this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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Electric Vehicles
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My Nissan Leaf is currently bricked because a charging station sent the wrong communication messages (or the right messages in the wrong order, still don't know exactly what happened).
The car thinks there is a cable still plugged in (when there isn't), so it won't go into drive. It also won't recognise a new cable being plugged in, so it won't charge. It doesn't think there is a charging session ongoing, so there is no way to stop it. There are no fault codes and no errors. The car is behaving perfectly normally except that it won't start.
Nissan has no idea what the problem is. Multiple experts has tried with success to find anything wrong. It's been 3 months and the best option so far is to start replacing modules (for more than the value of the car) until we accidentally replace the correct module.
The vast majority of the problems we're having is caused by a lack of information and communication from Nissan. They don't provide circuit diagrams, or diagnostic manuals, and they don't even permit people to buy the diagnostic tools they use.
An open source, repairable car would be really nice about now.
It's sounds bizarre to me that this couldn't be resolved by rebooting.
Then again, how do you reboot a car exactly? It's not "off" even when the car is not started I suppose.
You perform a battery reset of the low voltage system. Disconnect HV system, disconnect the 12V battery (or batteries) then short the positive and negative battery cables together for about half an hour. Then reattach 12V battery, and then turn HV system back on. Forces all the computer modules (normally about 30-50 modules in a modern car) to reboot from their base programming. Have to do this several times a week, often fixes weird electrical issues.
Uh, on the pcb side, to discharge condensers & co. Not on the battery side.
You don't need to disconnect the HV. Electronics are all run on 12V.
I've tried disconnecting the 12V battery. I believe the technicians have tried disconnecting the 12V and HV batteries at the same time. All factory reset buttons have been pressed. We've tried plugging in a CHAdeMO and type 1 cable at the same time.
I'm also very surprised that something like this could be software related and persist across power failures/reboots.
It depends on where the variable for this is stored.
In ram then a reboot will fix it. But it looks like for some reason the engineer put it on non volatile memory.
There's some complex mechanical interlocks involved in charging circuitry too. You can hear these beefy solenoids clunk on/off when plugging in a charging cable. A stuck solenoid could be implicated too, as some safety detection circuitry might check those to see if the car is currently in a charging configuration. That goes especially since moving parts are typically more likely to fail before anything else. Although, I'd be stunned if that wasn't already considered.
Not solenoids, contactors technically.
shit like this is exactly why I won't buy a newer car, even an economical option like the Leaf
I want simplicity and reliability and repairability. these incredibly complex modern vehicles don't have that
and it's not like I'll be buying them ten years down the road when there are no options left - I will find something that meets my criteria, and I will pay more for it. black box cars do not make good used vehicles, and they will be priced accordingly by knowledgeable buyers
The shotgun approach to repair is a tried and trued method of wasting money.
Or making money. Depends on which end you are on.
If they have zero ability to debug the fuckers with multiple of them bricked then this is good information for all of us.
Nissan is clearly too stupid to buy from.
As a Leaf owner, this terrifies me. Do you have any details about that charging station, like what brand it was?
And just shooting from the hip here: I've noticed that a lot of folks that upgrade cars to electric using parts from crashed vehicles, know their way around production EV guts pretty darn well. Engaging with a local shop that does that work might be worthwhile, seeing as how (I assume) the dealer is getting nowhere by following the book.
I've been helping a startup company test their prototype V2G charger for a while, so they gave me one of the first production units at a discount. The prototype worked; it was the production unit that caused the problem. We still don't know what is different between the prototype and production units that could have caused this. All sales have been halted until this is can be fixed.
I'm keeping the company anonymous for now at their request. There is no risk to any other cars, they really don't want bad PR from this, and they have taken responsibility for my car.
I have heard (with no evidence) that both Wallbox and Kempower had the same issue when first releasing their chargers, so it sounds to me like Nissan haven't properly implemented the CHAdeMO standard, and companies are having to modify their chargers to fix Nissan's mistake. All of this is just my speculation.
I shall pass on your suggestion. They may not have thought to reach out to hobbyists for help.