My first 24 hours with the Spark EV... (lengthy)

[JoeSchmoe]

First, the lease term - it's a '14 with leather and the DC fast charge provisions. ~$1800 total down, ~$215/mo including tax, 12k miles/year. Got the car from Connell Chevy in Costa Mesa. All the staff were helpful and friendly - I have no complaints whatsoever. They let my wife and I test drive the car without a salesperson escort. My wife and I have test driven many cars over the years and only one other time has a dealer been that accommodating - thumbs up to them for that. The car impressed on the test drive.

The ownership experience started with a drive home that was a little disconcerting. Had approx 55 freeway miles to go on approx 75 miles of indicated range. Made it home with about 20 miles to spare in range. After my first commute, here are my thoughts.

Interior
- Radio not as bad as I've read here. It's not great, but not horrible.
- This car needs a telescoping steering wheel bad. I'm 6' tall and I fit everywhere except for the fact that my legs are splayed if I move close enough to the steering wheel to reach it comfortably. In this splayed driving position my right knee ends up close to the HVAC controls when trying to get comfortable.
- Seats are cushy, yet the leatherette is weirdly sticky.
- A/C works well. I tried the remote start today and a few minutes later it was pretty nice inside.
- Only one armrest? Why!?
- Quiet!, of course.
- Needs one more USB port - one for music and one for charging a phone. This would prevent you from carrying a big clunky car charger.
- It would have been awesome if GM would have designed a flat spot of significant size on the stereo bezel as a mounting point for a suction cup phone mount. The little side window looks like it might be good.

Driving
- Fairly comfortable ride
- It's fast! As mentioned everywhere, it lags a bit off the line, but I tried sport mode for a bit and I think "sport" should be renamed "linear". It's a more natural process off the line. Flooring it at anything more than 10MPH is a blast up to 60. Since there's little engine noise when flooring it you hear the tires make a sand paper-like sound as they pull the vehicle forward in the face of all the torque. When cruising on surface streets, the instant pull from a stab at the gas pedal lets you take advantage of gaps in traffic as if everyone else is asleep at the wheel. The car also pulls pretty well on the freeway. Not quite as ridiculously as it does on surface streets, but pretty darn good.
- cornering is a little awkward and yes the tires are crap, but it's mostly OK for generic commuting. I have yet to test the braking. It will be the braking performance that determines if better tires are a safety necessity.
- Still figuring out the best method for regen braking. I drive exclusively in L. Energy regen spikes when you depress the brake pedal a bit, but I don't know if it's better to coast-regen for longer, or pedal-regen at the higher rate for less time. Either way, GM should consider updating the car's firmware to activate the brake lights when in L and using regen to coast to a stop. You decelerate at a pretty significant rate and people behind you see no indication that you are slowing.
- As described in reviews, the car does indeed have a weird decrease in braking force as you come to a stop as the car transitions to the mechanical brakes. You have to plan for a little extra room between you and the next car when stopping.

I've got a number of ideas for things to do to the car. Being a lease, I'll have to be mindful of having to return it to stock later, but I think there's some fun little things I can pull off.

 

[SteveC5088]

Hmmm... I'm 5'10, and don't have any trouble with the steering layout. Try moving the seat back, and then setting the back more upright.

You can get a 12-volt USB charger plug, and there are two 12-volt outlets.

Braking: I drive in L usually, but if I want to coast, I'll shift to D, even N sometimes. Then I use the shifter to control the deceleration. After a few months, it becomes almost automatic so you can judge where to shift to L as you come to a stop light. I only use the brake pedal the last 30 ft or so. I am sure it really confuses other drivers with the lack of brake lights.

I keep the phone in my pocket, and let the Bluetooth connection work its magic.

 

[Sparkler]

My Garmin suction cup attaches nicely to the plastic faceplate on the right side of the screen, just above the Leaf button.

