Nissan Leaf 40kWh Fried Battery Teardown and Repair.

[@nigelweir3852]

Future of mechanics , a bit cleaner

[@ramalho]

I'm really loving these repair videos! Thanks

[@keithlatty]

Great work guys and hats off to you for sharing information. This is great material for the classroom, showing students what future technicians need to know.

[@RWBHere]

Odd that they didn't want to replace the other failing cells, unless they're planning to sell the car quickly. Thanks for the video, James.

[@gelisob]

They are not failing and if the driver takes a chillpill and restricts fast charging to twice a day, it will be fine for 300k more miles. Or sells it to some individual who mostly drives 10k a year. Point is not to continue to overheat rear pack.

[@cjmillsnun]

@@gelisob A swollen Lithium cell is never good.

[@04dram04]

Makes sense to me. It would be very expensive to replace those. And the car already has allot of miles. Since it sill works fine, they probabaly want to see how much life they can squeeze out of them

[@t1ghe]

120,000 miles wow. He's been busy. Good job 👏 👍

[@RWBHere]

That's normal for a taxi. In the 1970's I knew a taxi driver who did about 1,200 miles per week in Winter, and more in Summer. Even at Winter averages, that's about 60,000 miles per year. That Nissan is 2 years old. A fleet taxi, which is used by more than one driver, can easily exceed 100,000 miles per year.

[@idrisddraig2]

@@RWBHere Driving airport transfers in the early 2000's we did 15k km a month for 3 months and 10 k a month in the other 2 of our 5 month winter. January I did 20k km. my record day was 1086km. Mosty french autoroutes, but always mountains and snow at the end.

[@zoidburg3101]

Absolutely love these videos, not many like them on YT.

[@rhiantaylor3446]

A very useful and informative video. It shows that with extreme levels of use/charges mileage etc. over 3 years the battery had retained 87% of its initial capacity which is impressive. Frankly, any Leaf can have a random module fail especially with all those repeated charge cycles and the fix price was also impressive. The only other aspect I would love to see covered is degradation due to simple ageing in a UK climate without the taxi-level repeat charging. How viable a second hand purchase will a 7yr+ leaf prove to be I wonder ?

[@tomsixsix]

With Nissan's record so far on 24, 30 and 40kWh Leaf's I really fear for the 62kWh models too, I would not buy them. Other EV manufacturers do not see this failure/degradation rate. 120k miles is good but realistically half of what a well maintained ICE car can do, and rapid charging daily is not unusual for some use cases, so batteries need to be more rugged here for sure.

[@AdrianMcDaid]

Are you able to indicate how much repair like this would cost. For people who are worried they need whole new battery. Great video and knowledge.

[@Jamesandkate]

This was aprrox £900

[@pashko90]

This car needs a new pack. They will gonna get this car back in shop, other modules are almost dead too in rear stack.

[@geoffreyhallam6228]

£900 repair bill after 120k miles. That's impressive and I'd dread to think how much an ICE car would have had in repairs and servicing in that time.

[@stonesie81]

@@geoffreyhallam6228 Let's pick a popular Nissan, the Quashqai 1.6 diesel, 12K service intervals, at quick fit are £99 interim £168 major, say 5 of each = £1335 That does not include brakes which an ICE car uses way faster then a BEV or any other wear and tare items like a clutch kit, most modern ICE have a duel mass flywheel, for this one it is about £480 for a decent branded clutch and flywheel kit (LUK) If used as a taxi it would not be far off replacement by 120K miles.

[@AdrianMcDaid]

@@pashko90 but Taxi Driver is sweating his assets. It's his business to run. Not too many busy taxi drivers at moment.

[@darrenhitt1569]

Enjoying the workshop videos James Coates. Look forward to the next one!

[@foxisq]

A great brake down on what work is needed to be done. Thanks for the video

[@lukyluke993]

Love your technical but practical videos ✌🏼

[@luisc9652]

Great job and what’s looks like an professional and honest job. It encourages buyers and if near by to come and repair with you if needed.

