Catastrophic Failure - Spark EV died on Freeway

I had my Spark EV for 2 weeks and had driven 350 miles when it died suddenly on the freeway. Fortunately it was (last) Sunday and there was light traffic so I was able to put it in neutral and coast to the shoulder. (Otherwise it could have been a dangerous - even life threatening - situation.) The weather was cool - approx 65 degrees, and I had plenty of range (30+ miles). I was travelling about 60 mph. Suddenly, the car just lost power to the engine. The dash still lit up and the radio (along with Onstar Emergency!) worked: just no power to the engine. The range showed only 4 miles by the time I got stopped on the shoulder - compared to 30 when it died.

I had the car towed to Boardwalk Chevrolet, where I leased it. They've had it a week now, and I can't get a straight answer as to what happened or what exactly they're doing to fix it. They give vague answers about contacting the engineers at Chevrolet and getting a new battery installed --- but are very opaque about everything. (I think they haven't had much problem with servicing the vehicles - so have no doubt they don't know for sure what's going on. Probably talking to the engineers over the phone..."Now what do I do?")

I'm a little scared that this will happen again - suddenly without warning - and I'll be stranded in the middle of a busy freeway. I'm also worried that since no one at the local Chevy dealer really seems to be familiar with fixing these cars, that the fix - if it happens - will be sub par.

This is a sad situation for me, because before this happened, I absolutely loved the car, which fit my needs exactly. Now I don't know if I can trust it - even if they can fix it....

There don't seem to be other similar stories, so maybe I just got a lemon ... but I'm throwing it out for discussion.

Was this a 2014 or 2015 Spark? I'm wondering if the issue is related to a faulty battery, possibly a bad cell/module/BMS.

Modern cars are extremely complex and there is a great deal of electronic/computer control to them. Dealers are somewhat limited as to what they can do with the cars and even diagnosis can be challenging. I think you could have the experience that your are having with any car, gasoline or electric. I've had motorcycles sitting in the shop for weeks waiting for the factory to make a diagnosis of some system that is acting up.



Unfortunate that it's happened to you, and I'm sure that the issue will get diagnosed and sorted.

This is a 2015 Spark EV. I don't know if it has something to do with the new battery configuration discussed in another thread. I understand this is a relatively new technology, so a few glitches are expected (as is the hesitation of the dealer's service department I've experienced). But it is kind of unnerving to be stranded in the middle of a freeway nontheless. I kind of disagree that this kind of failure is as likely with a tested and refined technology like the internal combustion engine as it is with the newer EV technology. Also remember that these cars are compliance cars - cars made by the manufacturers solely to meet the California (and other state) mandates to produce zero emission vehicles. They are said to lose money on every one they sell...so it wouldn't be surprising that their best engineering talent wasn't put to use in producing them - or if they cut a few corners along the way.\

Even so, I did really like my Spark EV for the two weeks it was working...even if a little of the bloom is off the rose after sitting on the freeway for an hour in it waiting for the tow to arrive.

So you've never had a breakdown in a car before?

Despite being a compliance car, I was surprised at the quality of the Spark EV and the amount of effort GM put into making it. It is a much better compliance car than some of other one's I've seen but they've also had years of engineering experience in the Volt before designing the Spark. I have much more faith in the Spark EV than the Fiat 500e I was also considering.

More importantly, I've been stranded many times on a gas vehicles but my personal EV's has been relatively issue free other than a flat tire. One of my most nerving experience was having my first car (a 1988 Toyota Camry LE) lose power on a Freeway Off Ramp up-hill and having my vehicle go backwards towards the cars behind me with no power steering and brakes.

"The Spark EV uses GM’s Global A electrical architecture, which is common with many other Chevrolet models, such as the Camaro, Cruze, and Volt. This requires the use of the Global Diagnostic System 2 (GDS 2) software and the Multiple Diagnostic Interface (MDI) module."

I also looked at the 500e when I leased my Spark EV. One of the things that pushed me toward the Spark was seeing more than a couple of posts on the Fiat forums about unexpected breakdowns in the middle of the road - similar to mine in the Spark. I also looked at the VW eGolf. The Golf platform clearly is superior to the Spark - although that doesn't necessarily translate into a better electric power architecture. The Kia Soul EV also is based on a more refined gas vehicle than the Spark - again without saying anything about the electric power system. I don't know if the allegedly superior Japanese and German build quality would have lessened the chances of getting a lemon with those vehicles.

