2010 Nissan Xterra S Sport Utility 4-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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Nissan prices replacement Leaf battery at $5,500

The battery pack is the single most expensive component in a plug-in vehicle and, until now, figuring out the cost to replace one has been a bit of a mystery. Last year, Nissan tried a $100/month price for a new battery in its popular Leaf, but was loudly criticized for that attempt. Today, Nissan is changing gears with a big announcement regarding the price of a new pack for your Nissan Leaf: $5,500 to buy. With an asterisk. Nissan's Brian Brockman, writing at My Nissan Leaf, announced that Nissan Leaf replacement batteries are now available to purchase at certified Leaf dealers in the US at a suggested retail price of $5,499. These packs are the ones found in 2015 Leaf models, which are similar to the ones the Leaf has always had, just with a different, better battery chemistry. To buy a new pack, you need to give Nissan your original battery pack (which Nissan says will be recycled and has a value of $1,000) and the $5,500 "does not include tax, installation fees or an installation kit required for 2011 and 2012 vehicles." That kit costs around $225. A $100/month financing program will still be available (details will be made available later) but now it will have an end date and the driver will own the pack at the end of the payment process. All replacement packs will have the same eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty as the battery in a new Leaf. You can read Brockman's full statement below or over on My Nissan Leaf. Ever since the Leaf entered the market in late 2010, Nissan has been dealing with degrading battery issue, both as a real thing (in warm climates like Arizona) and as a worry in the mind of potential customers. Now that we know how much it'll cost to get a new pack, we can calculate that the overall cost for a new 24-kWh pack is now officially $6,500. That means the price to a customer is less than $270-per-kWh. That's quite low compared to some early estimates, right on target with others and a very big deal for EV shoppers and drivers out there. Hi all: I'm happy to be back to provide a long-awaited update on the Nissan LEAF battery replacement plan. Last year, I posted preliminary details of the program that we'd created based on early survey data, and it led to spirited discussion (and very vocal criticism). So we went back to the drawing board with your comments and the ongoing guidance of the LEAF Advisory Board.

The Carlos and Dieter Show promises more collaboration

Daimler and Renault-Nissan said Friday the automakers have expanded their four-year-old alliance to include putting a Renault diesel in the Mercedes C-Class, a Mercedes gasoline engine in an Infiniti and possibly will involve automated driving technologies in the near future. At a joint Paris Motor Show press conference dubbed 'The Carlos and Dieter Show' by European media, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Ghosn and Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Daimler and Renault-Nissan began their partnership in 2010 with plans to collaborate on three projects. They've since expanded that and are working on 12 projects together, including building a joint plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Renault-Nissan and Daimler are launching their first vehicles developed together from scratch: the Renault Twingo (which went on sale in September) and the new Smart Fortwo and Smart Forfour, which go on sale in November.

Nissan EV design is diverging in three directions

As the movie awards season kicks into high gear, Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura appears to be implying that his company's electric-vehicle design prospects are about to go from Philomena into The Wolf of Wall Street territory. Nakamura, speaking with Motor Authority at the Detroit Auto Show last week, allowed that the design of the five-seat Nissan Leaf is fairly conservative and will remain so given that the model continues to be the most practically-minded EV from the company. In the near future, though, Nissan is planning to head in different directions. Specifically, an all-electric sports car and a two-seat commuter vehicle that could come with in-wheel electric motors that will allow the designs to get more radical. How radical? Well, we've heard Nissan may bring the BladeGlider concept (pictured) it unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show late last year to production. It has a narrow front and wider rear and a 1+2 seating arrangement. Beyond that, Nissan has the two-seat Esflow concept vehicle it showed off in 2011 that could provide some hints, since it's expected that some of the design components from that car will be worked into the upcoming production models.