[@doubledutch13]

Always a pleasure to see you guys 👍

[@SheepShearerMike]

James, not sure if you are in the workshop on Tuesday (22nd Feb), but I have my Leaf booked in for a battery swap, just a bad 24kWh for a better one, I hope it gives me an extra 20 to 30 miles range. I will see you there if you are there.

[@high1voltage1rules]

I love my Nissan leaf. I’ve got the 71 reg 40kw battery, and done just over 18550 ish miles. And the battery has gone down from 188 miles charged” to about 165 miles fully charged. But I do try and charge it from 7kw to help the batteries. And I do notice doing this you seem to get better mileage. and not always rapid charging of 50kw as this does diminish your battery health. But I’m looking forwards to getting another Nissan electric vehicle in a year or so as I don’t keep my cars long. 👍 Good video. Great work there,👍

[@philippegillet649]

Good job, I am surprised that after so many years that the leaf is out there that no one as yet invented A kit to retrofit on the battery to cool it off.

[@aljudy01]

Check out EVs enhanced NZ

[@OviMatei]

fantastic job, you made it look very easy and straight forward.

[@timh9990]

Love these videos as I like to pretend I understand the technical electrical balancing magic you do. But to be fair I did the same with an ICE engine! I'd say that a £900 bill after 120,000 miles is incredible value - passive cooling or not!

[@slavric]

I was fixing the same issue on a 2019 leaf, similar mileage. There was nothing else to do then to replace all of the battery cells with new ones. The modules were even more inflated then these, but not much. Of course original are too expensive, so I put CATL 117Ah NMC cells in an it all works really great. In your case it will increase the lifespan some, but I wonder for how long. It would be good to know. Thanks and keep on the good work.

[@davidsworld5837]

for people worried about getting issues with battery packs and getting scared with full battery replacement for people being 5 to 7 grand i know it is not a standard item but was wondering on price for the 4 hour job to work on the battery to help leaf owners see they dot have to get a bank loan to repair it. You have done a number of leafs can you do other cars and show that it is possible to repair them

[@nextride791]

This is incredible work. Love what you guys do!

[@CrustyCrip]

Unfortunately there are very few independent shops in the USA who can do this. There are no shops in my state (Colorado). So if you have a degraded 30kwh pack and want to replace it with a 40kwh pack, a Nissan dealer will do it … for (gulp) $13,500.

[@dot7107]

Great video, hope to see some similar repairs in future also👍

[@scara1701]

Shouldn't all swollen packs have been replaced? In other electronics it is advised to stop using them until the battery can be replaced.

[@xperyskop2475]

YES . Battery was out already . Greedy owner !

[@pashko90]

yes, this pack is dead. It needs capacity matched rear stack or complete cells replacement.

[@ecospider5]

Wow that was some nasty looking cells. I have seen that in RC car packs but full size that is amazing.

[@jonricketts2408]

Very interesting great vlog thanks James

[@baronsilverbaron757]

Shows what a good reliable EV the new Leaf is. That's why I bought a 62 kWh Tekna.

[@sc7983]

Where are you located?? Need my 2013 24Kw battery looked at, has compromised 2 cells, visable on dash. Please help

[@randycarter2001]

This is an example of your battery pack is only as strong as its weakest cell.

[@stephenclay6852]

Another great video James.

[@foolcellsorryfuelcellmirag4835]

Great video. I have a 2012 leaf although still not convinced of battery replacement. Had so many issues with my leaf and due to my own experience a lot of other parts will fail before the battery will fail. The costs of replacing leaf parts brand new are incredibly expensive.

[@chrishyde1216]

We have a low mileage 2012 Leaf, and so far had to replace the heater module at about £300 but nothing else. What issues have you had and are early Leafs unreliable (battery aside)?

[@foolcellsorryfuelcellmirag4835]

@@chrishyde1216 Hi I needed my ptc heater replaced nissan quoted 3500 quid. Recently parking module went 2000 quid. Also just got a repair fixed just before warranty about 3 years s ago it was a major had a courtesy car from Nissan for 3 weeks. It was the electric unit fail guy from nissan if it was not under warranty would have cost 4500 quid. Thankfully it failed 1 month before my warranty expired it was covered under 5 year battery cover. The only way it is still on the road is that I managed to source salvage parts and know a good garage. Also the usually with EVs 12 volt battery fails thats another long story

[@piratarobitronic8351]

good morning I would like to know the brand and model of the leaf 40kw battery modules and, if possible, a datasheet for the batteries. I would also like the video to be complete with removing the glue and balancing the batteries as it is done

[@mikew3105]

James is this what you do for a living?