I saw quite a few Sparks on Saturday at the Drive Electric EVent, one had the GPS mount stuck onto that little adhesive disk that usually comes with them. It was right in the center on the flat in front of the upper airbag status display. If you want something permanent, that looked OK.

 

[fengshui]

I drive exclusively in L. Energy regen spikes when you depress the brake pedal a bit, but I don't know if it's better to coast-regen for longer, or pedal-regen at the higher rate for less time. Either way, GM should consider updating the car's firmware to activate the brake lights when in L and using regen to coast to a stop. You decelerate at a pretty significant rate and people behind you see no indication that you are slowing.

I've found that I am more efficient in D than L, through observation of the efficiency reports at the end of each trip. Most of my driving is city driving, where there are many opportunities to coast, and D allows that. Trying to coast in D by holding the pedal just right is hard, and I end up bouncing back and forth between regen and throttle, which costs energy. In true freeway stop-and-go, L makes the driving easier, so I use it there.

The car does activate the brake lights in L (and D, sometimes) based on accelerometer data. If you're slowing quickly enough in L, it will illuminate the lights. You can test this by going into L on the freeway at 65 at night, then releasing the pedal. You'll see the upper brake light illuminate in the reflection from the back glass.

 

[nozferatu]

I drive exclusively in L. Energy regen spikes when you depress the brake pedal a bit, but I don't know if it's better to coast-regen for longer, or pedal-regen at the higher rate for less time. Either way, GM should consider updating the car's firmware to activate the brake lights when in L and using regen to coast to a stop. You decelerate at a pretty significant rate and people behind you see no indication that you are slowing.

I've found that I am more efficient in D than L, through observation of the efficiency reports at the end of each trip. Most of my driving is city driving, where there are many opportunities to coast, and D allows that. Trying to coast in D by holding the pedal just right is hard, and I end up bouncing back and forth between regen and throttle, which costs energy. In true freeway stop-and-go, L makes the driving easier, so I use it there.

The car does activate the brake lights in L (and D, sometimes) based on accelerometer data. If you're slowing quickly enough in L, it will illuminate the lights. You can test this by going into L on the freeway at 65 at night, then releasing the pedal. You'll see the upper brake light illuminate in the reflection from the back glass.

I'll definitely have to try that because I've not seen my lights ever come on during deceleration. At least not in the city...maybe on the freeway it's a different story.

 

[xylhim]

Yeah, the brake lights definitely come on in L, but you need to be decelerating enough. You can also test this going down a really steep hill going say, 45MPH, then popping it into L mode from D, you'll notice the brake lights come on momentarily.

 

[nozferatu]

Yeah, the brake lights definitely come on in L, but you need to be decelerating enough. You can also test this going down a really steep hill going say, 45MPH, then popping it into L mode from D, you'll notice the brake lights come on momentarily.

Man now I'm curious..can't wait until it gets dark lol. I'm pretty sure mine don't but I could be wrong...I even tried it a while back driving past some businesses that have large windows and reflective surfaces and didn't see squat!

I'll report back tonight!

 

[gra]

Yeah, the brake lights definitely come on in L, but you need to be decelerating enough. You can also test this going down a really steep hill going say, 45MPH, then popping it into L mode from D, you'll notice the brake lights come on momentarily.

Man now I'm curious..can't wait until it gets dark lol. I'm pretty sure mine don't but I could be wrong...I even tried it a while back driving past some businesses that have large windows and reflective surfaces and didn't see squat!

I'll report back tonight!

Found the following proposal for the EU, dated 2009:

A. PROPOSAL

Paragraph 5.2.22.4., amend to read:

"5.2.22.4. Electric regenerative braking systems as defined in paragraph 2.17., which produce a retarding force upon release of the throttle pedal, accelerator control, may only generate the signal mentioned above at decelerations above 1.3 m/s². However, once the signal has been generated, it shall be de-activated at the latest when the deceleration has fallen below 0.7 m/s²."

Another source says that this was adopted as part of UN Reg. 13H.