I've been driving for 40+ years and I've had a few breakdowns - but nothing that I can recall came on so suddenly, catastrophically, and without warning in a potentially hazardous situation as happened to me in the Spark. This is similar to the stories described in the Fiat forums - so maybe it's just something that's inherent in electric vehicles: they are subject to unplanned shut downs at highway speed. I'm heartened that I haven't seen another story similar to my experience here or on other Spark EV forums - and appreciate those of you who've risen to the defense of the Spark EV.

I really did love the vehicle while it was working - and hope they can get mine back to good operating order. My only complaint was the rather vague steering and I'm thinking of seeing if new front tires can help that - as has been suggested in other posts here.

Still, I will be curious to see if others have had the same kinds of things happen as happened to me....and to see if Chevrolet comes up with an explanation of this incident.

After the issue has been resolved, you should file a safety complaint with NHTSA at http://www.safercar.gov/, noting the remedy to the problem(s).

mineral said:

The Kia Soul EV also is based on a more refined gas vehicle than the Spark - again without saying anything about the electric power system. I don't know if the allegedly superior Japanese and German build quality would have lessened the chances of getting a lemon with those vehicles.

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FYI, the Kia Soul EV is a Korean model with batteries from SK (a lesser known Korean conglomerate, 3rd in size after Samsung/LG). Not Japanese as you stated. It should be also noted that all Chevy Sparks are made in Korea and was a redesign of a Korean Daewoo model. The 2014 Spark EV has a battery system made by the US manufacturer A123 (now under the Japanese company NECES), while the 2015 Spark EV is battery system is from LG Chem (a Korean manufacturer). Having had many years of experience with both these batteries, A123 batteries are better but LG Chem's battery quality control is better.

mineral said:

Still, I will be curious to see if others have had the same kinds of things happen as happened to me....and to see if Chevrolet comes up with an explanation of this incident.

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Now I'm really interested in hearing what you can learn from this because I suspect its a software bug or a replacement battery pack is in order but really I'm guessing here. Anything that we can learn to improve our community's understanding of the Spark EV would be appreciated. I purchased my Spark EV myself so....I want to make sure I understand all potential failures in advance.

The latest news I got from the Service Department is that they are waiting for a "charger" that they've had shipped from "back east" that they need to properly diagnose the car. When they get this piece of equipment, whatever it is, they say they hope they can tell me what's wrong. I still get the impression that they are flying blind on this and aren't really sure how to approach the repair - which I understand: I doubt many of the mechanics have had much training on the car.

I know you guys are interested in finding out - along with me - what can cause failures of this nature - and I'll update the forum as I learn more.

This sucks, and in the meantime you don't have a car to go around....
any chance they are willing to provide a loaner?

They don't even sell car on east cost yet. What charger lol. Their volt tech should be able to figure it out

mineral said:

I really did love the vehicle while it was working - and hope they can get mine back to good operating order. My only complaint was the rather vague steering and I'm thinking of seeing if new front tires can help that - as has been suggested in other posts here.

Still, I will be curious to see if others have had the same kinds of things happen as happened to me....and to see if Chevrolet comes up with an explanation of this incident.

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Mineral, sorry to hear about your trouble. Watching this and the GM-Volt.com forum (Spark section), I've not seen any other reports of a Spark EV shutting down like yours.

One guy did hit a pothole so badly it blew out a tire, and the jolt shut down the car. But the owners manual states an impact will cause that.

mickeybiosense said:

They don't even sell car on east cost yet. What charger lol. Their volt tech should be able to figure it out

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Indeed...that sounds like complete BS to me.

nozferatu said:

mickeybiosense said:

They don't even sell car on east cost yet. What charger lol. Their volt tech should be able to figure it out

Click to expand...

Indeed...that sounds like complete BS to me.

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Not sure about the charger but the spark ev popped up in MD this month.

Quick note, I was looking for a spark, was a lemon, for $15k. Not sure about the fix but I guess I should stay away from that one.

Same thing happened to me today...Chevy wont transfer the car back to a dealership close to home. So now need to waste my time to get it in a week or so and drive another 120 mile round trip


Posted my experience on a different section of the forum

mineral whats the final diagnosis on your car.

Just had similar failure (4,000 miles on Spark). Readout said 30 miles left, then within 5-10 seconds while waiting at a stop light, it dropped to 15, then 5 and then the card "died." Instrument panel worked, but no propulsion. Waiting 2 hours for a tow to the dealership. They've had it for several days and are "working" on it. Love this car but loosing all power to propulsion is scary - what if it had happened on the freeway. Very interested in what Mineral's diagnosis was, or anyone else who has had this catastrophic failure?????