NHTSA Complaint #11635126 — 2016 NISSAN LEAF

On January 9, a little after 12:30 pm, on Indian Head Highway (MD route 210) northbound near the Manokeek exit, after limiting drive power owing to battery degradation and cold weather (about 30 F) drive power and power steering failed entirely. There was no warning to pull over so I suspect this is an undocumented failure mode. After the car was towed home, it would not charge when plugged in until after I disconnected the 12 v battery and reconnected it after about ten minutes. It would then charge and after a few minutes I checked and it would send power to the wheels and power steering again. The state of charge of the lithium ion battery was about 86% throughout. This was not a failure of the on board 12 v battery charging system or 12 v battery which the tow truck driver tested as good, it is quite new. After the reset of disconnecting the 12 v battery and reconnecting, the terminals show higher voltage when the car is on than when it is off. Attached please find a picture of the warning lights after the car failed. Note that the battery light is for the 12 volt battery but there is nothing wrong with it. Also atteched, voltmeter readings when the car is off and on showing that the 12 volt battery recharging system is working. This car may or may not have an optional battery warmer, but its range of operation is well below the 30 F temperature when the failure occured. The car is more that two years overdue for warranty lithium ion battery replacement owing to manufacture delay.