ZE1 e+ 62 kWh Leaf service in Auckland

The car this page covers

The e+ is the long-range ZE1, sold from 2019 to 2024 with a 62 kWh pack and a 160 kW motor. Same body as the 40 kWh, but a taller pack, a heavier car and a good deal more performance, and those three things decide what it needs from us. The pack is still air-cooled, so heat management still matters, though a bigger pack heats up more slowly than a 40.

How we refer to the four Leafs:

• Gen 1 Leaf ZE0 24 kWh, 2011–2012
• Gen 2 Leaf AZE0 24 kWh & 30 kWh, 2013–2017
• ZE1 40 kWh Leaf, 2017–2024
• ZE1 e+ 62 kWh Leaf, 2019–2024 (this page)

If yours is the 40 kWh, that's the ZE1 40 kWh page.

Where these batteries sit now

Battery health on the e+ is generally excellent. Most we read are 90% or better, and on this car the battery is usually the least of the conversation. We still read it properly: complete Battery Report, SOH, individual cell-pair voltages, variances and cell resistance, because a printed baseline is worth having on a car you intend to keep, and because a weak cell group is easier to deal with early.

The e+ also charges harder than a 40 kWh, and how you use rapid chargers over years matters more than any single charge. Repeated back-to-back rapid charges in summer, and long spells sitting at 100%, are the two habits worth avoiding. Otherwise these packs are behaving.

Faults we see on ZE1 e+ 62 kWh Leafs

• Tyres, alignment and the weight. The e+ is the heaviest Leaf and the quickest, and it eats tyres accordingly. Alignment out even slightly shows up as premature and uneven wear, one shoulder scrubbed off while the rest of the tread still looks fine, and on this car it happens faster. We check wear pattern, pressures and alignment at every service.
• Suspension. Same weight, same story a little further down the car. Bushes, shocks and mounts wear sooner than owners expect, and it usually arrives as a change in ride rather than a noise.
• 12V battery. Still the most common reason a Leaf suddenly does nothing, or lights the dash up with faults that have nothing to do with the real problem. It does no cranking, just constant small loads, and on an import it is often original or an unbranded replacement. First thing we test.
• Rear brakes seizing. Strong regen and e-Pedal mean the friction brakes barely get used, so the rear calipers and slide pins corrode and stick. Still the most valuable job on the car, and still a WOF failure.
• Squeaky brakes? A common complaint for EV owners but normally easily sorted by our team. Book in for a disc skim and pad de-glaze.
• Rapid charge taper. The e+ can take a high rate when the pack is cool, and a good deal less when it is not. On a long summer trip the second and third charges are slower. That is the pack protecting itself, not a fault, but pack temperature and cell balance are worth reading if the taper seems early.
• Strut tops. The front strut towers sit under the bonnet where road spray and rain collect, and on an ex-Japan car that has spent winters on salted and gritted roads this is one of the first places to show corrosion. Water sits around the top mount and bearing, the bearing dries out and rusts, and it announces itself as a knock over bumps, a creak or notchiness when the wheel is turned at low speed, and eventually a mount that has to be replaced rather than cleaned. Because it is a structural mounting point, heavy corrosion here is a WOF concern, not just a noise. Strut tops: we check, clean and treat and fit caps to cover so no more water ingress.
• ProPILOT and driver assistance. The camera and radar need to be right for the systems to behave, and they are affected by windscreen replacement, alignment work and panel repairs. Odd lane keeping or cruise behaviour is a calibration question.
• Reduction gear oil. There is one gearbox and it does have oil in it. On an import it has very often never been changed. Recommended every 60,000 km. Unsure if yours has been done? Book in with the team today.
• Coolant. The charger and inverter loop has its own coolant with a service life. General workshops miss it because they are looking for engine coolant.
• Heat pump and air conditioning. When the heat pump weakens the car falls back on resistive heating and you pay for it in range. Weak heating and weak cooling are often the same fault.
• Japanese-market electronics. Japanese menus, navigation that no longer applies, and a telematics unit with nothing left to connect to. We convert the dash and instrument cluster to English and can add CarPlay.

