Glass’s to revisit Leaf forecasts

Following the news that 99.99% of Nissan Leaf battery units remain entirely fit for purpose, Glass’s has stated it will be ‘looking again at its residual value forecasts’.

The Nissan Leaf failure rate of the battery power unit is less than 0.01 percent – or just three units in total – a fraction of the equivalent industry-wideꜞ figure for defects affecting traditional combustion engines.

To prove the long-term reliability of the battery technology, Nissan also tracked down a rather infamous early model, whose owner is still enjoying fault-free motoring in her LEAF three years on.

Rupert Pontin, Glass’s head of valuations, said, ‘This is something of a watershed moment for the EV sector, with a major car manufacturer being able to report on the long-term reliability of batteries for the first time – and the results are very, very good.

‘They are good enough that, as an expert in this field, we will be looking again at our residual value forecasts for LEAF and probably revising them upwards. Long-term battery life has been a definite concern for used EV buyers but the new figures from Nissan effectively remove this worry.

‘Really, Nissan has gone through a process with the LEAF similar to Toyota with the first generation Prius several years ago, where the cars had to be proven in real life conditions before used buyers could feel confident. Now, the Prius enjoys excellent residuals and the LEAF should start to find a similar level of market acceptance.

‘Generally, Glass’s has taken a bullish view on EV technology and we are pleased to see that our forecasts are starting to translate into strong, real world results. Also, Nissan are to be congratulated for their bravery in this area and the investment they have made in bringing EV technology to the mass market.’

The Nissan LEAF has smashed its own sales record with a 33% increase in sales in 2014 over the previous year, taking more than a quarter of the burgeoning electric car market with 15,098 sales.