Photo courtesy of EVs Enhanced.
Flip The Fleet (Henrik Moller, Daniel Myall and Dima Ivanov), Donald Love, Joe Barnett, Mark Nixon and Walter Larason
November 23, 2018, New Zealand.
Executive summary
We have become aware of over 60 reported failures (“failure” hereafter) of the electrically-driven brake control unit (called an ‘e-ACT Electrically-driven Intelligent Brake Control Unit’ by Nissan,”brake control unit“ hereafter) in Gen 1.2/1.3 Nissan Leafs manufactured between November 2012 and February 2016 (“vehicle” hereafter). We are aware of 46 reported failures in USA, 10 in the UK and Ireland, and 5 in New Zealand.
Our research has led us to believe that these failures can be attributed to faulty ‘Series-A’ firmware that is written into the brake control unit at the time of manufacture (or a subsequent firmware update to ‘Series-B’). Analysis of the vehicle’s fault code history after a failure indicates that the other systems in the car no longer get any response when trying to communicate with the brake control unit. In other words, it appears that the brake control unit ‘crashes’, causing a partial failure in the overall braking system of the vehicle.
We haven’t found anything that implies that these failures can occur in any other Nissan vehicle, or, any other electric vehicle. Specifically in relation to other Nissan Leafs, Gen-1.2/1.3 models manufactured in March 2016 and later have a revised ‘Series-C’ version of the brake control unit firmware, and we have not been able to find any reported failures in Nissan Leafs running this ‘Series-C’ firmware. Gen 1.1 models manufactured in 2011 and 2012, and Gen 2 ‘40kWh’ models now in production appear to be running fundamentally different classes of brake control unit firmware, and we have not been able to find any reported failures in these Nissan Leafs.
In their recollections of failures, some drivers have described pressing the brake pedal as they normally do, but braking seemed ineffective and stopping ability was reduced or non-existant. Our research has shown that in case of a simulated failure, reduced braking ability is still available to the driver but:
- requires further brake pedal travel,
- requires much more pressure on the brake pedal,
- results in lots of strange, loud clunking and chattering noises and
- results in increased braking distance.
In Nissan’s words, “In this [special Assist] mode, the brakes are operational, but may require more pedal effort”. We assume that Nissan’s definition of ‘special assist mode’ describes the failures we are writing about here.
Nissan has issued voluntary service recalls to update the firmware for affected vehicles sold in the USA, Canada and certain European Nordic countries in 2015/2016 from ‘Series-A’ to ‘Series-B’ firmware, but we are aware that failures kept occurring in vehicles which had this service campaign carried out (i.e. ‘Series-B’ firmware update apparently did not fix all of the problems present in the ‘Series-A’ firmware). Nissan specifies that their voluntary service campaigns were addressing a problem that could only occur in extremely cold climates of minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) or lower. However, we have found failures that occurred in warmer climates of California and New Zealand, so we don’t believe the freezing temperature alone is the cause of the failures. Additionally, these service campaigns were either not made available or not compulsory for vehicles sold in the UK or Japan – almost exclusive sources for vehicles imported into New Zealand. We have been able to confirm that the ‘Series-B’ firmware is identical between right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive variants of the vehicle, and that the ‘Series-A’ firmware for generation 1.2 is identical between UK and Japanese models. We also have no information to suggest that the brake control units of the affected vehicles are different between the countries of first origin. Preliminary statistical analysis of the fragmentary data available estimates that between 2 and 15 such failures can be expected in New Zealand in the coming year if the number of these vehicles continue to grow at the rate seen over the past year.
Globally, there could be tens of thousands of vehicles that are currently running either the factory-installed ‘Series-A’ firmware or the updated ‘Series-B’ firmware, and are therefore prone to this failure. In New Zealand, specifically, we estimate there are around 2,400 potentially vulnerable vehicles, with a vast majority still running the factory-installed ‘Series-A’ firmware version.
