Happy 2nd Birthday, Little Spark

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jsca72

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2013
Messages
152
Location
Central Coast, California
This post is for those of you who are still thinking about getting a SparkEV and may be sitting on the fence. It’s kind of long, so go to the part your interested in and ignore the rest (or just ignore this whole post). :) I’m not trying to push you one way or the other on a SparkEV purchase, just giving you my reflections.


As of yesterday, I have had my 2014 1LT, Electric Blue SparkEv for 2 years. I know a lot of potential buyers worry about longevity, so here are my feelings two years in.

Still love, love, LOVE my car.

RANGE: There has been no drop in range in those two years. The battery is going strong. Beware, if you live in a cold area and use the heater a lot, it will eat up range. AC also will affect range but doesn’t seem to be as bad as the heater.

CHARGING: We installed a Level 2 charging station in the garage. I plug the car in and walk into the house. Too easy! People who live in apartments and still have electric vehicles, I salute you. For them, the QC option would probably have to be a necessity.

QUICK CHARGE OPTION: QC wasn’t available when I got my car. Since our closest QC charger is out of a Spark’s range, I would have had no chance to use QC charger in the last two years even if I had gotten the QC option. Would have probably paid the extra money to get it if it had been available, but I'm glad I didn’t wait for something I couldn't use.

SPACE: Roomy little car. We easily fit two adults in the backseat with plenty of legroom for them and the two in front. With the backseats up, there’s room for about 5 grocery bags plus in the far back. With the backseats down, a folded card table will fit flat on the floor. I’ve toted around a rain barrel, tubs of Christmas ornaments, heavy travertine tile, and all the supplies for a major science night event. I don’t know how well car seats would fit in for babies and young children.

COMFORT: Front seats are great, back seats not so much, convenient cupholders and electronics chargers for front and back seats.

MANEUVERABILITY: Excellent. If you really slam on the accelerator, you’ll get a bit of wobble from the traction control (I think). But I mean, you really have to have a lead foot for that to be a problem.

SAFETY: Because the Spark is so responsive, I feel very safe in it. When we watch consumer safety tests, we always see how a car takes being slammed into something. We never see how well the car could have avoided an accident. That’s where little cars shine, especially one’s like the EVs.

MAINTENANCE: I did have to have one repair on my car during the last two years. Last summer, the AC wasn’t cooling as well as it should. With a software update, it was repaired. I’ve had no problems since. There has been one recall on the secondary hood latch. Took care of that. I rotated my tires at 7500 miles as recommended and am about to take the car in for the recommended second tire rotation and cabin filter change. Talk about easy maintenance!

ELECTRICITY USAGE: Our household electricity consumption did go up when we bought the car, but we compensated by changing all the light bulbs and being more careful about turning off unnecessary lights. In May, we had solar panels installed and are now making more electricity than we use (and that’s with more AC usage in our home).

BUYING VS LEASING: I bought my car instead of leasing. I wanted the tax credits. I made my last car payment earlier this month. If I hadn’t been able to take advantage of the tax credits, I would have probably leased (assuming the dealership would have given me a good lease package).

CLIMATE CONTROL: Set your temperature and fan preferences (direction and level), and let the Spark take care of the rest. It works great. It took a little for me to get used to this since I had to do all the climate control manipulations in my old car.

ENTERTAINMENT: I use the USB for my iPod Shuffle and bluetooth for my iPhone. Bluetooth can be a bit glitchy, so I prefer the USB for music. I don’t use XM radio, Pandora, and such so I’m no expert on those.


My Spark is my therapy car. I love the soothing, smooth acceleration. A great way to relieve stress after a rough day is to take a ride in my car through the countryside or to the beach.

The Spark is our main car when my husband and I go anywhere in the county together. It’s the one I drive all the time. My husband has a Honda CRV that we use for travel.

The SparkEV is a delight to drive and I'm so glad I didn't let any doubts hold me back.
 
Happy 2nd month for mine!

Absolutely Love it !
I haven't touched my old hybrid gas burner since I got the Spark EV. (Although I should drive it once in a while.)

RANGE: How often do you get more than you paid for? I routinely see high 80's in the range guessometer, once it had a 94 mile indication! And I am not putzing along. I'm in the left lane doing 75-80 with my buddies in rush hour traffic,, when everyone else is. Sometimes it's stop and go on the way home.

