His electric vehicle battery died. One year later, he's still waiting for a replacement
Supply chain issues, changing technology make it harder to find batteries for older EV models
Some car owners looking to replace the battery that powers their Nissan Leaf electric vehicles are frustrated with how long it's taking to get back on the road.
Mississauga, Ont., resident Atif Harooni bought a new Leaf in 2017 to save money on gas and to take advantage of a $14,000 government rebate for electric vehicles.
"It was good and it all ran well," Harooni told CBC Toronto in an interview. "I really like driving it and it's very little maintenance."
But much of his goodwill has since drained.
Harooni was told the vehicle's main high-voltage battery needed to be replaced after the car broke down on the highway twice last year: first in late November, then again one week later. He had to hire a tow truck to haul it to his local dealership in Milton, Ont., both times.
While the replacement falls under the warranty covering 160,000 km or eight years, whichever comes first, Harooni said he is still waiting for it to arrive — and he has no idea when that might be.
He said at first he was told by staff at the Milton dealership that a replacement battery was in stock and would be ready in a week. Then, he was told he would have to wait three months.
One year later, Harooni's still driving a courtesy rental car and paying out of pocket for gas while his Nissan Leaf sits in the parking lot of the dealership. He said he's moved up from 17th to 15th in the nationwide queue for replacement batteries, but still doesn't have an estimated date for when he might get one.
In a recent email to Harooni viewed by CBC Toronto, a representative of Nissan Canada said the automaker is experiencing "global supply chain shortages," causing delays in the production and delivery of electric vehicle batteries in Canada.
"Initially, I was OK with it. I understood there might be supply chain issues. But not giving me the ETA is just frustrating," Harooni said. "They are producing new car batteries right now, so I'm not sure why they can't produce replacement batteries."
Quebec Leaf owner unsure when battery replacement will happen
Harooni is not the only Nissan Leaf driver waiting indefinitely for a replacement battery.
Chris Hornibrook, who lives near Sherbrooke, Que., said he bought a used 2016 Nissan Leaf four years ago. When the battery failed this October, the dealership told him it would need to be replaced.
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"[They said] it might be a year, year and a half, who knows?" he said.
Harooni's and Hornibrook's experiences come just as the federal government is encouraging automakers to boost production of battery-powered cars and trucks by effectively banning the sale of new passenger vehicles powered only by gasoline or diesel in 2035.
Cara Clairman, CEO of the non-profit Plug'n Drive, said it's extremely rare for electric vehicle batteries to fail completely, so the risk of battery failure shouldn't discourage consumers from buying an electric vehicle.
"A lemon can happen, but … the data that we have shows, actually, that the batteries are lasting extremely, extremely well," she said.
Nissan Canada 'working diligently' on replacement battery
CBC Toronto reached out to Nissan Canada about Harooni's case, requesting an interview and sending a detailed list of questions.
In an email statement, spokesperson Douâa Jazouli wrote: "We have been working diligently on a compatible replacement battery for the 30kW-h Lithium Ion Battery included in the model year 2017 LEAF, which is no longer in production, and are approaching a sustainable fix for the Canadian market."
Jazouli said Nissan Canada is planning to provide Harooni with a "fuel reimbursement expense" and is working on possible buy-back options at Harooni's request.
Dimitry Anastakis, a business and history professor at the University of Toronto who's written several books on the automotive industry, said it's a challenge for Nissan to source a battery originally produced by a third-party supplier for a car that's been out of production for years, because the battery is no longer being produced and there are few available on the replacement market.
This is particularly the case for the Nissan Leaf, he said, because it was a "pioneer" in the electric vehicle market, and the batteries used for older models have been replaced by newer ones that aren't necessarily compatible.
"The reason that it's hard to get this gentleman a new battery is because he's got one of the very first electric vehicles and there's not a lot of these batteries kicking around," Anastakis said.
"There weren't a lot of them made, and at this stage of the game, that's a technology from 2017 that Nissan and its partners have really moved on from."
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Nissan was the first carmaker to achieve widespread success with a zero-emissions electric vehicle. After first hitting the road in December 2010, the Leaf was the world's best-selling electric vehicle for many years, until it was surpassed for the first time in 2020 by Tesla's Model 3, according to Nissan and Tesla's own figures.
Nissan said it has sold 20,327 Leaf vehicles in Canada since it launched in 2011.
After CBC News contacted Nissan Canada about Harooni's situation, he said the company reached out to him this week to apologize and inform him they are looking into paying him back for gas and towing expenses he's incurred, and will hopefully provide a new ETA for the battery soon.
He said his preference is to have the battery replaced and to keep the vehicle, but if it doesn't happen within the next few months, he wants Nissan to buy the vehicle back from him.
"I really like that car," he said. "I don't want it ending up in a landfill."
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