Why we are concerned
We have become aware of a potential issue with the brake system in Nissan Leafs manufactured between November 2012 and February 2016. If you live in NZ, you can look your car’s registration number up on www.carjam.co.nz – on the first line “year”, the month of manufacture is listed in brackets, like “(2016-03)”. So far we know of at least five instances of partial brake failure in New Zealand and we are awaiting NZTA’s assessment of the risk and any potential remedies. Below, we set out what we know so far, but most importantly, we want to alert you to how you can react if you experience a brake failure: you may need to slam the brake pedal hard and right to the floor to get some braking! There will likely be strange noises, the brake pedal will feel rather different, and at first you might think there are no brakes at all. Note that even when pressing the brake pedal right to the floor, some individuals reported that they still had no braking force. The picture continues to be very uncertain, so if you can, please fill in the form on www.flipthefleet.org/leaf-brakes-logbook to share information about any issues you may already have experienced with your brakes. We would like to share your information with others to keep the EV community as safe as possible.
About us
For those new to our project, Flip The Fleet is a community project that empowers New Zealand-based EV drivers to play a vital part in building a brighter future for electric transport in our country. As you browse our Discussion and Resources pages, you’ll find a wealth of information on EVs, both quantified by the data we collected, and, from personal testimony of our participating kiwi drivers.
What we know
Rather than writing a formal report, we would like to share what we’ve learned over the last few months via a ‘hypothetical-questions-and-answers’ structure, below. If there are some questions we’ve missed, please write to us at brakes@flipthefleet.org and we’ll do our best to add them in as time allows. Here we go!
We understand and acknowledge that our findings don’t always please all the stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers, importers, dealers, drivers and various other organisations. But being a citizen science project, it is our moral obligation to publish the important findings (especially if it’s related to safety!), warts and all, despite the negative impact these actions may have on ourselves, businesses, regulators and EV owners alike. The findings presented in this blog surrounding the reported failures of the e-ACT Electrically-driven Intelligent Brake Control Unit, perhaps, fall into the ‘negative results’ bucket.
As a quick reminder, if you have one of these vehicles, please consider registering it with us by clicking here, so we can learn more about these failures and keep you up to date.
We hope this is helpful!
If you have any further questions, feedback or comments, please post them to the discussion below – we would love to hear from you! We’re all volunteers at Flip The Fleet, so depending on our workload, we may take a while to reply, or just choose to leave it to our community to chip in.
What about NZ new 2012 (registered in 2014) Gen 1 LEAFs. Has Nissan indicated they will update firmwares for those vehicles as part of the regular and compulsory 6-monthly service schedule?
NZ-new Leafs are Gen 1.1 Leafs so are not affected by this as far as we are aware.
We have recently sold our 2012 Japanese imported Generation 1 Leaf to a friend. The chassis number on the registration paper is 7AT0DH8KX1XXXXXXXX [de-identified]. As this number does not start with ZE0 do we assume it is manufactured after November 2012 and therefore potentially has this problem?
Hi,
That is a VIN number. Checking via http://www.carjam.co.nz it was manufactured 2012-02 and is a Gen 1.1 Leaf for which we aren’t aware of any failures.
Daniel
Wow I have a 2013 X from Japan – what should I do as i definitely dont want to find out about this while I am driving.
Glenn
Hi Glenn, I think the most important aspect at this stage is to be aware that there is a small chance it can happen (now at about ~0.3% in a year), and if it does happen, you need to press down on the brake pedal as hard as possible. You’ll need to ignore the strange mechanical noises and large resistance the pedal imposes initially. Dima has likened this to a seminar speaker telling you where the fire exits are, or, the flight attendant giving a pre-flight safety briefing. Most of the time you’ll never need to use the information, but is useful to be prepared in the rare case that something does happen.
having experienced this, it does feel a little strange leading up to the failure, it started feeling like it was grinding like a rusty rotor, then happened a week later
Hi I have a 2016 30kwh leaf. In car jam the Year says “2016 (2015-12)” the car was first registered in Japan in March 2016, so is it a 2015 year car or 2016? additionally my chassis number starts with AZEO-2, which according to this article “If your chassis number starts with AZE0-2, and your vehicle is running the ‘Series-C’ firmware, then you have a Nissan Leaf that we don’t believe is prone to the failures described here.” So I am assuming my Leaf is not prone to failure?? Thoughts any one??? Cheers fellow leafites!
Hi Stuart. Referencing CarJam’s “2016 (2015-12)”, it appears your car was built in December 2015 and could be prone to these failures. A way to make sure is to use LeafSpy Pro and to get your brake firmware – if it ends in “C”, then you’re fine, but otherwise, it may be prone.
