2021 NISSAN LEAF Electrical System Problems

18 complaints about Electrical System

18
Complaints
0
Crashes
3
Fires
0
Deaths

High Severity Issue

This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.

This Problem Across All Years

All Electrical System Complaints (18)

Jan 3, 2026

I currently have a recall on my Nissan 2021 Leaf SV Plus. There is an issue with the level 3 charging which can result in fire to the vehicle. As a result, I’m unable to rapid charge. Nissan has failed to remedy the issue or offer any attempts to fix this recall. I’m unable to charge my vehicle at this time.

Dec 15, 2025 Fire

*High Voltage Battery defect/failure - this is what was believed to be the issue when it was towed to the dealership. What is left of it is available for inspection at the dealership for now, however the insurance may take it to a salvage yard since the fire department finished their investigation. *While at the dealership after they spent the day trying to recreate what happened they parked it and planned to try again the next day, then someone walked by and saw smoke coming from the car and called 911. They called it a thermal runaway and it burned for hours before being moved to a safer, emptier lot where it was covered in thousands of pounds of sand. The night before the mileage range dropped roughly 70%, unaware of the recall in our mail that hadn't been opened we stopped to try to charge so we could get home. Thankfully none of the chargers worked since the recall was for a potential fire if plugged into a level 3 charger. We tried to drive home only to end up on the side of the road in total system failure. Police sent incident management to get us to safety. If we had made it home we are told this could have caught our home on fire and would likely have blown up our house and taken neighbors houses out as well. It could hurt more people or structures while they tried to recreate the problem. I understand the dealership had $20K in damages from the fire on top of which my car is clearly a total loss. Homes & Businesses nearby had to be evacuated. *Yes, what is left of the car has been inspected by the county fire marshall, insurance co. Police were called, but no investigation. When I called consumer affairs at Nissan, I spoke to 3 different people who said there was nothing they could do. *We had one other time 3 weeks earlier that the range dropped significant, we got home plugged it in and it seemed fine. The only warnings said we were low on miles and to stop to charge which would have made things worse, could have killed us if they had worked.

Dec 10, 2025

Vehicle battery drains significantly after being charged, passenger wiper will not work impairing visibility, back up camera blurs and fails, bright lights would not turn on, I was in a huge rain storm unable to see. Inability to use level 3 charger is disallowing me to be able to use vehicle due to amount of time to charge and battery drain has caused me to be broken down requiring a tow twice due to inaccurate mileage readings, leaving me stranded at night without access to phone service, placing me in an unsafe area/situation.

Dec 5, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V655000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that occasionally, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shifted in Turtle Mode, preventing the vehicle from exceeding 30 MPH. The contact stated that there was a message for the EV Battery failure and to take the vehicle to the dealer for further analysis. The Turtle Mode warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed; however, the failure was not identified or replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was possibly notified by the local dealer about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

Mileage: 40,000

Nov 21, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V655000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The contact had not experienced a failure; however, due to the recall, the vehicle was unable to be fully charged using the fast charger.

Nov 8, 2025

Around New Years this year, I was driving downhill, my car went from about 60/70% UNKNOWN to about 12%. This was for about 30 seconds until it went back up. This range drop was both dangerous but also caused emotional distress on my behalf as I worried whether or not I could make it to a charger. At the Nissan Dealer Service Dept, the "technician allegedly wasn't able to verify the issue with the range dropping and then going back up." Now I am unable to fast charge via CHAdeMO as per recall causing not just inconviencne, but also a reduction of the capacity I was under the impression I paid for, the diminished utility of my vehicle, my only vehicle to get around, is restricted. Especially as EVGo is now not allowing Nissan Leafs to charge at their stations. This significantly reduces opportunities to charge.

Nov 4, 2025

I can’t charge the car. I live in a city without a garage. I 100% need level 3 ChadEMO charging to use this car. Please pressure the automaker to fix it or buy back the vehicle as I cannot use the car. This is unacceptable from Nissan. Lemon!

Oct 31, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while charging the Lithium battery, the message that the battery had overheated was displayed. While driving on the freeway, the battery rapidly lost charge without warning. The vehicle decelerated to 5 MPH before stalling in the middle of the road. The contact ran across a four-lane highway to safety. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer. The contact received information about NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V655000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) and was informed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was charged at the dealer and driven to the residence the following day. The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 30,000.

Mileage: 30,000

Oct 15, 2025

From time to time the BCM (body control module) is stuck in a mode which disables the electric door locking and unlocking as well as the electric window lifters. This state can be fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting the vehicle battery. This issue happened two times recently. It appears to be a SW related issue as other functions of the BCM are still operational. E.g., the electric rear view mirror adjustment was still operational. The risk of this issue is that the door locks will not be unlocked automatically in case of a crash. Also the windows cannot be opened as an alternative escape opening in case the doors are blocked after an accident.

Sep 24, 2025 Fire

Took car to dealership to charge. Got home and an hour later the battery ignited into a fire. Car was engulfed with smoke ,fire in front of our house. After 4 hours with fire dept trying to put out the fire within battery... it still continued to smoke. Hazmat team came out as well. Total loss after having car less than 30 days that I purchased as dealership.