[@Jamesandkate]

It is.

[@-cc9ye]

This cars showing 180k miles from a July 2022 MOT, awesome.

[@paulf3353]

Oh joy, the ancient technology of passively cooled packs, that reminds me of joy I had with my Prius battery...

[@no-damn-alias]

Interesting. My car will have about the same mileage after 3 years but I mostly (90%) do 16A AC charging. I'm curious how my degradation will be after those 3 years.

[@williamarmstrong7199]

Are you doing mitsubishi outlander PHEV swaps / repairs yet? If so how much please?

[@MrProject350]

First video I see. Thanks for letting me see. I am looking for information to make power adds on a diesel car. Can you point in the direction of information that describes / or describe the possibility of using a used battery and arranging it so that it becomes 48 volts? At the same time, the better should be the energy source for a 4X4 poweret trailer for the car. Thanks in advance.

[@Daniel-qj3tp]

Excellent work

[@nigelweir3852]

What’s his range up to now? Approx from before and after if you can find ou

[@chrishyde1216]

SOH was indicated as 87% on Leaf Spy in last few secs of video.

[@MrPhillipgraham]

I didn't realise you actually repaired EV's James? Have enjoyed watching you and your wife videos. I have a Nissan e-nv200 22kWh van, would you be able to fit the larger 40kWh pack in it?

[@Jamesandkate]

Yes we can. We're just putting one in our own eNV200. We're also adding a UBEX range extender. Should be a couple if weeks 👍🏻

[@MrPhillipgraham]

@@Jamesandkate that's brilliant. What's the best way to get in touch with you for more details please? Regards Phil

[@aljudy01]

That sounds interesting. But are you using a salvaged battery? Unfortunately, where I live, in Cape Town, salvage batteries are not readily available

[@tbrdoescinema]

Does make you wonder how long these packs would last with thermal management, I hope a third party develops a solution to keep old leafs on the road.

[@miloe436]

I think a lot of those I-Mievs and Leafs will in the future have the pack replaced with cheap solid state cells. Less affected by temperature and much higher energy density.

[@plaw9999]

Great video , thanks. As a Leaf specialist can you recommend a quality light upgrade especially for the low beam on a 2018 Leaf 40. I have tried higher intensity bulbs but it’s still awful in low beam.

[@nicholascandelario8876]

I just purchased a Nissan leaf 2012 SV and it still has 8 bars but I want to change the modules my self. We're can I get them. Any info would be great

[@stephendunning4423]

How much did this job cost ?

[@JoonaParhankangas]

Where got replacement cells? Just curios. Greetings from Finland.

[@marmac567]

is there no cooling matrix on the pack?

[@jamesphillips2285]

Design compromise. Only a real problem in hot climates.

[@04dram04]

Its so insane that Nissan doesn't have a cooling system for these. The amount of unnecessary waste it creates, means it should be illegal

[@Dilo_Jaan_Se]

How much did it cost for the replacement battery?

[@martinawdadapterssmith6485]

Just thought I wd say u said the module has 4 cells per module I thought the gen 4 has 8 cells per module and on ur video after u replaced faulty module why was it still only showing 87% state of health after fix on leaf spy cheers Martin.

[@Jamesandkate]

Hi. They only have 4 cells per module, but the SOH is based on overall degradation of all modules. Replacing these two modules will have little effect on the whole pack SOH.

[@martinawdadapterssmith6485]

Yeah it's just was asking a guy who I bought two modules off and he said that technically they have 4 cells in the module but there made up of two in one cell or something one going parallel or something I don't know lol anyway I got a brand new module off him which measures 13volts across which isn't fully charged and the second hand one reads 16volts which he said is charged does the voltages sound OK cheers Martin.

[@kgolub97]

Hi guys, from California. Where can I buy 40kwh modules? I can’t find them anywhere.

