Recent content by SteveC5088

Just short of 6 years old, my 2014 Spark EV's 12-volt battery quit. Car refused to shut down--kept trying to restart. Found that press-and-hold the power switch would do a hard shutdown. Got 3-4 error codes on the dash. Had to leave it overnight in a grocery store parking lot. Now that I...

The numbers I have seen is that the car's battery will return about 85% of what is put in. 85% of 19 kwh is 16 kwh. That should give you between 55 and 80 miles, minus whatever you use for heating the cabin, etc.

I am sure others' situations are different, but I have zero need for Fast Charging Provisions or DCFC (DCFC = "Direct Current Fast Charging" ). I've been driving my '14 Spark EV for 3 years now, and only once just recently did I find a public charging spot, so I plugged in -- even though I...

Well, yesterday, I finally broke down and bought new Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 tires for the front. $270 with installation, TPM charges, fees and taxes. The tires were almost bald, except for the radial grooves -- 10,200 miles. My average mileage is 3.6 m/kwh. So, my tire expenses are about...

Hmmm... That graph says that at 10 mph, I'm going to get fewer miles out of the battery than at 25 mph when climbing a grade. Why would that be the case?

Here's someone's web page using a Leaf: Predicting Energy Use They report: Driving uphill requires about 1.5 kWh per 1,000 feet elevation gain. You'll get back about 1 kWh on the downhill side.

I'm in the same boat: No "fast charging", never need it, never will. The Spark EV is my runabout car, commuter car, and a kick-in-the-pants to drive. Just plug it in and walk in the house. It charges up every night "just like my cell phone". That's all I'll ever need. For longer trips, we...

I did it the other way around: Volt first, liked it so much, we bought a Spark EV, too. Now, I drive the Spark on my short commute. When I get home, if there is an errand to run, I'll ask my wife: "Any juice left in the Volt, or should I use the Spark?" The Volt comes in real handy when I...

My tires lost their wear bars at 6k miles. At over 9k, there's almost no tread left. They slip and slide a little more on wet pavement now, too. But what the heck. Those front tires have lasted two years, it's the ONLY expense I have on the car (...well, I did take it in for a 1-year checkup...

Good to see someone is getting realistic mileage out of their tires. I'm such a lead-foot that I won't get 10,000 miles on mine. My next tires will have a mileage guarantee if I can find any.

Well, the Chevy Volt has a 16.5 kwh battery with 10.8 usable. I made the assumption that the Spark EV was similar, but apparently not with such a great buffer. This wikipedia article states it has a 21.3 kwh battery (not sure whether that is 2014 or 15). 18.4 is 86% of 21.3.

Just so you know, Spark EV already has a battery management system that prevents charging the battery above a set level. I believe it is somewhere around 85% of full charge. There is a similar lower limit as well. Chevrolet does this to enable the battery to last much longer. The battery...

Yep. Took me a while to notice too. I hate drivers that are always touching the brake pedal when they want to slow down, but now I am one of them. :( Brake lights go on when I slow down almost every time. But I guess that is a good thing.

Ok Dusty, I'll take a stab at answering: When you move a magnet past a piece of iron (and some other metal elements), if that piece of iron has a coil of copper wire wound around it, it causes electrons to move through the wire. The converse is also true: If you push electrons through the...

Another piece of misinformation: Yes, I get annoyed at drivers like that too. But guess what... when driving in L, after you let off the accelerator pedal for over a second, the Spark EV's brake lights light up!! You can see it in action at night on a dark street, if you adjust your rear-view...