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Nissan: We lose money on each Leaf replacement battery

Nissan has been playing its cards pretty close to its chest when it comes to the production costs for Leaf battery packs. The company recently put a price on replacement batteries for customers at $5,500 plus the requirement to return the old battery. If the decommissioned battery is worth $1,000 to Nissan, as they have stated, that means the battery costs about $6,500 to make, right? Maybe even less if Nissan wants to turn a profit, as automakers are wont to do? Wrong.
Green Car Reports spoke to Nissan about these battery costs, and found that the automaker actually loses money on selling the replacement battery for the Leaf at the current price. Jeff Kuhlman, Nissan's vice president of global communications said, "Nissan makes zero margin on the replacement program. In fact, we subvent every exchange." All you English majors will know that "subvent" is a fancy way to say "subsidize." Kuhlman added, though, "We have yet to sell one battery as part of the program."
The fact that Nissan offers its replacement batteries for less than it costs to manufacture them is telling of a company both cares about what its customer needs and is dedicated to the success of its product. In this case, both of those things encourage people to give up fossil fuels and adopt electric mobility, which is heartening. As more people switch to battery-powered driving, though, battery technology should become better and cheaper, and the scale of production should cause manufacturing costs to decrease. Eventually, Nissan could easily see itself breaking even selling the Leaf battery replacements.

Nissan, Infiniti recall more than 130,000 vehicles for potential fuel leak

Nissan and its luxury brand, Infiniti, are set to recall 133,592 vehicles after discovering that fuel could leak out around the pressure sensor, potentially increasing the chances of a fire. While Nissan lists five nameplates in its recall, there are actually only three models affected by the improperly tightened fuel pressure sensor. They include the 2012 to 2014 Nissan Juke, as well as 2012 to 2015 Infiniti M56/Q70 sedans and QX56/QX80 SUVs. Nissan will begin notifying owners of affected vehicles soon, with the recall expected to officially kick off no later than January 26, 2015. Naturally, repairs will be conducted free of charge. Scroll down for the official bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And stay tuned for more news coming out of the NHTSA offices today. In addition to Honda's expansion of its recall for vehicles with Takata-built airbag inflators, the regulatory body published a huge number of unrelated recalls this morning, helping to stack the total number of called-back vehicles even higher in these last weeks of 2014. Report Receipt Date: NOV 28, 2014 NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V683000 Component(s): FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Potential Number of Units Affected: 133,592 Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc. SUMMARY: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 Nissan Juke, 2012-2013 Infiniti M56, QX56, and 2014-2015 Infiniti Q70, and QX80 vehicles. The fuel pressure sensors may not have been sufficiently tightened during production. As a result, the fuel pressure sensor may loosen with vehicle usage and cause a fuel leak. CONSEQUENCE: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source could cause a vehicle fire. REMEDY: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pressure sensors, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before January 26, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261. NOTES: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov. This is an expansion of recall 12V-069 Featured Gallery 2015 Infiniti QX80 View 26 Photos Related Gallery 2013 Nissan Juke Nismo News Source: National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationImage Credit: Infiniti, Nissan Recalls Infiniti Nissan Safety Crossover SUV Luxury Sedan infiniti qx80 infiniti m56 infiniti q70

Nissan not shuttering Leaf EV battery plants, at least not yet

The big news on the electric vehicle front today is that Nissan is considering slowing down EV battery production in the US and UK and source all of Nissan's big packs come from Japan. Nissan may also buy some batteries from the Korean company LG Chem. This is apparently causing dissent within Nissan, but it follows what Alliance partner Renault is doing in the hunt for 180-mile EVs. This change – officially denied by Nissan – raises a lot of questions here, since Nissan made a huge deal about building the Leaf pack in Tennessee a few years ago. In fact, the car's big price drop was due, in part, to localizing battery production. If the company is really going to give up on building the packs where it makes the cars, then does Nissan not see itself as being capable of producing an energy-dense battery cheap enough to compete with Tesla and its Gigafactory and GM (which, of course, has long worked with LG Chem on batteries)? Whatever Nissan decides, it needs to be ready to compete in a market that offers a $35,000, 200-mile car by 2017. "We have not taken any decision whatsoever to modify battery sourcing allocation." – Renault-Nissan's Rachel Konrad Nissan would not comment directly on the reported change, but Rachel Konrad, the Alliance's global director of communications and marketing told AutoblogGreen, "The Renault-Nissan Alliance remains 100 percent committed to its industry-leading EV program. This global commitment continues for the foreseeable future, and we have not taken any decision whatsoever to modify battery sourcing allocation. Nissan has no plans to impair its battery investments. Beyond that,we will not comment on speculation or anonymous sources, and as a matter of policy the Alliance does not confirm or deny procurement reviews." There's a point-of-view where it doesn't matter where the batteries come from if the resulting EV is competitive, price-wise. Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, after all, said during a recent Twizy test drive that the battery is a means, and the objective is the car. In the end, Nissan is saying it has no near-term or medium-term plan to shutter plants in US or UK and CEO Carlos Ghosn says, "What's important to us is that electric car performance fully meets customer expectations." Whatever's going on, Ghosn has seen three top executives leave the Renault-Nissan family recently.