NHTSA Complaint #11388634 — 2019 NISSAN TITAN

2019 NISSAN TITAN PRO-4X WHILE DRIVING THE TRUCK, THE BATTERY VOLTAGE WILL DROP BELOW 12 VOLTS (AS LOW AS 11.75 VOLTS). WHEN THE VOLTAGE IS LOW I'VE NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION IS CONSTANTLY 'HUNTING' TO FIND THE RIGHT GEAR. ALSO THE THROTTLE CONTROL BECOMES 'SLUGGISH'. WHEN TRYING TO LIGHTLY ACCELERATE IT WILL NOT GAIN SPEED UNTIL THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTS HARSHLY. ON A HANDFUL OF OCCASIONS I'VE EXPERIENCED AN ISSUE WHERE I CAN PUSH THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO THE FLOOR AND IT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. THE ENGINE RPMS WOULD SLOWLY INCREASE BUT THE TRUCK WOULD CONTINUE TO SLOW DOWN AS IF THE TRANSMISSION WAS NOT FULLY 'ENGAGED'. ONCE EVERY 2-3 USES OF THE TRUCK IT WILL NOT START AND ACTS LIKE THE BATTERY IS DEAD. I JUMP START IT AND THEN IT CRANKS RIGHT AWAY. I'VE LOAD TESTED THE BATTERY AND IT IS STILL IN GOOD CONDITION. THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP BUT NOW IS A CONSISTENT PROBLEM. I'VE HAD TO BUY A PORTABLE BATTERY JUMP STARTER TO KEEP IN THE TRUCK BECAUSE I KEEP GETTING STRANDED. THIS IS ALSO A POSSIBLE SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE ELECTRICAL CONTROL SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO OPERATE ABOVE 12 VOLTS. WHEN THE VOLTAGE DROPS BELOW 12 VOLTS THEN IT IS POSSIBLE TO RENDER SOME OF THE VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEMS (INCLUDING SAFETY SYSTEMS) INOPERABLE WHICH COULD POSSIBLY RESULT IN A CRASH CAUSING INJURY AND/OR DEATH. I AM A CONTROL SYSTEMS ENGINEER AND HAVE OVER 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICAL CONTROLS.