[@weasdown]

The module second closest to the camera at 2:46 looks concerning with its bent case - was that the dodgy one?

[@Solkre82]

Yikes, he's murdering that battery. I've love to see a comparison with a equally abused Chevy Bolt with it's liquid cooling.

[@charithaattanayake7260]

Good video great work

[@richieannarelli5714]

I never quit charge I don't go on the highway long distance I average around 60 miles a day so I plug it in at home with my 120 Factory charger once in awhile when I go food shopping they have 240 charges out front for free sometimes I take advantage of it thanks😊

[@fishbackfilms862]

Hello, This video is new to me. I have the same Leaf with the same issue. Where are you located?

[@jestronixhanderson9898]

Interesting, I’ve replaced dead cells on my ebike and the other cells never puffed up, I believe what we are seeing is manufacturing imperfections showing with age, this pack may get another 50,000 .

[@KrisNativeThai]

great work!

[@gramamg100]

Another great video, do you use new batteries or salvaged and what do the modules cost. Just to help dispel the myth that ev,s need a new battery after 5 years. A lot easier and cheaper than removing an engine and doing an overall. 👍

[@Jamesandkate]

Hi, we use second hand modules.

[@mackemsruleFTM]

@@Jamesandkate any chance of a video of whats inside the old packs when you open them? great video shame you aren't based in the NE you could do my leaf lol

[@doughyun3428]

Nice video but please remove mask when working to camera and slow down a bit for us colonists. Lol

[@MarkAtkin]

Interesting that the SOH has not changed significantly.

[@pashko90]

I think its just cold outside in this area. It will changed and gets recalculated when battery pack is +10-15 degree celcius.

[@BikingChap]

I thought the 40kWh batteries were tough but those cells look absolutely trashed after 120k. No wonder taxis aren’t fond of EVs when a good ice car will do 300k no issues.

[@alltechinbox]

Nissan leaf batteries. Keeping people in work, guaranteed

[@gingernutpreacher]

Was thinking that a bit of thermal management and it would not have been in there

[@GlynHudson]

A diesel taxi with 120k miles would not doubt have required a lot more maintenance work in the same time period

[@gingernutpreacher]

@@GlynHudson other than oil filter air filter fuel filter I know many a diesel that's done 300000 odd with out any real manitanance but my point was this is a leaf issue not a ev issue plus if it was a diesel it would of given some one cancer by now I eggsagerate but you get the point

[@zenbudhism]

Not many fail actually. How many engines are uneconomic to repair?🤣

[@gingernutpreacher]

@@zenbudhism what's your criteria age and mileage wise because many a BMW diesel has needed thousands of pounds to repair the injector's

[@target-mechanica]

Very good job well done, really I like your videos and become follower🚘🚙🚗⚙️

[@doughyun3428]

Can you put a60kw battery in a 2011? If it's a used battery, how do you know it's good when you get it?

[@CreRay]

87% of remaining after replacing 1 pack and 120k miles of taxi usage is that correct?

[@richieannarelli5714]

I have a 2017 Nissan Leaf my work can you call I love it is there a way that you can put a 40 kilowatt battery in a 2017 to get 250 range can it be done thanks😊

[@esm7708]

I'm glad Nissan have finally accepted that passive cooling of batteries doesn't work. It would be at least acceptable if their cars were notably cheaper than competitors.

[@TheLongonot62]

To say it doesnt work is quite a sweeping statement, as it all depends upon how the car is used and the climate it is used in. To be fair to Nissan, they may well have underestimated the problem of overheating/degradation - there wasn't much previous evidence to go on, in terms of ev's. To fit a thermal management system may well have necessitated a redesign of the car body at massive expense and most likely why Nissan decided to work on the battery chemistry instead, being the potentially cheaper option. Considering the cash I had to shell out to keep my combustion engine car on the road at that mileage - the cost of fixing this was reasonable.

[@esm7708]

@@TheLongonot62 I don't think I was being unfair though. If you're going to sell a car in a number of markets with fast charging capability the product needs to function in those environments. It smacks of that'll do. The most alarming part of the video is the battery bulge. That's horrendous.

