What 158 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Nissan Leaf Bev

While attempting to drive on icy pavement and “rocking” the vehicle forward and back, the motor accelerates uncontrolled without pressing the accelerator and would not stop when the brake pedal was pressed and released. It would only stop when the brake pedal was held depressed. I do not have a photo, but I do have a video which cannot be uploaded since it’s not a photo file. I would be happy to provide if requested.

NHTSA ODI 11642564

Nissan has delayed the fire-safety fix for the 2020 LEAF's (CHATdeMO) direct current charging defect. The recall was listed in September 2024 and it was supposed to be available in 2024. However, the fix is delayed until March 2025. As a result of this delay, I am unable to use the vehicle as intended, since direct current fast charging is prohibited. This is causing me great inconvenience. Can NHTSA demand Nissan ready this important safety fix in a timely fashion? Waiting six months for a recall that will likely only involve software modification is unacceptable! Please take action!

NHTSA ODI 11640120

The defrost in my Nissan Leaf with does not function at all when the temperature is below around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I found this out by having my windshield rapidly frost over while driving down the highway at over 65 MPH, almost causing a multi-vehicle accident because I could not see out of any of my windows. When I departed for my trip the vehicle had defrost functionality, but the ambient temperature must have dropped during my trip to the point where I can only assume the heat pump became disabled by the vehicle control systems, leaving only the Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater to supply defrost functionality. I assume that my PTC heater is somehow inoperative and thus resulted in the rapid frosting without any warning or indication to the driver. I see this as a critical safety concern as it affects vehicle visibility and defrost performance to where the vehicle no longer meets FMVSS Standard 103. Driving in ambient temperatures around the point at which the heat pump becomes disabled can cause rapid frosting of the vehicle windows with zero warning or indication of the defrost functionality being compromised. Since it only happens in extreme cold, I assume the issue is related to the Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater that is supposed to kick in when the vehicles heat pump becomes ineffective below a specific ambient temperature. I tried the process outlined in NTHSA recall 22V-048, but it still does not supply any defrost functionality. Conducting a quick internet search has resulted in numerous other Leaf owners experiencing similar issues with their loss of defrost functionality and vehicle heat in extreme cold ambient temperatures. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealer or the manufacturer. I was lucky and did not get into an accident, but other owners of this vehicle may not be so lucky. I feel that Nissan is hiding a known defect here since there was already a recall related to Defrost performance.

NHTSA ODI 11637211

My Nissan Leaf high voltage battery has experienced excessive heating due to normal use of the level 3 chargers. Recently the battery tripped a fault sensor due to the expansion of battery cells due to excessive heating, and the vehicle is no longer drivable. They recommend replacing the battery, but refuse to help with the repairs because the vehicle is 3000 miles over the battery warranty. With the latest recall I believe this is unacceptable, and Nissan isn't even sure they can get a replacement battery. Please help.

NHTSA ODI 11636592

Hello. I have a 20/20 Nissan Leaf SV Plus. This morning I had a total brake failure for lack of a better term. The E-Pedal system, which I always use, suddenly failed while I was driving, showing a warning on screen that said E-Pedal system malfunction... Please use pedal to break. When I went to use the pedal to break nothing happened except for this horrible sound and feel in the pedal. It barely just finally grabbed a little bit enough to stop before I hit the car ahead of me. But it was nothing short of a total brake failure, both E-Pedal and manual pedal. Extremely distressing. What I want to know is how on earth when the E-Pedal fails, the normal manual brake pedal doesn't work either. One thing to note, I let it sit almost all day while I was at work, went out and tried it, and it suddenly was working. I drove around the parking lot, turned it off...back on ..and then The E-Pedal warning came up again. I then went and purchased a 12 volt battery, as I read in some forums that it's possibly due to that. That also did nothing. Got the same E-pedal malfunction. The main reason I'm letting your agency know, is because I would consider this a total break failure, and completely unacceptable. By sheer luck I was only going about 5 mph when it first happened, and I could still barely break in time. Any help on the Federal level...would be great. Thank you so much for your time.

NHTSA ODI 11636177

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Leaf SV Plus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V700000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11635100

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V700000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11631569

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V700000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An unknown dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11631663

Driving on [XXX] to Denver, when it gets to about 55% it jumps to less than 10% triggering an alarm to recharge. And by the time I get to the nearest charger, it’s about 1%. When I stop at traffic light it goes back up. Just started this recently. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11630796

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V700000 (Electrical System) and 24V071000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the remedy parts were not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11628907

Recall # R24B2 has a projected correction date of MARCH 2025 -just updated from NOVEMBER 2024!! This is totally unacceptable and the NHTSA needs to push for a quicker resolution.