Sep 2, 2025 Fire

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Leaf. The vehicle was taken to a charging station, and while driving at 5 MPH, entering the driveway, the battery burst into flames. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was similar to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V700000 (Electrical System). The police department was on the scene. The fire department attempted to extinguish the fire, but the battery continued to ignite. The fire marshal from Minnesota was contacted for assistance to resolve the matter, and the fire department had taken the battery to a gravel pit. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Mileage: 60,000

Aug 18, 2025

My 2021 Nissan Leaf battery does not hold charge for more than 80 miles. Its has a chademo charger and my daughter could not get to next charger. The car battery has a system issue. The car main battery cells keep dying. Nissan replaced 4 cells last year and now more cells need replacement. These cars are becoming hazards on road as they loose charge state and its not possible to get to the next charging point even on a 230 mile journey. Nissan is aware of the issue but not willing to help proactively. I have been sold a lemon. I know of atleast 4 other families who have same model year cars and all have faced issue with the battery. I would request you all to please look into the matter and make sure the manufacturer is held accountable for not taking action proactively. They are cheating the consumers.

Nov 28, 2023

When placing the vehicle in reverse, the display screen shows either a distorted view or no view at all, or a solid pink color across the screen. This result in zero visibility out the rear of the vehicle.

Nov 16, 2023

The error occurred on [XXX]. The car got me to my destination. Error occurred past the 1/2 way point. The next day was busy w/ personal issues. Later in the afternoon, I was by the vehicle, I called the Nissan Roadside Assistance number. It was at this point that I was informed that no one was available or that my location was out of network. I was then instructed to find my own tow & arranged everything. I did. The vehicle completely died en route to the Nissan Dealership. The EV Motor locks the wheels & there is no way to disengage the motors lock on the CV axle. The vehicle is in the Nissan service department at Flagstaff Nissan currently. My Nissan LEAF SV Plus is currently has 33,258 miles on it. It is currently covered under the basic warranty of Nissan North America. The LEAF was purchased on Saturday, [XXX]. As of11/16/2023, there is no estimated time of repair. I do try & call everyday. The Dealership has issued me a Loaner to use during the absence of my malfunctioned vehicle. The Dealership is solid & I do recommend them. There are several flaws with this 2021 Nissan LEAF SV Plus and they are as follows: 1. The LEAF has an outdated Level 3 charger that is being fazed out in North America. 2. The LEAF has no Active Thermal Management for the Battery. 3. The LEAF’s passive cooling is negated as the battery is too large to enable proper air flow. 4. The LEAF nearly stranded me out in the middle of Nowhere. 5. The LEAF’s battery will degrade at a high rate as there is no ATM for the Battery. Based on the listed evidence, you can see that my confidence in the LEAF has been shattered. I thought the LEAF would be super reliable & would never let me down. After this incident, I realized that the “hate” was actually hard & heavy concerns that I thought was invalid. I have Buyers remorse, BIG Time. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Oct 28, 2023

The back up camera failed. It shows a blank grey screen. The other side and front cameras work but not the most important camera, the rear, back up camera. This is becoming a more and more frequent problem to the point now where its failing more often than not.

Jan 17, 2023

My car got stuck in a snowbank and became unresponsive. I attempted to gently rock it back and forth by putting it into drive and reverse two or three times. The car began to smoke. I took my foot off the accelerator and attempted to exit the vehicle, but the door was locked and did not automatically unlock. I tried to press the child safety lock button in case the child safety lock had been activated, but accidentally pressed the button to open the window. Smoke started coming into the car. I manually unlocked the door, pressed the button to put the car into park. I evacuated the car, and it was engulfed in smoke and making a very loud noise. I had the neighbor call 911 as I left my phone in the car and I was afraid the car would explode. I left the neighbor's house and waited for the fire trucks. My car's wheels were still spinning extremely fast and pieces were coming off of them. A firefighter was able to enter my car in protective gear and turn the car off. The wheels were burned off my car. The car eventually cooled down and I had it towed to the dealership. The dealer does not know why the wheels kept spinning after I was no longer in the car, so we do not know what malfunctioned. My safety was put at risk as I would have been unable to control the car if it had not been stuck in a snowbank. The problem has not been reproduced. The dealer examined the car and has repaired the tires and rims, but still does not give an answer as to why the wheels kept spinning long after I had exited the vehicle. There were no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms prior to the incident.

Oct 26, 2022

Vehicle showed a message "Service EV system - Unable to restart after power off". Took to my local Nissan dealer on Oct/21 and had the car serviced and message cleared. On my way back home from dealer, same message showed up again and shut off the car. Next morning the same message remained on dashboard and was unable to start the vehicle. Through an internet research, the same issue is happening with Nissan Leaf all over the world (Japan, UK, etc)

Jun 22, 2021

On June 20, 2021, the electric car front hood section area to charge the vehicle flew open while driving the vehicle on the highway. There was no indication that there was a problem with the charging hood at any time.