— A class action lawsuit against Nissan in Canada alleges LEAF electric vehicles are equipped with defective high voltage batteries that can cause fires.
Even with recalls, the risk of melting components and battery fires allegedly remain.
The Nissan Canada class action lawsuit includes:
"All persons in Quebec who own, purchased, lease and/or leased one or more of the Subject Vehicles, namely the 2019–2022 Nissan Leaf vehicles equipped with a Level 3 quick charging port."
The 2019-2022 Nissan LEAFs are equipped with either 40 kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 62 kWh lithium-ion battery packs allegedly prone to overheat and suffering short circuits. The problem is worse when using Level 3 direct current (DC) fast charging via the CHAdeMO connector.
The Nissan lawsuit says overheating can cause melting of the charging components, electrical damage and fires.
According to the class action, excessive lithium deposits on the battery’s anode is the cause, something simple software updates cannot repair. The lawsuit says LEAF high voltage battery cells are purportedly defective and recalls issued by Nissan will not help.
The plaintiff who sued, only listed as B.S., complains Nissan offers only software updates to monitor the LEAF batteries regarding the state of charge and possible overheating incidents.
And because Level 3 fast charging makes things worse, Nissan has warned customers not to charge the vehicles with fast charging via the CHAdeMO connectors.
Nissan LEAF customers purportedly paid for fast charging but cannot use the feature until the vehicles have the software updates.
The plaintiff complains fast charging via the CHAdeMO connector is a key reason why consumers purchase or lease the electric LEAFs, meaning customers have not received the vehicles they bargained for.
And the class action lawsuit further claims the only way to repair the LEAF electric vehicles is to replace the defective high voltage batteries, or for Nissan to buyback the LEAFs.
The Nissan LEAF Level 2 charging class action lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Quebec of the District of Montreal Canada: B.S. v. Nissan Canada Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Lex Group Inc.