What we check on a service

No oil change, no cambelt, no exhaust, a Leaf service is a different job from a petrol car. On an e+ we go through:

• Battery state of health, cell-pair balance, pack temperatures and stored fault codes, with a printed report
• 12V battery condition and charging behaviour
• Brakes stripped, cleaned and lubricated, and pad and disc condition
• Reduction gear oil level and condition, and coolant condition
• Brake fluid condition, and the brake system read for stored faults
• CV boots, driveshafts and joints for splits, grease loss and play
• AC charging at 6.6 kW and DC charging on CHAdeMO, with charge behaviour checked hot as well as cold
• Heat pump and air conditioning performance, and HVAC codes
• Driver assistance systems checked for stored faults where fitted
• Tyres, wear pattern, pressures and alignment
• Suspension, bushes and shock condition, and strut tops cleaned, treated and capped
• Cabin filter, wipers, lights and underbody inspection

A battery health check is included free with a full service.

WOF items these cars fail on

We're an MTA Assured and AA Approved workshop and do the WOF here, so anything we find gets quoted before we touch it.

• Tyre wear, the heaviest and quickest Leaf is also the hardest on tyres, often unevenly
• Rear brakes seized by regen, common on any Leaf and a straightforward fail
• Suspension wear, bushes, shocks and mounts under the extra weight
• Warning lights, including anything the brake or driver assistance systems have stored
• Corrosion at the strut tops and underbody, worth a proper look on any ex-Japan car
• A tired 12V battery, which throws warning lights that fail an inspection even when nothing else is wrong

More detail on the Nissan Leaf WOF page.

Keeping a 62 kWh pack healthy

This is the Leaf most worth looking after, because the pack is the expensive part and yours is probably still in good shape. Charging to 100% only when you need the range, avoiding long spells parked full or nearly empty, and keeping back-to-back rapid charges for trips that actually need them is most of it. An annual read gives you a record of how the pack is tracking, which is also the thing that sells the car well later.

Frequently asked

How often should a ZE1 e+ Leaf be serviced?

Recommended service intervals are 12 months or 15,000 km, whichever comes first. On this car tyres and brakes are the two things that reward keeping to it.

What state of health should a 62 kWh pack have?

Most we read are 90% or better. Anything much below that on a car of average mileage is worth investigating rather than accepting.

Does the e+ suffer from rapidgate?

Less than the 40 kWh, because a bigger pack takes longer to heat up, but it is the same air-cooled design and the same physics. Back-to-back rapid charges on a hot day will still taper.

Why does it go through tyres so quickly?

It is the heaviest Leaf and it has the most torque, so tyres are a genuine running cost on an e+. Alignment checked at service and pressures kept where they should be is the difference between wearing a set out and wearing one out early.

Why do the tyres wear out so fast?

Weight and torque. The pack makes a Leaf heavier than a petrol car its size, and the motor delivers full torque from a standstill. Add alignment that is out, which is common on an import, and the wear goes uneven as well as quick. Alignment checked at service, and pressures kept where they should be, is the cheapest maintenance on the car and it buys back a little range too.

Can a ZE1 e+ Leaf pass a WOF with a degraded pack?

Yes. Battery capacity is not a WOF item, so a tired pack does not fail an inspection. What fails these cars is seized rear brakes, tyres, suspension wear, lights and a 12V battery throwing warning lights.

Can a general workshop service a Leaf?

They can do the tyres, the brakes and the WOF. What they usually cannot do is read the pack properly, and there is no oil change to fall back on, so the jobs that actually matter, cell-pair balance, reduction gear oil, the charger and inverter coolant, HVAC and stored codes, tend to go unlooked at. That is the gap we fill.

Do you work on cars you didn't sell?

Yes. Most of the Leafs we service came from somewhere else.