NHTSA ODI 11628652

I have previously had an issue with low resistance of the high voltage battery. This resulted in the car giving a warning code that prevents the restart of the vehicle once it's turned off. This is itself potentially leaves a driver in an unsafe location if they are in an isolated place since you are also unable to charge. I took it to the dealer multiple times and it took them almost a month to determine the vehicle did have an issue, that it needed 8 modules out of around 24 total replaced. These modules were replaced and the vehicle was returned to me. In spite of this the vehicle when under 50% capacity still exhibits erratic range and capacity readouts when under heavy load. The vehicle has been returned to the dealer and is under investigation again because it is unsafe to drive in this condition. There is currently an outstanding recall for high internal resistance when dc charging. This is the same resistance the battery has at all times so to assume it will only be a charging issue and not discharging is disingenuous. Any time a high load, either going into or out of, the battery a high internal resistance will lead to a cascading failure. The only repair is either replacement or the battery or derating the battery. The latter would vastly decrease the capabilities of the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11627966

Approximately 20% of the time this vehicle is driven, the backup camera displays BLANK. A short term remedy has been to put the vehicle back in Park, exit the vehicle and apply a firm "smack" near the backup camera located on the rear hatch using a closed fist. This tends to temporarily solve the symptom of a BLANK backup camera output until inevitably the same thing happens again several days later during a subsequent drive. This is an active recall, this vehicle has been demonstrating this symptom for at least a year if not more, but even though the recall notice was received around February 2024, there is still no solution posted for us to seek repairs at the Nissan dealer.

NHTSA ODI 11607327

Backup camera is not working. I know it’s got an open recall for this issue but it’s taking them so long to replace a cable. Just wanted this on record

NHTSA ODI 11605007

My back up camera is having issue, like becoming dark, multicolored and pink. It is not safe to back up especially when it rains. I purchased this car two months ago (December, 2023) and this problem started a month ago, sometimes it works fine but mostly is not working. I contacted the Nissan dealer I purchsed from but they did not confirmed the issue and I know a lot of people (in Facebook group) who has the same issue with their Nissan Leaf even with new 2023 models, mine is 2020. When I called the dealer to inspect they are charging me $130 just to inspect. It's 25,000 miles on this car, this is pretty new car. Thank you!

NHTSA ODI 11571778

About 3 months ago, I took this car in after receiving a recall notice for unexpected acceleration while on adaptive cruise control even though this was an issue I had never experienced before. But on monday, driving in stop and go traffic in light rain (intermittent wipers on slow setting), all of a sudden the car started accelerating directly towards the car 20 feet or so in front of us; the brakes had to be manually slammed on to bring the car to stop with now only 2-3 feet or so between the two cars. This was very alarming. When I spoke to the dealership about them needing to fix this safety issue and how I thought it must be related to the recall, they said it could not be given it first happened 3 months later and I would have to pay for an evaluation and if they found anything wrong for the repair. I am reporting this and would like to know if other Nissan Leafs are seeing the same issue post-recall repair. I will say it doesn't happen all the time since I like and use adaptive cruise control regularly. I carefully tried it after this event but with much more distance between me and the car in front and it did slow the car down as it normally does when traffic slowed, but again, I never got as close to the car as this time and it was not raining so who knows. I have reported this to Nissan corporate and was told someone would call me back in the next few days.

NHTSA ODI 11561110

I was driving on Interstate Highway H-3, uphill at 55 mph, when the % charge on the high-voltage battery instantaneously dropped from 18 to 5%. The warning light also came on. I was not using the A/C at the time. Over the next 30 seconds or so, the gauge quickly went from 5...4...3...2....1. By dumb luck, as the gauge hit 1%, I hit peak elevation on the mountain pass, and was able to coast in neutral until the freeway starts going downhill. Normally, an 18% charge would have been more than enough to comfortable complete my trip home from where I was on H-3 at the time. A sudden drop in battery % could lead to a cutoff of the motor, which at high-speed on a highway could cause a serious accident. I have subsequently done a battery health test and found the State of Health rating to be 90%. There don't appear to be any bad cells in the battery that would explain the sudden drop while driving. My hunch is that this problem is related to the firmware update I received at the Nissan dealer to address NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V494000.

NHTSA ODI 11557509

backup camera was intermittently not working. Dealer tested and found "rear camera image signal test at the avm connector 20-19, and the signal is not normal". Code U111A-00 was found. Camera was replaced under extended warranty with $100 deductible, code was cleared and camera is now working. Vehicle has been in service for 2.5yrs and has 40k miles. I've seen several Nissan backup Camera recalls, but my vehicle was apparently not included? Submitting in case others are experiencing and a recall might be needed?