I have the free version, so will get Pro. I have bought a couple on “dongles” in the past that don’t work on my leaf. Can someone recommend a dongle, (make and supplier) compatible for iphone and leaf that is reliable. Thanks
Hi Stuart – I’m not sure they’re 100% reliable, but I have one and only heard good things about the LE link model. It’s from USA, not the cheapest – but got to me in under a week and is working wonderfully with an iPhone. Check out this resource for a link and how to use it etc https://flipthefleet.org/resources/nissan-owners-how-to-scan-your-battery/
$1000? Or ?$2000 ? Please don’t damage the whole generus when a dollar figure can define a worst case .
The discussion of who pays ,without a cost ,could lead to confusion.
The 30kwh scare Did huge damage for a $100 fix.
Hi Berwick, Unfortunately, although we have tried, we haven’t be able to get any official answers about what the fix is and what it would cost.
Further details: As far as we understand, Nissan NZ, even though it is a fully owned subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. Limited in Japan, has no legal responsibility for these cars as they did not import or sell them. So they don’t have to offer any fix, and if they do they are within their legal rights to charge what they want. In the case of the 30 kWh firmware fix we were lucky that Nissan NZ offered the fix and at a reasonable cost. In terms of NZ law, we understand that it is the importers of the vehicles that take responsibility for resolving any issues. However, as far as we are aware there is no requirement that Nissan Motor Co. Limited in Japan has to offer firmware update files or any support to 3rd-party importers of vehicles. This makes it difficult for 3rd-party importers to support these vehicles which are becoming increasingly complex with multiple computer systems that often require updates. If NZ is going to rely on 2nd-hand imports from Japan and UK to reach its electric vehicle uptake goal these issues need to be addressed.
It’s also important to realise that we don’t know if Firmware ‘C’ actually fixes the problem we are observing. Nissan have not answered our question about what it does and whether it corrected the earlier brake problems (maybe it fixed some other aspect of the brakes performance?) – see the memos linked to the article. So, even if Nissan were to agree to make Firmware C available to NZers at a reasonable cost, we are not even sure that this would solve the problem. We (and NZTA) need more information from Nissan to decide what can and should be done, assuming of course that they agree that a significant risk exists for our drivers and public.
Hi I have a 2014 Nissan LEAF S Japanese import, my ECU version is 3NG9A Brake 470Y…. I guess that makes it prone to brake failure.
Hi Ron, could you please go through the process outlined on https://flipthefleet.org/leaf-brakes-logbook/ – you’ll be able to find out your month of manufacture, and confirm for sure whether your car is prone or not.
I had experienced similar issue with my Nissan Leaf 2011.
I guess initially it was my fault, I got distracted and accidentally hit a concrete column while heading out of the parking area.
It was in my office building so I was driving at a speed of less than 10km/hr.
I was intending to get off the car to check the (supposedly minor) damage but the car started to move backwards while I was stepping on the brake!
It hit the wall behind me and then started accelerating forward again, I was so scared, I was desperately pulling the hand break and pressing the park button but none of it was working.
Finally, the car smashed hard on another concrete column and stopped moving.
I was lucky enough that the air bag worked, that nobody got injured and no other vehicle got involved.
It was as if it self-destructed after the first impact.
My motor insurance company has decided for the car to be written off because it was badly damaged.
When I called Nissan to report the incident they did not sound convinced.
They told me that they have never heard anything like this before and that they cannot do anything about it unless I will file an official report so that the authorities will require them to conduct an investigation or take action.
I was too busy during that period and could not be bothered, I was given restricted time to decide whether to just move forward and get my insurance to pay me for a replacement car or go on with the investigation (at my cost).
The brake issue has been around for some time. See: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Leaf/ and: https://www.speakev.com/threads/leaf-brake-failure.16132/
I asked dealers and EV experts earlier this year about reports and they assured me there was no problem. Not so, it would appear — but as often happens, people only think there’s a problem after it affects them. This doesn’t put us off getting an EV, but it does put us off Nissan Leafs. Buyer beware!
