Battery Degradation vs Battery Limited Warranty

[Mesasand]

I have regularly pressed GM to give me a number of battery capacity where the replacement warranty to kick in. So far, no dice.

I have a 2016, so I'm not sure of my total capacity. I've been told it was 19kWh, and the warranty said 35% degradation, which would be around 12.5k. Has anybody gotten that magic number?

[MrDRMorgan]

I have regularly pressed GM to give me a number of battery capacity where the replacement warranty to kick in. So far, no dice.

I have a 2016, so I'm not sure of my total capacity. I've been told it was 19kWh, and the warranty said 35% degradation, which would be around 12.5k. Has anybody gotten that magic number?

Don't get your hopes up! For the 2016 model, the battery must degrade more than 40% and / or within 8 years from the date the car was first put into service. I estimate the 2016 Spark EV battery capacity must fall below 11.4 kWh before the warranty is valid. AND..."if warranty repair requires replacement, the high voltage battery may be replaced with either a new or factory refurbished high voltage battery with an energy capacity (kWh) storage) level at or within approximately 10% of that of the original battery at the time of warranty repair."

REF: Page 14 of the 2016 Chevrolet Limited Warranty and Owner Assistance Information booklet.

[NORTON]

Don't get your hopes up! ..."if warranty repair requires replacement, .... level at or within approximately 10% of that of the original battery at the time of warranty repair."

Man, that's some sneaky fine print...
Why bother to do all the replacement work if you're very close to where you were before the replacement?
In fact the words "level at" doesn't make sense....

[Planerench]

I have an appointment Thursday to have the battery checked. I'll at least know if it is or isn't below the limit. They will charge the labor to Chevrolet if the battery fails. They will charge the labor to me if it doesn't. If my luck holds I'll owe more money....

[TheLondonBroiler]

They will charge the labor to Chevrolet if the battery fails. They will charge the labor to me if it doesn't. If my luck holds I'll owe more money....

If they try to charge you and not replace the battery, ask the dealership manager if they REALLY want to be a defendant, along with GM corporate, in your lawsuit. The warranty manual is clear, 8 years/100,000 miles 65% capacity. You're nearly a full kwh under that threshold. I'm not saying go in cocky, but be prepared for the clowning around that dealerships are notorious for. I get the impression that CA, in general, is a little better in regards to fixing EVs, due to their prevalence and more stringent state government regulations. Good luck.

[Planerench]

I was out of town so my father took the car to the dealership to have a spare key made and capacity check the traction battery. Over the phone the service manager tells me if there is a problem with the battery it will throw a code otherwise there is nothing wrong with it. Soooo, you don’t know how/don’t have any idea what a capacity test is? Yeah, we can’t do that...
So I guess I’ll try the dealer in Boise.

[SparkE]

After having by wife total my first Spark EV (White 2014, no DCFC) and my son totalling my second Spark EV (Red 2015, DCFC) I traveled 700 miles to Fresno to buy a 2014 with 5900 miles on it hoping everything would be fresh. My first two days are showing about 11.5 KWH on what was a 21 KWH battery As soon as the title is transferred I'll be on my way to the dealership to check into the warranty!

.

Doh !! For some reason I thought you had a 2016! Mea culpa. Let me try this again ... . (I erased my earlier posts.)

Contact GM and ask for a list of "EV qualified" (?trained?) dealerships close to you. Bring it to one of those (after calling and asking if they know how to do a battery capacity check).

2nd, are you doing capacity calculations, or do you have an OBD reader?

3rd: The warranty for 2015-16 Sparks is 40% degradation. The warranty for 2014 Sparks is 35% degradation. 65% of 21 is 13.65. You might want to do a few more "full charge of battery and drive down to below 30% SoC" cycles, and calculate / measure the battery capacity just to be sure (so that you don't have to pay the dealer for the check - i.e., you will be sure it fails).

- When you get the battery checked, make sure to get the results in written form. And if they say something like "our charger says it pulled 13.7 kWh while charging, so the battery is good enough", remember that the charger is NOT 100% efficient, and that all of the energy pulled out of the wall does NOT go into the battery.

[TheLondonBroiler]

3rd: The warranty for 2015-16 Sparks is 40% degradation (2014 was 35%).

Pretty sure only 2016 is 40%, both 2014 & 2015 are 35%. I don't have the manual for 2015, but someone in this forum furnished pictures to show that the 2015 was warranted to retain 65% capacity during the warranty period.

https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/vi ... &start=150

(Edited to remove quotation error and add forum link)

[MrDRMorgan]

3rd: The warranty for 2015-16 Sparks is 40% degradation (2014 was 35%).

Pretty sure only 2016 is 40%, both 2014 & 2015 are 35%. I don't have the manual for 2015, but someone in this forum furnished pictures to show that the 2015 was warranted to retain 65% capacity during the warranty period.

https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/vi ... &start=150

(Edited to remove quotation error and add forum link)

That is correct. 2014 =35%, 2015 = 35%, 2016 = 40%. At one time I had all three model years at the same time. Now I only have 2014 and 2016. The 2015 was leased and returned at the end of the lease.

[Mesasand]

The problem with GM is, they won't give you the number your battery has to hit to qualify for the warranty. Is the calculation for degradation based on a 21kWh battery for a 2016 model? Mine suddenly started dropping this summer, now it's down to 13.5 according to Torque Pro.