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agdodgerfan

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
51
I thought it would be interesting to get some comparisons of what people have so far. I am at almost 25,000 miles in 9 months with MPGe of 132.
 
10930 / 124 per the OnStar app. Hills don't help. Cold weather doesn't help either. It's still better than just about anything else out there - and more fun than most too.
 
7449miles / 157MPGe (per RemoteLink App)

Average 5.7miles/kWH (4.9miles/kWH for AC power input)

In summer get ~6.5miles/kWH, winter ~4.5miles/kWH

kevin
 
I've not been reckless in my driving. Anyone have an idea why my MPGe is so low?
 
Pawl said:
I've not been reckless in my driving. Anyone have an idea why my MPGe is so low?

First of all, it's a brand new car! There are several factors that affect the first few hundred miles.

1. Transportation and test drives. These are usually not conservative and will affect the lifetime MPGe until you get more miles on the car to make those few miles negligible.
2. New tires. Brand new tires are quite inefficient. After a few hundred miles the rolling resistance will be significantly improved.
3. New driver. If this is your first EV, you probably haven't become acquainted with what has big impacts on range, such as HVAC use, tire pressures, driving styles, etc. If you care about efficiency, which most EV drivers do, you'll soon learn and improve. Considering you're starting in the winter, you'll see the highest HVAC load and your tires may already need more air, for example.
4. Battery conditioning. The car runs the DC-DC converter at a higher voltage during the first 500(?) miles to be sure that the barely-used-but-calendar-aged 12V battery gets properly charged and conditioned. This is probably minor, but it is still a contributor.
5. Other stuff I probably don't know. ;)

So don't fret. Drive the car for a few months and then start worrying about the lifetime MPGe. Meanwhile you can be trying to learn ways to improve item 3 above to get better trip mi/kWh averages!

For what it's worth if you're comparing the numbers above, my lifetime MPGe shows:

8647 miles
104 MPGe

I've been able to achieve 120 miles on a single charge (~6.6 mi/kWh), so I CAN get good efficiency. However, I've done a fair bit of racing with my car and probably use the heater a LOT more than you California guys, which obviously makes a difference. I also do lots of city driving where I'm not very concerned about efficiency or range because I've got great access to chargers.

Bryce
 
Thanks for the thoughts and encouragement. I'm not discouraged at this point. Mostly curious and excited about my new wheels. I figure that in four years I will have avoided burning some 100+ barrels of crude oil's worth of gasoline (over 2000 of those), on my short 40-mile work commute. For me it's as much about that as anything else.
 
Pawl said:
I've not been reckless in my driving. Anyone have an idea why my MPGe is so low?
How many miles were on it when you got it?

What range is shown after a full charge? Mine only showed about 70 miles but gradually crept up to 115 over a few months.

I think that in the test drives were driven with a heavy right foot.

It took me quite few months to overcome the effects of the driving before I received the car (There was about 25 miles on it when I got it).

kevin
 
kevin said:
Pawl said:
I've not been reckless in my driving. Anyone have an idea why my MPGe is so low?
How many miles were on it when you got it?

What range is shown after a full charge? Mine only showed about 70 miles but gradually crept up to 115 over a few months.

I think that in the test drives were driven with a heavy right foot.

It took me quite few months to overcome the effects of the driving before I received the car (There was about 25 miles on it when I got it).

kevin

19 miles when I got it.
This morning was the first full charge since I picked it up; it read 83 miles. I spent down the batteries getting it home on Sunday, and am on L1 charging—until I install L2. I was only able to get to full charge last night (third night of charging for me). I'll make note how that changes tomorrow morning. Also, my earlier post was at work (the uphill leg of my commute, 3500 feet elevation gain).

Now, I apologize for hijacking this thread...I'll shut up for now. (continue listing your miles and MPGes)
 
Good feedback being received. I just started using L to drive about 2 months ago and my mpge went from 127 to 132. Longer term I have a feeling it will climb.
 
Personally, I think range is more important and interesting than mpge. I drive 65-75mph on the freeway and would probably be shifting between L and D depending on traffic and for when I hit the city streets. My commute is 32 miles rt, but it's a steep uphill climb for half of it, and a longer slow decline on the other side. I'm not worried about my daily commute range, though. Main concern is other places I go, which are all between 50 and 75 miles one way, 90% freeway.

I've been dying to get a Spark EV, and have driven them a few times already. My big problem right now is that I rent a cottager behind someone's house and the 60+ conservative landlady is balking at letting me install a 240V receptacle on the outside of her garage. She also doesn't think her service can handle it. Really sucks because I don't want to move, but I want the car!
 
Nearly 21K miles and I have 140 mpge so far. I have hills that I cross every day. Still very happy with the efficiency.
 
ezryder said:
My big problem right now is that I rent a cottager behind someone's house and the 60+ conservative landlady is balking at letting me install a 240V receptacle on the outside of her garage. She also doesn't think her service can handle it. Really sucks because I don't want to move, but I want the car!

suggestion: have an electrician go there to assess the install options and have him/her speak to your landlady about safety, etc. With the free Bosch evse, you're looking at these costs alone. If that fails, tell how much safer it'll be than running an extension cord out the window. :lol:
 
Tell me about this "free" charger... how does that happen?

As for the landlady, I told her either she let me put one in or I'm moving. She likes me. :) She's on board.
 
ezryder said:
Tell me about this "free" charger... how does that happen?

As for the landlady, I told her either she let me put one in or I'm moving. She likes me. :) She's on board.

See Bosch's site http://www.pluginnow.com/discount Of course they only mention 2014's

But http://www.chevrolet.com/spark-ev-electric-vehicle.html#ChargeItUp is for 2015's.

Nice unit, though I've been told the Bosch referred installers (who you don't have to use) will charge a arm and a leg for installation.
 
ezryder said:
Tell me about this "free" charger... how does that happen?

As for the landlady, I told her either she let me put one in or I'm moving. She likes me. :) She's on board.

Have you discussed what happens when you move out? For legal; reasons it might be to your advantage to have a short pigtail cable on the supply side that plugs into an outlet. If your EVSE is hardwired it might become hers automatically.
 
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