What To Do When Nissan LEAF Goes Dead

My 2011 Nissan Leaf just went dead, completely unresponsive. Anyone knows what to do other than towing to a dealership? This was a question posted on SF Bay Area Nissan LEAF Owners public group on Facebook and here is what the LEAF owners suggest.

First of all, it's a very good idea to keep a jump starter in your Nissan LEAF and ask help from an ICE car to jump start your car. But here are some other suggestions from LEAF owners.

Marc Fontana suggests to check the 12v battery. "You may just need IT to be recharged or replaced," her writes.

Alex Paniutin
Your Nissan LEAF's 12v battery is dead. Remember the dash board is powered by this little battery and has nothing to do with the big one. So jump start and off you go.

John Hinkle
recently had that happen to my 2011 Leaf with 90 K and I just got another 12 volt battery and put it in. Works great now.

Ivan Jue
A great idea to keep jumper cables or a battery box. You just never know. There's very little signs or hints of a 12V battery going bad (like a slowly cranking starter). Other signs of the 12v battery going bad is when you start seeing error messages on the dash that don't make sense or speedometer going backward or reading crazy digits. The Volt has similar symptoms when the 12v goes bad.

Tony Williams
It may surprise you, but while the 12 V battery doesn't have a cold cranking duty, it does have a severe cycle for a lead acid battery. It's no surprise that across all the various EVs, the early 12 volt battery failure issue is common. On the LEAF, the 12 V battery is their number one warranty claim. Tesla uses an AGM battery and they will tell you that it won't last more than about two years. The RAV4 EV, much like the Prius, will start doing all kinds of weird stuff as the 12 V battery gets weak. Personally, I prefer to use a lithium 12 V battery and will carry it from car to car over the many years of service that I expect from the battery. For any replacement battery in any EV, I highly recommend that if you can't afford a lithium 12 V battery get a deep cycle battery in the largest amp-hour size that will physically fit with either wet / flooded (lead-acid) cells or AGM. My current favorite for the RAV4 EV is an Exide AGM group 24F with 60 amp hour for less than $200. There is a $20 rebate through August of this year. This battery is also marketed as a Bosch Platinum and a Sears Platinum battery.