‘Shockingly bad’: Nissan Leaf drivers voice anger over app shutdown | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars
Owners of some Nissan Leaf electric vehicles are outraged after the automaker announced it would shut down an app that allowed them to remotely control battery charging and other functions.
Drivers of Leaf cars built before May 2019 and the e-NV200 minivan (manufactured until 2022) have been told that the NissanConnect EV app connected to their vehicle will “stop working” from March 30. This means they will lose remote services, including turning on the heating and some map features.
Experts said they expect other drivers to experience similar problems in the future. “connected Cars, that is, vehicles that can connect to the internet, are getting old.
Driver and Guardian Money reader Alan Clucas said he was sorry for the closure, adding that some of the affected vehicles were less than four years old. “I think Nissan needs to do better,” he said.
Speaking of his seven-year-old Leaf, Clucas said “the most frustrating thing will be not being able to intelligently charge the car or warm it up remotely on cold mornings.” He added: “Previously we could check the charge levels from the mobile phone.”
Other affected drivers are discussing the issue online. “Going forward, it looks like only paid remote connectivity will be supported,” one person said, adding that it was “surprising” that Nissan “only supported a basic EV feature for seven years.” [an] “The average car lasts more than 12 years, which is surprisingly bad.”
Another driver added: “My car is almost 10 years old now, but those with an early 2020 model won’t be too happy about having remote access removed with a month’s notice for their car, which isn’t even seven years old.”
Nissan faced criticism When the first generation of Leaf cars launch in 2024, following the shutdown of the UK’s 2G network. The automaker said the latest move was because the app “could not be upgraded to support future enhancements.”
Nissan said in-car services such as climate control and charging timers will still be available through the infotainment system, but remote services and some map-related features will not be available.
Steve Walker of motoring magazine Auto Express said it was a preview of what will happen when “today’s cars” become obsolete.
“With modern cars more reliant on connected services and updates than the Leaf era, manufacturers’ support for their systems is also likely to disappear,” he said.
That could mean other features, including navigation systems, touchscreen controls and even subscriptions for features like heated seats, autonomous driving aids or extra engine power, may stop working or be turned off in the future, he said.
“Nobody wants to see cars become obsolete before their time,” Walker said. “The best way to minimize the environmental impact of cars is to build them to last. Software and digital systems need to be as durable and reliable as mechanical components.”
Benjamin Gorman, senior lecturer at Bournemouth University, said the technology world was shifting towards software-as-a-service (Saas) models.
“A good example of this is software like Adobe Photoshop, where in the past you could buy it once and use it as much as you wanted, whereas now it often requires an ongoing subscription,” Gorman said.
He said this works for things like gaming and entertainment platforms, where people are used to subscriptions and shorter upgrade cycles. But it is more problematic when applied to expensive physical products, such as cars, that people expect to continue working for a decade or more.
“I suspect we will see this problem more frequently in the coming years as vehicles become increasingly software-focused,” Gorman said. “We are seeing more manufacturers experiment with subscription fees for connected features… but this raises important questions about what consumers should own permanently and what they are effectively renting through software services.”