[@Apafej627]

Hi guys, I'm looking at buying a 2013 Leaf that can only be charged by Chademo fast charger, is it very difficult to fix the AC charging on it? I'd appreciate it you could give me some advice. Thanks 😊

[@Jamesandkate]

Hi. Bonita an easy fix. Best way is to simply replace the PDM. Second hand they're about £700. Make sure you get a 6.6 not a 3.3kW replacement 👍🏻

[@TL-xw6fh]

The car should be still under warranty, so why did they bring it to you to carry out the replacement?

[@JonathanPorterfield]

Nissan warranty on the pack is 8 years or 100,000 miles which ever is 1st ! So at 119k miles , its out of warranty !

[@TL-xw6fh]

@@JonathanPorterfield Thanks, that clarifies it.

[@GlynHudson]

Nice work guys! Could you have used a faster bench charger to top up the new cell? Or discharge main pack to march the new cell by going for a joyride before starting! Did you use a new module for the replacement or 2nd hand module?

[@bardrick4220]

Holy shit I would not reinstall puffy cells! That's like a major liability! I'd say: hey Mr. Customer we found 5 swollen cells, and we recommend replacing them for safety. If they refuse, get them to sign off on the repair (not my problem anymore).

[@martijnijsendoorn6911]

my leaf dec 2013 only have a difference 6mv! 149.00km! SOH 75,43 (netherlands) the best country to own a ev! not to cold not to hot

[@lordpitnolen2196]

Would you tell us about the replacement cell, please? Source? cost? any extras? Anything else relevant.

[@brianevolved2849]

eBay

[@iKaGe01]

I didn't expect the SOH to stay the same but have the 4 cells so unbalanced. How is the SOH calculated then? As mentioned in a prior video, mine is a 30kWh with 37.5k and 89% SOH so that one isn't close behind

[@zenbudhism]

Probably takes lots of reading over time

[@new25651]

SOH 87% after 119k miles means still good battery

[@Japi2863]

When clearly the back pack is overheating and “expanding” would it make sense to remove one sell to provide space in the back? Battery modules in back could then have small space in between them to prevent overheating. Would that be possible?

[@danpadure]

the air between the cells would actually lead to one of them overheating more. With no air the heat dissipates in the pack. and you can't remove one cell, the pack voltage would drop as the cells are in series

[@grahamjohnson4702]

How many sells are there in these packs?

[@miloe436]

@@grahamjohnson4702 It's configured in 96s2p so 192 cells.

[@mackemsruleFTM]

@@grahamjohnson4702 4 cells in each module I believe

[@mackemsruleFTM]

while it was off and I presume all the packs are the same, I wonder if jiggling around into a different area might have prolonged the life of them, I know that in mobile phones and other small devices you are supposed to change the batteries if they bulge as they could burst or explode so if I was the owner i'd ask about changing them as well, I know he said they were fine, but for how long?

[@douglasalanthompson]

Awesome. Please expand to the US.

[@walterpfannschmidt8449]

Love your vlogs but is there black magic in your garage that you need to speak masked to your fixed camera ? (3:52)

[@roberthallen8833]

I've noticed that the battery tends to get, "A COLD", needs to maintain a even operating temperature. Cold battery's tend to run inefficiently without a hitting systems of some kind. Re Design the plates so they wil not degrade with a different electrolyte. An EV battery must be designed efficiently at normal thermal blanket temperatures such as 0 centigrade to maintain a non degradable environment.

[@fredflintstone1428]

I've just bought a Nissan Leaf 2011, a Japanese import. I didn't import it but it's a nice clean car. The range on ECO is max 70Km. It's on 6 bars. I only bought it for charging it off my 8.4kW PV array but having options on extended range may be good. Are Cleveleys still doing battery repairs? Anyone else in the North West of England that I could get some advice from?

[@johnlaws5231]

Nissan Leaf 40kWh Fried Battery Teardown and Repair. Don't mind me BUT - How much as a guide £

[@acattanach72]

My drive looks the same, A Leaf40 and an 09 Passat smoker!

[@doughyun3428]

How much is the 60kw battery

[@paweljurkowski3519]

How much that's repair cost?

