12,094 vs 20,709 battery replacement??

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evboy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Messages
198
For fun I went to gmwholesale direct website to see prices on a 2014 battery and a 2015 battery. About 21k for the 2014 and 12k for the 2015. I guess mass production of the LG is bringing prices down where the a123 batteries are not being produced anymore.The assumption that prices will collapse and range will go up for a 2014 replacement battery in 2022 is a pipe dream at this point. nobody is going to pay either price for a new battery today, but if you have a 2015 or 16, you have a chance that lg will make something for you in 2023 at a reasonable price.
 
I did a very quick search (20 second search) and the first link I got put the replacement price of the 2015-2016 traction battery at about $5k. That's a price I'd consider paying to get another 100K+ EV miles.

https://parts.ganleygm.com/p/Chevrolet_2015_Spark-EV/Battery-tray-Drive-Motor-Battery-Pack-Tray/65129434/23348215.html?partner=googlebase_adwords&kwd=&origin=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7bDb7o7C3AIVTiWBCh2ERAbKEAQYBCABEgLOyPD_BwE
 
https://parts.ganleygm.com/a/Chevrolet_2015_Spark-EV-LT/_56656_6944856/HYBRID-COMPONENTS-BATTERY-COOLING-SYSTEM/NC1100.html
What is this for 21k on the 2015. I can't find the 2014 listed like your link. How did you find it.
 
I just did a google search with these terms: 'spark ev 2015 traction battery purchase' I own a 2015 and a 2016

There are a few even cheaper ones near the top ($4,450.70).

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/gm-battery-tray-23348215

The 2014 seems harder to find and 3x the price.... probably much cheaper to buy a low mileage totaled car, or buy the individual cells which are available and replace as required... or hope someone figures out a software update to allow you to use the later pack (less range but 86lbs lighter).
 
PhilPen said:
I did a very quick search (20 second search) and the first link I got put the replacement price of the 2015-2016 traction battery at about $5k. That's a price I'd consider paying to get another 100K+ EV miles.

https://parts.ganleygm.com/p/Chevrolet_2015_Spark-EV/Battery-tray-Drive-Motor-Battery-Pack-Tray/65129434/23348215.html?partner=googlebase_adwords&kwd=&origin=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7bDb7o7C3AIVTiWBCh2ERAbKEAQYBCABEgLOyPD_BwE

That is actually just the battery tray, #2 on the diagram, #1 is the whole complete pack, $12,800 smackaroos. However I'm sure if purchasing the whole pack a massive discount should apply for the core charge, which is strange it is not mentioned. I would think final cost would be around 5-7k with a complete swap.

In years to come hopefully we have specialist battery shops that would be equivalents of a motor shop rebuilding ice motors today.

Edit; And I see the bolts battery is displayed at $14,200...crazy since it is 3x the capacity of the sparks battery. Give me about half the bolts battery in little sparky and I'd fork over some loot in about 5 years when my warranty is out and battery shows heavy degradation.
 
Sorry, I didn't notice that was just for the tray! Wow that's a lot of $$$$ for a tray!!! Our 2016 had a net cost of much less than 2 trays after federal rebate! On a slightly different but still related topic there are people building aftermarket very flexible controllers that will work with just about any EV inverter/motor and battery pack to allow people to do EV hot-rodding and say put a Tesla motor in your old VW beetle. Therefore it may be soon possible to replace the GM controller with a programmable aftermarket unit that will work with any motor/inverter or battery pack you want (allowing modification of power/speed limits). With this approach you may be freed from being tied to Chevrolet parts and could use for example a number (8) of the small 42 lb Tesla modules that were used in smart cars etc. to produce a 24 kwh pack that's lighter than our current packs for < $7000?

