Users of early Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 vehicles in the UK will no longer be able to remotely set off-peak charging routines or climate control schedules
Once again a misleading headline: No, Nissan isn’t evil trying to force people to buy a new car (Edit: well maybe a bit, see replies). Those older cars rely on 2G connectivity, which is soon to be shut down in the UK, so they are sunsetting support for the features relying on it…
TL;DR: The 2G network they rely on is shutting down.
Well this isn’t really true. The 2G network won’t be shut down for another 6-10 years. They are using it as an excuse to turn off their servers and save some money without supporting people they have already taken money from.
I’m not in the UK so I don’t really know, I’m just saying the headline is misleading, and I’m just summarizing the article. Yes, I checked again, the article does mention the networks won’t go down immediately, so maybe Nissan is a bit evil, or maybe there’s something else the article isn’t saying.
As a UK Nissan Leaf owner I’ll explain, they basically have given up on existing customers. They don’t really care about us anymore. The app works okay and does the bare minimum but it is clunky and slow. They have a new app for all models over 2019 or 2020 and it works better and is significantly easier for them to update and maintain.
The 3G service in the UK will go first as the 2G service provides a lot of emergency failover. The 2G network has around 10 years of service left and even then will probably be left on longer.
They want rid of as many old app users as possible so they can save money on server and development costs, the problem is that even modern 2018 Leaf version still uses the crappy app and have 3G cellular which will fall back to the 2G side when the 3G goes (before the 2G cellular is fazed out) so to blame it on 2G is disingenuous as they still have to support the app for the 3G models and still have to use those on the 2G network as the 3G will go first. I looked at upgrading the module to a 3G or 4G but there is no point because even if you do that they are pulling the app functionality for the car rather than the signal.
There is an ODB add on by open vehicles that will restore the service and is actually loads better but is a bit of a janky hack. https://www.openvehicles.com/ we may do this if we really miss the functionality and desire a £250 solution with a £2 monthly connection fee. We shall see.
So Nissan maybe not evil. But certainly not being honest and transparent.
Nah, Nissan is at least kinda evil. Probably more than kind of.
I tend to agree. Used to be a front runner in EV. Now very much an after thought. All happened because Zero emission EV vehicles were the master plan of their CEO Carlos Ghosn who was either framed or actually did commit mass financial fraud depending who you believe.
Let’s not forget the whole Nissan.com saga either.
Ah yes. Lay claim to someone’s domain even though they had the company name first and you were sloppy. But you are big and think you can just bully your way through life.
soon to be shut down in the UK,
In 5+ years. Seems a bit premature.
Maybe not evil but not exactly good either. It’s a computer in a car, they could offer the owners to buy a replacement part that works on (n+1)G.
And make it connect with an RJ-45 so you can swap out for a connection device for your own carrier instead of some stupid proprietary interface.
I think we already shut down most of the 2G and 3G in the USA, so those would already be offline here. It happened to my (gas) car already that was using the 3g network for its OnStar type service. But I had already disconnected it myself so it didn’t matter
I had one of the first OnStar versions that used a 3-watt analog cell connection (this was when cellphones were 0.6w on the high side). Damn thing had coverage in the middle of the west Texas desert when my cell phone couldn’t even find a tower for miles.
3G still exists specifically for stuff like this (though more for remote monitoring devices, since this is a consumer device requiring a consumer account, it doesn’t work).
It’s just that as a consumer, you can’t buy into 3G - there’s no way to get service on 3G.
One car in my family is 3G only, and reports a cell connection everywhere we go (it just can’t use it).
The oil/gas/pipeline (water) sector uses 3G monitoring devices all over the place.
Cars needing internet for functionality. What a great idea.
I mean, how are you supposed to accurately measure off peak times, and not sudden start charging millions of EVs all at once without some sort of connection?
Through the WiFi-equipped EVSE. Or heck, give the car WiFi. Pretty much everyone has WiFi these days, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
I hope when I next buy a car someone can’t later decide I’m not allowed to use my windscreen wipers, or the seat position controls or whatever.
I honestly had been hearing great things about the Leaf as an affordable electric and was seriously considering a used one as my next car when I am going to be ready financially around august.
Personally being an owner I wouldn’t buy one, there are plenty of other electrics that are great. I did buy a newer version and sold it very quickly to buy a better car.
Don’t get me wrong I love my leaf and it has done 65k miles and is still going strong even at 11 years old, but they are really lagging behind in tech compared to others. It’s like they got to 2015 and just stopping developing. They use a rapid charger that is fast disappearing in the UK (chademo) so long journeys or a quick top up are getting harder. If you want a cheap car to do 40-60 miles max a day for commuting then they are a great deal and cheap to own and run. 2 pence a mile for home charging at night. But for more than that maybe spend a little more or look at a Zoe or something else.
Their newer versions are expensive in comparison to competitors and to still be using the exact system as the 2012 models but with new body covering is just a bit sad. They were a front runner that just never kept developing.
It’s because of the 2G networks being shut down. And this isn’t specific to Leafs, it’s all cars that used 2G for their data connection. This already has taken place in other countries, and I imagine Nissan no longer wants to support two versions of the app.
It’s the latter. The 2G network will continue for a long time to come. The shame is that even a late 2018 model still uses that old app too and uses 3G cellular. So they will lose their primary network service and fall back into the 2G network mode before the pre 2016 models lose their 2G connectivity.
The 2G network will continue for a long time to come
It’s already gone in North America. China is aiming for 2025 (or already gone, depending on which Google result I click), and and it was gone in Japan a long time ago. Nissan sells more cars in each of those three markets alone than all of Europe. And 2G is already gone in many European countries. It makes no sense for them to keep it just for the UK market.
Considering the affected models, this is absolutely ludicrous. Those vehicles already suffer from diminished battery capacities, with some being around the 50% mark at this point, so to further corrode owner experience is ridiculous. Early adopters paved the way for the current spate of EVs so punishing them for this is outrageous. The article states 2G networks will remain live for almost another 6 years. Giving that reason as the cause of the loss of functionality is so disingenuous it is beyond belief. What a way to inspire confidence in your company…
This is the life of all early adopters. Being an early adopter you should know that end of life will come soon, and be painful, because they haven’t figured out how to end this nicely.
They really should make a easy path to update the 2g modem module to a 5g, but you know… Sales. Next thing you know car manufactures will be sunsetting support for an entire car because they no longer support updates to people with an out of date phone. So lazy and short sighted.
Does it vibrate when you plug it in tho
Key features about to make like that license plate and leaf.