[@marcusevjourney566]

It was such a huge mistake by Nissan not include a BMS in their latest Leaf, surely they must have seen these kinds of problems in their lab tests. Rapidgate has hurt sales.

[@pashko90]

What? They does have bms here. They have no thermal managment.

[@mikecarter2737]

@@pashko90 Car slows heating by limiting power output, reducing charging speed. Car cools by thermal radiation, convection, and conduction. And these have been engineered. There is thermal management, just not the kind you imply you want.

[@pashko90]

@@mikecarter2737 yes, it's called "passive colling system", but from hod does it called in right way thousands batterry packs from a Leaf will not gonna get a new life.

[@charlie14823]

Damn 120000 miles / 190 000km and 87%SOH almost only QC that not so bad

[@SheepShearerMike]

Yeh, I wish! My 11 playe Leaf has 85,000 on the clock, but only 52% SOH, which being a 24kWh pack, gives a whole 30 range in the UK this winter!

[@RWBHere]

@@SheepShearerMike You might find that only a few battery cells need replacing, so the repair might not cost as much as you expect.

[@doughyun3428]

How much do you charge for a battery swap?

[@gryzman]

the whole rear of that pack looked a bit unhealthy. I wonder how long its going to last before other cells give up the ghost.

[@brianevolved2849]

they will last years if not abused

[@RedBatteryHead]

Great job.

[@epicfaction]

How much was this repair?

[@bogdanisacescu7296]

I’ve just received an estimate for replacing battery pack after 150.000 with Nissan Leaf tekna 40 kw guess how much ??? 15.199

[@Sagemeister007]

useful and informative

[@OraEtLabora0]

6:15 any idea how much his range got improved? 🤔 i see SOH 87.35 from before to 87.34 after the job...🤔

[@SheepShearerMike]

I saw that too, if the SOH is the same, how does the range increase, that steps above my knowledge so hopefully someone can answer.

[@mackemsruleFTM]

@@SheepShearerMike because as noted on the first leafspy shot, the pack of cells that were not balancing would not have been used for power by the car so less range, dunno why they didn't show the range on the gom before and after. And the soh applies to the health, not the range it would only show a loss of range if it got to below 85% soh where it would lose a bar

[@bertchalmers]

How does a repair like that cost?

[@dot7107]

One day work and one used module (since u cannot buy those as spare part from dealer), maybe less than 2k?

[@bertchalmers]

@@dot7107 Been quoted more for a Gearbox or a Turbo swap on a Diseasel! if thats the case, thats PDG!

[@Jamesandkate]

£900

[@bertchalmers]

@@Jamesandkate WOW! incl labour?

[@alanjenkinson7812]

Why wouldn’t that have been a warranty job James?

[@lithgowwilson5157]

It wouldn't be covered by warranty as the normal warranty is 8 years OR 160,00 KM which is approx 100,000 Miles as this car is over that the battery is out of warranty by quite a bit.

[@restfulplace3273]

Thanks for post

[@04dram04]

That bloating look so dangerous

[@markmonte-colombi7142]

Hi I have a 24 KW leaf 64 plate it's dropped one bar would this be a very costly fix by your team please . many thanks

[@miloe436]

This video shows a bit uncommon issue when cells or modules are failing. In most packs the degration happens in all the cells so you can't do much about this. Other than change the whole pack of course.

[@matijasokola3879]

Losing 1 bar is not a reason for concern, after 6 years. Do make a note at what mileage that was when 1 bar was lost. Then use normally until the second bar loss - you may expect it to be 20-30k miles or 2-3 years later, unless you are rapid-charging it all the time.

[@markmonte-colombi7142]

@@matijasokola3879 many thanks i just was gutted when it happened lost about 8 miles in range

[@kindog86]

How many highly skilled EV garages like Cleevely Motors r there across UK 🤔 We r gonna need a log of these independents otherwise the dealerships will do wat the always do...... ridiculously overcharge owners. In this case tell u the entire battery needs replaced. Apprenticeships wud be good start.

[@Jamesandkate]

If you search HEVRA, most of these guys could undertake what we're doing 👍🏻