NHTSA ODI 11549490

1. Unexpected acceleration, AC power, Computer dash controls, and Computer programming for GPS coordinates for charging stations out of date and or tampered with (status was "out of range" and did not match range number on the odometer. Computer Programming for charge stations is a dynamic feature when it works right. Its a component of the vehicle to be able to operate and get people to where they need to go, and it was malfunctioning on a recent road trip and gave me bad intel, etc. Again, the intel did not match the instrument panel located under the steering column. 2. This vehicle has been serviced with a software update that was supposed to correct the Issues. It did not work. 3. Nissan put the situation back in my lap and asked me to drive them around (three times now to "replicate")?! I did on the second or third visit, and could not get the unexpected acceleration to replicate during that 45 minute drive. The other issues they have completely dismissed. Please note: These issues have been well documented by your website and EV Insiders (see recalls), and by ME (the consumer and purchaser of that car). 4. The chief network architects for Nissan according to LinkedIn are: Juan Valdez Cybersecurity and network architect, Shane Callahan CISO, and or Arnold Hahamyan Cheif Enterprise Architect (Nissan Americas). Can someone reach out to these guys to see what is chiefly responsible for the flaw in their gateway/software. And why a 2020 Leaf why the programing to find charging station is flawed and or corrupted? 5. Last, since whatever software change occurred and or cyber attack (assuming), Emode is the safest way to drive the car, economy drive has had the problem with unexpected acceleration. Note: Car sped up after taking foot off accelerator and between foot pedal breaking, this occurred coming up to Red lights, parking, car wash, etc. 6. Theres something wrong with the cruise control too, and it does not always work right.

NHTSA ODI 11545658

Makes clicking sound when changing from Park to Drive mode or Drive to Park, Park to Reverse, etc. The click is loud enough to hear with windows closed. The clicks are also heard when starting to accelerate or when decelerating. I first noticed this a few months ago, but these clicking sounds seem to be getting louder.

NHTSA ODI 11535310

Nissan claims that a previous recall for Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, Rear Visibility could be fixed with a system update (recall 20V412000). This does not appear to be the case. I had the system update run already in December 2022 and it didn't fix the problem. The rear backup camera still goes pink and is not visible. I believe this is a hardware issue and should be fixed because it is a major safety problem.

NHTSA ODI 11531755

A yellow warning ️ and two cars crashing comes on and during driving the car applies sudden breaking. I took the car in for repairs but no time line was given for repairs or parts. Also even though it's under warranty the dealer and the headquarter would not give me a rental car until the repairs are made.

NHTSA ODI 11520616

The backup camera of my 2020 Nissan Leaf does not consistently work. Often, the screen is bright pink and does not show the view of behind the vehicle. Clearly, it is a safety issue to have a malfunctioning backup camera. I am getting it serviced by a Nissan dealer next week. The failure seems to be related to opening and shutting the rear hatch, because sometimes the camera would work and sometimes it failed. It is consistently broken now.

NHTSA ODI 11502632

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? AEB may have malfunctioned. Yes, I will provide the car for official inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Possible injuries from abrupt braking; possible and likely rear-end collision if drivers behind me. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No. I have not contacted Nissan. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No. I have not contacted any gov agency or insurance carrier. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Yes. I saw three red flashes and associated sounds warning of imminent collision - even though NOTHING was in front of the car that would cause the AEB to engage. Below is my incident description: My work has an underground garage. I was entering the garage, went down one level, and then on my way back up the next level. There are speed bumps going down and going up, so you cannot go very fast. On my way back up (incline), the AEB unexpectedly activated with red buttons flashing about three times with sound (as if I was about to crash into something) and then the car abruptly stopped. I stepped on the accelerator to try and go and it would not budge. I'm still on the incline. If there were cars behind me, I would have most likely been rear-ended because this incident came out of nowhere and my car just stopped. There were no moving cars in front of me that would indicate a near collision, only parked cars. I had driven this route in the past so I don't know what was different today. Car just stopped. I am still on incline; placed car in park; waited few seconds; placed car in drive and was finally able to move the car.

NHTSA ODI 11487085

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH in the rain, a tree branch fell and struck the passenger’s side of the vehicle causing the air bags to deploy. The contact stated that he lost control of the vehicle when the air bags deployed. Additionally, the vehicle lost steering and braking functionality. There was an unknown warning light illuminated during the failure. The vehicle then lost electrical and motive power and rolled to a complete stop. There was no injury sustained. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and was still awaiting the needed repairs. Neither a dealer nor the manufacturer had been contacted or notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 12,000.

NHTSA ODI 11451220