CHARGING: I have an L2 at home from when I owned a Volt. I have not used it once. My Spark EV has the DCFC option. KC is possibly the most EV friendly city in the world! There are hundreds of L2's and 13 DCFC around town. I only charge at work during the week and use the DCFC on the weekends. I just got back from a 4 day vacation and used the Spark EV for the 82 mile RT to the airport. I did a 15 minute top up at a DCFC on the way home. My plan is to not spend a dime on charging at home. I may plug in when winter gets here but only for battery TMS by setting delayed charge for after I leave in the mornings.

Space: I've had the back seats down with a custom made carpet pad for most of my time with it. I haul lotsOcrap with it!

Comfort, handling, safety: It's a hoot to drive !!!

Maintenance: None. Why even rotate the tires left to right? They are going to wear anyway because of the fun factor you get with this car.
In fact, I bought and installed a second set of high performance tires and saved the stock LRR tires for later. Even with these tires I still get excellent range and much better handling and probably faster acceleration times and better braking due to increased traction.
Cabin air filter? It's clean where I drive. It can be deferred.
But the biggie is brake fluid changes. Why so often compared to any other GM vehicle? (an old Korean spec?) I'm going to do it as spec'd.
And, eventually an ATF change in the drive unit at 97,500 miles. I'll probably do that sooner than later and I'll get an oil analysis done on the old fluid.

Electric Usage: None. See above.

Climate and Entertainment: Love the controls compared to the Volt. Real knobs for climate controls that I can glance at and twist easily. Paddle volume controls on the steering wheel. I added a stick-on rubber dot to the cruise control 'Set' button for ease of use.

Things I dislike: Center display does not dim enough for country driving.
The High Beams can not be flashed without that silly 'pedestrian alert' beeping. The push for High-Low Beams seems awkward, but I'll learn to live with it.
The speakers..... I'm adding a sub and looking into replacement front speakers.

What else???? Anyone?
 
In fact, I bought and installed a second set of high performance tires and saved the stock LRR tires for later. Even with these tires I still get excellent range and much better handling and probably faster acceleration times and better braking due to increased traction.
What type of tires did you get? I picked up a screw in one of the tires, and our local tire shop couldn't get the same tires that came on the Spark. He had a tire that was the same size as the ruined tire, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference in range. So I'm thinking when I replace the complete set, I'll change to a brand that's easier to get.
 
I think Norton has Kumho Ecsta 4X tires, a high performance all-season tire that gives up a little efficiency (5%?) for handling and grip. If you want to dive into some minutia, here's a thread where we discussed some of the options available from TireRack.com.

LRR Tire Availability (besides OE Ecopia EP150)

I highly recommend TireRack and have been buying tires from them for years (geesh, decades actually). They can ship to your house or to many tire installers in your area.

I hate to ask, but what size screw did you pick up? If it wasn't too big, it's very possible your tire shop could have repaired it without you having to replace two tires. Of course, they'd much prefer to sell you tires, even if it leaves you with mismatched tires and possibly compromised handling.
 
Thanks for the information Zoomit. Very appreciated.

I hate to ask, but what size screw did you pick up? If it wasn't too big, it's very possible your tire shop could have repaired it without you having to replace two tires. Of course, they'd much prefer to sell you tires, even if it leaves you with mismatched tires and possibly compromised handling.
I think it was a sheetrock screw if I remember correctly. It had been in the tire for quite awhile when I finally took the Spark in. It had penetrated at an angle into the side wall of the tire. The tire shop had repaired tires for us in the past, so I trust that it was irreparable.
 
Make that Kumho Ecsta 4X II . I got them when there was a $100 rebate on purchase of 4. Still waiting for that check Kumho.....
Then a week later I started losing air in the right rear tire and found this unrepairable sight:

I got the free replacement sent in a few days and the shop that did the install didn't charge me to install the replacement.
The tires came with Tirerack's road hazard warranty for free !

You people have got to stop throwing your chickabones out the window, OK?

I was still getting to know the Spark EV when I changed to these tires so I can't make any performance claims, but seat of the pants,,, They are great !!
I really wanted the Yokohama S Drives but they said something about not using them in below freezing temps. They were not All Season. The Kumhos are.
When I get a set of 16" wheels I'll use summer time only high performance tires, but that will wait for at least next spring.
 
Thank you so much for this wonderful post dear and I will definitely go for it next time. Actually I have already spent a lot on my wedding and t wedding planner but the wedding was wonderful and worth the money.
 
Yumm, Nelson !!

I assume you can get plenty of dishes featuring SPAM with this wedding service???? !!!

BTW, I give your marriage a less than 50% chance of working. Save your money next time and buy SPAM by the case.
 
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