Recent content by QuietRider

There were a couple of "home-mades" at the National Drive Electric Week show I attended last Sept, along with my Spark, numerous Teslas - 100+ EVs there. And I still mess around with my 'Lectric Leopard; changed the 6V golf cart batteries to 12 volt AGMs, upgraded relays, tires, brakes, and it...

P.S. Must have dropped a 9 in the tire size in my previous post. What I'd put on were Kumho Ectsa 4X ii 195/55 R15 85V tires - just went out to look at the sidewall to make sure.

I've been happy with the Kumho Ectsa 4X 15/55 R15 85V. There are some topics on this site that talk about tires and wheels, and the Kumhos were recommended in several posts. The tires are not real expensive, have decent low rolling resistance, not quite as good as stock, but they are lots...

Not having reset the trip odometer since the update last fall, I've put around 4000 more miles on the car. The update upped the mi/kWh to around 51, which was great! Now, after driving through the winter and 4000 miles later, it's down to 10.1 mi/kWh. Other than that trip odometer change, no...

Great info! It would be very interesting to hear your report comparing the Bolt to the Spark! You hear that one or more of the many cells sometimes go bad in batteries. A little off topic, but a fellow with a Solar PV firm was telling me that Toyota wanted something like ~$3K to replace...

You need to bring the Farm Bureau rebate certificate to the dealer at time of purchase. Even doing that, it didn't work for me buying under the Chevy 20% off promotion, because that promotion did not honor any other discounts....

Temperature makes a big difference, although I've not kept written records. The GOM only charged up to 64 in extended cold periods, like we had in MD in December and it's hard to run without heat on when it's 20 F and the windshield is frost covered. Rain and snow take a hit. I'm bothered...

Hello! You've likely found the parts you need by now. If not there's a Spark EV front clip on eBay, item # 261984634749 as of August 21, 2016. Maybe the seller has other parts you may need.

It will be good when more of a charging network is in place. It seems like CA is way out in front. There's not anything heading West to the mountains, here in the charging station desert of the East. As an aside, the grid power was out 6 hours from a tree falling on the lines today. It was...

Thought I'd try the 6.5" wheels on all four corners. Before investing in extra wheels, tires and TPMS sensors, I'd switched the standard rear wheels and tires to the front for a couple of weeks to see if I liked that, and I did. The 6.5" rear wheels need 5mm spacers on the front to clear...

I just put on the kumho 4X II's on 6.5" Spark EV wheels, with 5mm spacers on the front. While I haven't broken the new tires in yet, the negative factors seem minor. I've found better grip with the wider tires on the front. The stock front's seemed to have worse traction in acceleration and...

That is a pretty good state rebate for MD. Thanks, Bro! There were plenty of Spark EVs on the lot in June when I was shopping for one - the big Chevy rebates should be returning later in the season. Seemed like they were anxious to give me money off on a purchase, too.

Congratulations! What color is the new Spark? It would be good to learn more about the $2300 MD EV Tax Credit - hadn't heard about that one. The MD sales tax refund is another helpful perk. Nothing like getting a new car and lower payments!! Thank you,

Lot of folks on this forum have similar interests. It's a wonder why the Spark can't take a DC charge, since AC certainly adds to loss through conversion - something that should be fixed - it should be able to take either. Truck battery charging through the lighter socket is a good idea...

Off grid panel charging is an excellent question, even if the cost isn't competitive with grid-power. I'd like to have 4 panels ~ 1kW to plug into the Spark, and maybe charge other batteries for backup power. There are days when the Spark mostly is parked at home. Why not get a boost from...