Another new Spark EV Owner here (From Chicago Illinois area)

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.

Chris101

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
117
Hi Everyone.

I bought my Spark EV in Phoenix, AZ on November 20th 2017 and had it shipped back home to me in the Chicago area.

LOVE this thing!

Its a 2014 2LT and had 15808 the day I registered, plated and titled. Today it has a whopping 16,329.



Now is there anyone else in the Chicago area with one?
 
Hi,
I'm from Chicago area (northern suburbs), and owned a 2014 Spark EV 1LT from Fall of 2015 to Feb 2016. I loved it, but it was taken from me prematurely (traffic accident). Around the same time, the Tesla Model 3 was revealed and I plopped down a reservation. Been driving an ICE since my Spark was totaled, waiting for my invite to configure from Tesla. Anyways, it looks like my invite might not come for nearly a year. So, I'm back on this forum perusing, catching up on the latest chatter. I'm looking to buy a used Spark EV again until my invite comes.
One good thing about Illinois is that the electric vehicle registration plates are cheap!
 
"Invite"
That's funny they call it that.
"Congratulations! You are now invited to play a little bit with your $1000 deposit money.
You still won't have a car for a long time, especially if you are wanting the mythical $35,000 Model 3.

BTW,, thanks for the interest free loan!
"

PS, good luck with the tax incentive by then....
 
Yes, Tesla loves their terminology. I'd imagine I'm not the only Spark EV owner to be waiting for their invite though. Almost going on two years already now! We're a patient bunch...
 
I actually left our AZ plates (which is even cheaper than Illinois EV plates) ;)

We are in Mt. Prospect though (so northwest burbs)
 
Wow, we're close. I'm in Round Lake.
I think plates are only $18/yr in Illinois for electric vehicles. And Illinois offers a 2 year registration for $36. Hard to beat. Regular cars are $101/yr.
 
^ Arizona does actually beat Illinois overall.

My title cost me $4 (not $95) and it was handed to me off the printer at the DMV (no waiting for it in the mail for weeks or months)

AND the plates are for 2 years as well in AZ and cost me a whopping $8 a year for EV plates :D

I also have an AZ insurance policy (which is cheaper than in Illinois as well).


Besides, we've discussed giving the Spark EV back to my parents to use in AZ when we get another EV (because we have the strong feeling we'll be getting something else soon enough ;) )
 
Chris101 said:
^ Arizona does actually beat Illinois overall.

My title cost me $4 (not $95) and it was handed to me off the printer at the DMV (no waiting for it in the mail for weeks or months)

AND the plates are for 2 years as well in AZ and cost me a whopping $8 a year for EV plates :D

I also have an AZ insurance policy (which is cheaper than in Illinois as well).


Besides, we've discussed giving the Spark EV back to my parents to use in AZ when we get another EV (because we have the strong feeling we'll be getting something else soon enough ;) )

Just be careful as most states give you 30 days to update the registration, and in many cases it has to be registered where it is mostly used and not necessarily at the actual owner's primary address. Here in Missouri they have exceptions for full time students and military but regardless if you get caught your fines would likely be way more than any money you've saved by not putting Illinois tags on it.

In other words.. even if you have it registered at your parents' address, since the car spends most of its time in Illinois it legally needs to be registered in Illinois.

Also it's important to note that if you get in an accident, and your insurance company finds out you don't actually live in AZ (which they will) then there's a really good chance they won't cover your damages.. and if they do decide to cover them they'll drop you right after.

It's a very risky choice to make to save just a few bucks...
 
IllinoisSpark15 said:
Yeah that is cheap.

What kind of range are you getting in the cold this year?

depending on how cold its not the greatest but the worst so far was 56 miles on a charge during that period of 20 days when it was crazy cold with -11 (remember that?)

BEST I've seen so far was 94 miles on a single charge back when it was 60-75 outside and no A/C or heat needed
 
Yeah that sounds very similar to what I was getting with my '14. My roundtrip commute is 35 miles. So I would go two days between charges when it was temperate. But once temperatures fell below 15°F, the battery wouldn't last the 70 miles.
 
^ we actually just changed to ComEd hourly charges and programmed the car to ONLY charge between 11pm and 4am so we shall see how this works our for our electric bill moving forward. Right now off-peak is 2 cents (then add 6 cents per watt for taxes and delivery charge of course)
 
Back
Top