It’s great to have voluntary organisations like the Flip the Fleet monitoring issues like this for us, and taking action. Thanks for the full and honest update
As a known and potentially life threatening brake issue that has been around for sometime, with no known fix, I wonder how NZTA can continue to allow importers to bring them into NZ. NZTA needs to move more quickly and inform the NZ public about the risks these models pose to road safety.
I am still unclear from the commentary what has happened to the cars that have had this problem. Have the vehicles self corrected, are they still driveable or write offs?
Greg, re NZTA – couldn’t agree more. As for the cars with this fault post-event, some self-correct after a power-cycle (disconnect and reconnect the 12V battery some time later), however, they are prone to re-faulting again. As this fault is not confirmed by Nissan as “existing”, or acknowledged by NZTA as a “significant risk”, there currently appears to be no grounds for writing these cars off. So yep, they’re still driving around our streets…
I had the same braking problems as described here and the disconnect-12v-battery trick worked for me, so worth a try. It’s like rebooting a PC you’ve left on for 7 years!
Anyhow, I switched off the car, disconnected the 12v battery negative cable only (left the +ve one connected), there was a few audible clicks for a while, waited 15 mins, reconnected battery -ve, waited 5 mins, switched car back on, lots of dashboard lights came on and stayed on, yikes!, so switched it off again, switched it back on, and it looks ok. Took it for a spin and the brakes worked fine!
Hello, I have Nissan Leaf 2013 (Gen2), Tekna UK version, and just experienced this issue. This was solved after I brought the car to dealership and they reset the car. I was told if this happen again I need to replace the brake controller for the cost of £1900 !!! I think I need to speak to Nissan UK to get them replace it for free, as it seems this is a known issue. Anyone can offer advice for me?
I’ve submitted my car data in the form. Thanks for the effort.
Regards,
I just posted my Brake Failure on Flip the Fleet but do not know how to get back into it. I had mentioned that our 12V battery had ‘degraded’ prior to this happening. It was probably about a month earlier, we had been away and the car was left sitting with a ~50% charge. However, couldn’t start or get into the car when we tried. Apparently the 12V battery had gone flat??? Uncertain on this as when we did charge it, it seemed to still have a charge. When investigating as to why flat battery, noticed that the backseat warmer was on and this may have utilised the 12V. Was all fine again once recharged.
Hi Karen – we received your report, thank you. And also, thank you fort the additional comments. We’ll be in touch with our progress!
Can the Nissan car dealers do the actual c version Firmware upgrade to the e-ACT Electrically-driven Intelligent Brake Control Unit?
Or does the dealer have to replace the unit with a new control unit that has the C version Firmware upgrade?
What is the cost of a new e-ACT Electrically-driven Intelligent Brake Control Unit ?
Hi Ed. Three great questions – and we don’t have an answer to either! It is very dealer specific, and to our knowledge, there’s never been a standard response. The only one that we tend to see the most (if not always) is the dealer saying they won’t do an upgrade (For whatever reason they provide) and they suggest to replace the whole unit.
I had this fault happen multiple times with my 2013 euro-Leaf 24 kWh.
Never at a cold startup after being parked for hours or during driving, always after I left the car parked for 5-10 minutes or so.
Happens maybe once every 20-50 drives so really intermittent.
The fix for me is to shut the car down for an hour or so, or open the hood and disconnect the electrical connector on the brake booster unit.
Reinstalling the plug after a few seconds, brakes will work just fine until next time. It’s like the computer in the unit fails to initialize sometimes, probably due to some software error. Bad capacitors or solder joints seems unlikely since it “resets” every time.
I’ve learned to live with this odd behavior, but not exactly a car you can let someone borrow!
I just had this happen to my 2018 Leaf in Canada. No recall on this model yet, but I’m putting in a complaint to the the authorities. Any other reports of brake failures in 2018 models??? Dealer/Nissan refusing to pay for a repair of over 5K
I got the exact same thing with a more recent Leaf (2018) in North America. Since it’s look to be a ‘firmware’ issue, I will try to disconnect the 12V in order to ‘force a full reboot’ as suggested somewhere in this article.
But honestly, I got many Toyota and Honda car and never had any big issue with any of my previous car. Nissan is far away from a good car. It’s my first but also my last Nissan.
Thank you for this article and if that solve my problem, at least it will same me some trouble and time to make it repair by the dealer.