My Spark finally let me down

Chevy Spark EV Forum

Help Support Chevy Spark EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sparkyps

Active member
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
33
After almost 3 years and 40k miles of reliable service my 2014 Spark EV had to be hauled off on a flatbed truck.

Drove to a restaurant with 55 miles of range, came out after eating and car wouldn't go. 51 miles of range, "service battery" message, couldn't even turn lights off and flashing "low battery". Was getting late so just took a Lyft home and called Chevy Roadside Assistance in the morning.

2 months left on the lease, hoping whateve is wrong it is covered under the battery warranty as it is out of the 36,000 mile warranty.

Maybe the good news is someone will get a relatively high mile off lease vehicle with an almost brand new battery at a great price.

Edit: Well, much concern over nothing. Just the 12V battery needed to be replaced.
 
sparkyps said:
...Edit: Well, much concern over nothing. Just the 12V battery needed to be replaced.
That was a happy ending!

It's weird how lead acid batteries can go bad without much notice. Especially in an EV where the battery never has a big cranking load to show the owner something is going wrong....

Side note: I was helping a friend with a 'suddenly dead' battery this weekend. This battery was installed and bought new ~2 yrs ago, I was told.
But the colored circular 'Date Code' was 11/12. Almost 4 1/2 yrs old. It was old when she bought it.... Batteries can sit around in shops growing old, folks.
Buy a fresh battery by looking for that 'Manufactured on date code'.
 
Well, much concern over nothing. Just the 12V battery needed to be replaced.

I'm getting close to 4 years on my Spark, so this really caught my attention. Was there any indication or warning prior to the dead battery that the 12V was about to go?
 
jsca72 said:
Well, much concern over nothing. Just the 12V battery needed to be replaced.

I'm getting close to 4 years on my Spark, so this really caught my attention. Was there any indication or warning prior to the dead battery that the 12V was about to go?

In hindsight, yes. We had gotten a couple of warnings (amber exclamation mark) that would come and go. But nothing that clearly said "Hey your 12V battery is showing low voltage".

As others have said, with a gas car you can usually tell that a battery is getting weak and a jump will always get you going. Not so with an EV, battery gets low and you are calling the tow truck unless you realize it is the 12V battery and can run out and buy a match. These batteries are not your standard Costco lead acid batteries. They are "special" so while you might save the $49 in labor for the Chevy dealer to install it you aren't likely to find one at Checker auto.

But I will say the free Chevy roadside assistance was nice, though slow arriving.

I only have another 2 months left on my lease and am actively looking for a used Spark EV to replace it with. With DCFC, which gets regular use.
 
Is the leasing company giving you any options to continue the lease or for you to buy your Spark Ev after lease end?
 
Back
Top