Hacked controller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMQjcukphpA

Tesla modules for sale
http://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=329
 
By the time our Spark EVs need battery replacements, how many of you are actually going to pay for it? Let's say 5 years from now a battery pack can be purchased for $4000. Who would actually pay that vs. just buying some other EV (new or used)... let's be honest here but if in 5 years a Spark EV is worth $4000 to $5000 in resale, who the hell wants to spend what the car is worth just to get a new battery?
 
Chris101 said:
By the time our Spark EVs need battery replacements, how many of you are actually going to pay for it? Let's say 5 years from now a battery pack can be purchased for $4000. Who would actually pay that vs. just buying some other EV (new or used)... let's be honest here but if in 5 years a Spark EV is worth $4000 to $5000 in resale, who the hell wants to spend what the car is worth just to get a new battery?
I think that decision would depend a lot on what the mechanical condition of your present Spark EV was and what the cost of an equivalent used EV was. If, 7 years from now, my 2014 Spark EV was still in good mechanical and running condition and only needed a new HV battery to rejuvenate it to keep it going for another 10 years, $4000 for a new or remanufactured HV battery installed might be acceptable. By the time it was necessary to make that decision, I would have a very good idea if the Spark EV was worth keeping or destined for the scrap pile. I say this because I have a 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup truck I bought new in 1999. It now has 181k miles on the ODO and continues to run great. Recent repairs have cost me more than the truck is worth but I cannot buy an equivalent replacement for what I paid in repair costs. Same would probably be true for my Spark EV.
 
I have to agree with MrDRMorgan. What one hears from "professional auto advice givers" (for example, "Car Talk" and those like them) on the subject of "repair vs. replace": if the car is in decent condition, it is *always* cheaper to keep and occasionally repair your older car than to buy a brand new one (sometimes by a significant margin). This is because of the rapid depreciation on new cars the first few years.

Now, keeping an older vehicle means that you don't get new "advances" (say, a 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup truck doesn't have side curtain air bags, or Automatic Emergency Braking, or collision avoidance (backup/back-over radar) which many 2018 vehicles have now. So you decide to pass on that (or not).

Also, it makes a difference if you are a single person (by that, I mean living alone) or you have a multi-person (close, "significant other" or family) living arrangement that shares vehicles. I have the latter arrangement, and having a vehicle that does 60-80 miles around town would be just fine for us, since the other car is very long-range. One of us is *always* driving less than 50 miles during any given day. A single person wouldn't be able to get away with that as easily.

Personally, myself, I would probably jettison (sell) a Spark EV when I could get a 110+ mile range EV for $10K or so; until then I'd just stay with "Sparky". There's virtually no maintenance (tires, windshield wipers up to about 60K miles, then maybe a transmission fluid change). I wouldn't replace the battery (for $5K-8K) if I could buy a 2020 EV with twice the range for around 10K. If used EVs were selling for $15K, then I'd have no problem dropping $5K into the Spark EV for a new battery and transmission fluid flush. I'd figure to get another 5-10 years out of it - cheap at $5K. To me, it's not what the car is worth if I sell it, it's how much would it cost to get a replacement vehicle, and if the extra cost gets me 'enough' extra bells and whistles that I thought it was worth it.
 
I just read that for a Chevy Bolt EV, they can troubleshoot and repair batteries with replacement done on an individual module basis. From Chevy:

"Whole battery-pack replacement is also largely mitigated by the design, manufacturing technique, dealer diagnostic, and repair tools included to support the manufacture, sale, and service needs of the Bolt EV, meaning individual modules can be replaced should it be required."

It also says that in 7 years of Volt (not Bolt) sales, Chevy has never had to replace a battery pack under warranty. That's some cause for optimism (or fear that Chevy is just intractable).

Taken from: https://insideevs.com/news/333287/heres-how-much-a-chevrolet-bolt-replacement-battery-costs/

As I understand it, at least for the 2015 and newer Sparks, the cells are the same as the Bolt's. If anyone knows, does this mean that the Spark's battery can be serviced with individual module replacement, making the need for whole battery replacement even more unlikely?
 
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