My first post here, as a brand new Spark EV owner. So here's the deal, I purchased last week a 2015 Spark EV with 28k miles on it from Carvana (a national car vendor not unlike CarMax). My closest pick-up location was Philly, about 100 miles from my home here in Coastal Delaware. On the way home, I kept getting the warning message "Propulsion Power is Reduced." It seemed to show up randomly, and sometimes it DID limit the acceleration and sometimes NOT. But then, on two (dramatic) occasions -- while cruising on the highway at 60+ mph -- a warning message popped up saying "Speed Limited to 20 mph." And indeed it was and the car immediately slowed down. Luckily, I was able to get it off on the shoulder without getting get rear-ended.
In both instances, the car returned to more or less normal operation (along with the random Propulsion Power is Reduced business) after 'resting' for 20 minutes or so. I was eventually able to limp home without a tow and have avoided driving the car since. I have a visit to the dealer scheduled.
Has anyone experienced this? I have found precious little about the Speed Limited to 20 mph warning message either online or in the owner's manual. I am a little freaked that the car would just suddenly decide to drop out of warp speed while cruising down the highway. Not very safe, to my way of thinking.
Carvana, from whence the car came, has a one-week, no questioned asked return policy. So I have an out. But my wife and I both really like the car. It's the perfect second vehicle for running errands around town. But not sure we want to keep it if this is a known 'quirk' of the car.
By the way, I suspect the problem might have something to do with the battery thermal management system, which would explain why the car rejoined the living after resting for a while, as in maybe it just needed to cool off for a while.
And while I don't want to get off topic here, another thing I am concerned about is that I have not seen Max Range numbers above the upper 60s, even when fully charged. Where'd the 80+ miles of range go?
Comments?
Jack M
In both instances, the car returned to more or less normal operation (along with the random Propulsion Power is Reduced business) after 'resting' for 20 minutes or so. I was eventually able to limp home without a tow and have avoided driving the car since. I have a visit to the dealer scheduled.
Has anyone experienced this? I have found precious little about the Speed Limited to 20 mph warning message either online or in the owner's manual. I am a little freaked that the car would just suddenly decide to drop out of warp speed while cruising down the highway. Not very safe, to my way of thinking.
Carvana, from whence the car came, has a one-week, no questioned asked return policy. So I have an out. But my wife and I both really like the car. It's the perfect second vehicle for running errands around town. But not sure we want to keep it if this is a known 'quirk' of the car.
By the way, I suspect the problem might have something to do with the battery thermal management system, which would explain why the car rejoined the living after resting for a while, as in maybe it just needed to cool off for a while.
And while I don't want to get off topic here, another thing I am concerned about is that I have not seen Max Range numbers above the upper 60s, even when fully charged. Where'd the 80+ miles of range go?
Comments?
Jack M