Nissan Leaf Battery Replacement Alternative To Dealer?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Does anyone know of a mechanic experienced in replacing and possibly upgrading a battery with longer range in a Nissan Leaf?  I think the Hawaii dealer price is currently around $15,000, more than the car is worth.  I’ve read about mainland shops that will use a non-Nissan battery, and not charge the dealer repair rate.  I’ve also watched a video of the process and it doesn’t seem that complicated, especially if someone has a lift and knows what they’re doing.

Any leads?

[HawaiiEV]

You are correct that it shouldn’t be that difficult with a lift, I know guys who do the hybrid packs but not heard of one doing a full EV pack. The issue will be obtaining it from the mainland as getting lithium cells shipped is more challenging. Per chance does your leaf have a bad charge port that’s been melting all the plugs? Trying to find the leaf that’s doing this and stop them, so inconsiderate as the plugs might never be fixed.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Thanks.
Charge plugs and ports work fine.  It's just that the battery is old, only gets about 40 miles on a charge now.  I read about a person who adapted an aftermarket battery to give their Leaf 220 mile range. The battery pack is big and heavy.  It would be possible to remove and intall new one without a lift, but I wouldn't want to try it.

[Durian Fiend]

Should be able to find someone to do for you. I have a friend off island with a Leaf. He says:

“It’s not physically complicated but you both need the new battery and to reprogram the car.
Also the high voltage is not to be dismissed.
The problem is that people discount the physical labor part. It’s a big honkin’ battery and needs heavy equipment to maneuver. People do it in their driveway with jacks but that’s iffy“

[HawaiiEV]

How will you dispose of the old lithium battery when you replace it?

[Carey]

HOTPE, why not go to the dealer & see how much it costs?
We were REALLY lucky when our 2014 Leaf (bought used 2017) had a system check in 2018 that showed, with less than a month left on the warranty, the battery qualified for a replacement...
Granted this was 4 years ago, but the warranty value THEN of the replacement was around $5K... still a big chunk of change... we also were OK with the standard range... so maybe the excess cost is in the total system upgrade for the newer system???
At this point, might be better to just wait for something like the new Lightening to make it here... & have a lot more range AND versatility (and higher cost that the battery replacement, however with EV tax offsets & that battery cost.... well... might be time to look for a newer vehicle...)
& 40mile range is a great car for many with short daily comments... so your Leaf, as is, still has value as a short commute car!
We had 47 mile range when we bought our Leaf, before the warranty replacement, & that did Keaau-Hilo & Keaau-Pahoa roundtrips with miles to spare!... added benefits, we got a vehicle that was less than 4 years old for a really great price! now it is 8yrs old with a battery that is over 4 & we still have almost new battery range (80mi on 80%)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

HOTPE, why not go to the dealer & see how much it costs? 

I think I mentioned it’s currently about $15,000.
Car is out of warranty period so no discounted replacement price. My thought was if a private repair shop charged a reasonable markup on battery and labor, not inflated dealer rates it might be possible.  The car only has 10,000 miles on it.

[Durian Fiend]

Have you tried calling a couple shops to see if they're interested? 10K miles is really low for the battery to be dying. Not impressive.

My friend says these cars are not engineered to be maintained for long term ownership. His has 100K so he decided to replace front end and steering parts. He's found the job to be far more difficult with this model than your average car, and requiring some special tools.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

10K miles is really low for the battery to be dying.

It’s not the mileage or the cycles, it’s the age.  It’s one of the oldest models.  Still OK for subdivision driving, but don’t want to venture out much farther without new batteries.  Solar power makes charging virtually free, so would be worth the cost of new batteries if it were more like $5000.

[Rob Tucker]

Ebay has some Nissan LEaf replacement battery packs for under $5,000.... not that I know much on the topic.