Nissan UK has announced that from 1 April, it will disable several features on its first electric vehicles, the Nissan Leaf and Nissan e-NV200, which were launched before 2016. Among the features to be disabled are the ability to remotely preheat the cars during the winter months, as well as setting up charging schedules via smartphone.
In a statement to the BBC, Nissan said that the NissanConnect EV app will be disabled from 1 April 2024 due to the shutdown of the 2G mobile backhaul technology used by the app.
This decision has caused outrage among electric vehicle owners, as they feel prematurely abandoned by the company. In addition, it is noted that British telecommunications companies plan to switch off 2G networks only by the end of the decade, so it is unclear why Nissan is disabling this functionality now.
Electric car owners can still set a climate control timer or a charging timer, but this must be done through the car's infotainment system.
Users also complained that they were taken by surprise. Owners of the affected electric vehicles began receiving emails earlier this month, just 30 days before the shutdown.
Source: BBC
