This Brand New Nissan Leaf Stranded Its Owner

• New EVs often have teething issues that negatively impact reliability, even if the core technology is solid.
• We generally say that old, proven cars like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3 are safer bets for reliability-oriented buyers.
• A new video from Out Of Spec, however, shows that even the most mature cars can have gremlins.

It’s been a bad week for our friends at Out Of Spec Studios. A Volvo EX30 had an electrical fault and a “do not drive” warning while they tested it. Then the channel’s long-term VinFast VF 8 left Jordan stranded when it bricked itself. A day later, their leased Nissan Leaf bricked itself, too. At least they’re getting good videos out of it.

Out Of Spec’s Kyle Conner says he wasn’t all that surprised when the VinFast VF 8 stranded Jordan. The VF 8 is well known for having plenty of weird problems, as it’s a new product from a company relatively new to making EVs. But the Leaf is another story. It’s an old, proven product from a company that built the first-ever mass-produced EV, way back in 2010. It’s as simple as an EV can be, with a mature design that shouldn’t face any of the teething issues you might see in an all-new product. Yet Out Of Spec drew the unlucky straw.

Danny, the one who drives the Leaf daily, came out of work to find the car had bricked itself. When Kyle showed up to investigate the issue the following day, the Leaf still wouldn’t go into gear. It said it had an EV system fault. Kyle looked into whether it was a problem with the 12-volt battery—which can be a common problem area for EVs, especially those that have just come off the lot—but that wasn’t the issue. He had to call roadside assistance and have it towed to the dealer. Thankfully, unlike with the VinFast, the nearest dealer was just a few miles up the road, rather than 500 miles away in another state. 

Nissan’s roadside assistance proved less effective than it initially looked, as ordering a tow using the app lead to a long wait time and no truck arriving at all. But after three hours—and a call to a roadside assistance number—a truck arrived, and took the Leaf to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed it with a high-voltage battery insulation issue, and told Kyle they needed to do further digging to figure out the root of the issue. With only one EV-certified tech on staff, it may take a bit.

It’s a sad outcome for what’s usually considered a reliable EV. While lemons happen with every model of car, a new car should not leave you completely stranded within a few hundred miles. Hopefully the issue isn’t too tough to fix. In the meantime, we’ll have to see if the Out Of Spec curse smites another new EV.