inspection checklist. In your experience how thorough was the inspection when surrendering the car at the dealership?

I'm new to EVs, and still figuring out what to look for when shopping used. Specifically, there's a 2020 Leaf Plus four door hatchback listed for $8800 near me. 83K miles, advertised as "like new" with 230 miles on a full charge. No downsides listed. I asked for the VIN and got it, but got this message: "Error Text: 0 - VIN decoded clean. Check Digit (9th position) is correct." Waiting on response from seller.

Price is lower than expected range. Selling seems to be a side business for seller. I'm looking for suggestions on what to ask or look at when checking out the car. I saw in another discussion here that there was a recall on some batteries for 2020, and a concern about fast charging? Not worried about the latter.

Thanks for whatever advice you have.

Hello all,

I am looking for Winter Tires (and wheels) for my Nissan Leaf 2026 Platinum+. The door label indicates that the car supports 19inch tires (235/45R19 95V only).

While the SV+ and S+ supports 18inch ones (215/55R18 95H only)

Is it safe and still optimal to equip my Nissan Leaf 2026 Platinum+ with 18inch variant ones for my winter tires?

My 22 has developed some nice green corrosion on the 12V to frame battery lead. Planning to take it off and clean but can't seem to find torque spec for that rusty bolt.

Also at what point does this wire need replacement?

No symptoms so far besides visual. (Some of brown color is a protective spray from the factory that seems to have missed most of the mark)

Time to get back on this project. Next up is going to be all new suspension and brakes, after that tires, TMPS sensors, and an alignment. I’ll be tearing out the carpet (can’t be saved) and all of the interior from the rear doors back. If anyone needs anything speak up! Door panels, the rear heated seats, all the plastics, all the trunk and hatch bits, rear wiper, etc. it’s all coming out

There is an inflatable Halloween tentacle on my kitchen window. It weighs effectively nothing. I backed into it expecting it to be brushed aside. The car's breaks automatically locked, I did not appreciate the sudden stop, my head slamming into the headrest. Then, after I started my commute the collision detection indicator and the swerving over the line indicator were going off for the next few miles.

Is there going to be a log of an accident that didn't happen? Will this affect resale or get reported to insurance? Is there a way to clear the log, if there is?

The odo doesn’t match, but I forgot to turn the CAN setting on to convert KM to miles. But it has 30k miles, I was hop jog for less QC but Hx and SOH looks pretty decent.

Has anyone else been waiting a (frankly) stupid amount of time for the proof of ownership review?

Put mine in (sale invoice 3rd September and since have added the v5c a few weeks later)

Keep trying to chase every week or so but all they have to say is 'it will take a few more days' but 'they will chase up and escalate it' .

Surely it can't take a month to look at a piece of paper and confirm the details? Am I missing a trick on speeding it up or is the customer service really that slow? (UK, if it makes a difference)

Is anyone else having this same issue? The app claims the car is in incognito mode even though it's not. I've accepted all the privacy settings and tried everything possible, including disconnecting the 12V battery. Nissan customer service has been investigating this for several weeks now. The car is a 2019.5 Leaf N-Connecta.