Recent content by sparkyps

Old post but if you want to know how much additional energy is required to go up in elevation, for the Spark EV with one passenger it is roughly 3.8kWh for every 1000m in elevation. Scale that 4kWh for your elevation change. Likewise, going downhill, gravity will provide the equivalent of...

I leased a 2014 Spark EV for 3 years and drove it almost 45,000 miles in the extreme heat of the Palm Springs, CA area. The car was charged to 100% every night, it was regularly run down to < 10 miles of range and it was often charged at a DC fast charging station and most of its miles were on...

I doubt the price from GM will drop at all, they have zero incentive to keep any Spark EVs on the road after 8yrs/100,000 miles. If they gracefully degrade as opposed to simply failing they'll still be a fine in-city, short trip vehicle.

In hindsight, yes. We had gotten a couple of warnings (amber exclamation mark) that would come and go. But nothing that clearly said "Hey your 12V battery is showing low voltage". As others have said, with a gas car you can usually tell that a battery is getting weak and a jump will always...

After almost 3 years and 40k miles of reliable service my 2014 Spark EV had to be hauled off on a flatbed truck. Drove to a restaurant with 55 miles of range, came out after eating and car wouldn't go. 51 miles of range, "service battery" message, couldn't even turn lights off and flashing...

Does anyone know how Chevy determines degradation for a warranty replacement? The data collected by Zoomit is substantial but shows a wide range of values for battery capacity. I doubt Chevy is going to drive your vehicle around for a month and come up with an average. Maybe the answer is...

I got to talk to a couple with a Bolt and a Volt while at a fast charger in Menifee, CA (took a picture of their Bolt, my Spark EV and their Volt all parked side by side). Really nice car that they loved but I have zero interest in paying for that additional 40kWh of battery when my Spark meets...

I do almost all my charging at home but the DCFC on my Spark lets me hop in my EV, take a drive through the mountains from Palm Springs to Temecula, enjoy some wine tasting and then make a big loop up north and back to Palm Springs. Couldn't enjoy an afternoon out like that without the DCFC...

I have 35k miles on my 2014, another 6 months left on the lease, and it also has shown 0 battery degradation. Some of that could be because of the way GM manages the battery, holding some in reserve to keep the range high through the warranty period. Haven't had a single issue, have the DCFC...

My 2014 is close to 32,000 miles, I charge it to 100% every day (plug it in everytime it is in the garage) and run it down to to < 20 miles of range frequently. It does a 70 mile R/T commute up a big hill like a champ. I might have treated it more gingerly if it wasn't a lease but with its...

Unfortunately you should have been asking this question months ago when you had the possibility of increasing your taxable income in order to take advantage of the tax credit. For example: 1) If you participate in a 401k with a Roth option, switch your contributions to the Roth. You lose the...

If I was going to keep my Spark instead of having leased it I would buy the manual in a heartbeat, remove the pages from the binding and run it through my nice Fujitsu double sided SnapScan scanner to end up with a beautiful electronic copy I could cart around in my iPad/laptop/phone. But...

I'm not familiar with the Canadian auto market but you would lose a LOT of money if you bought a used Spark EV in the US for $20k and tried to sell it in a year or two. Remember, in the US people are paying net closer to $15k for brand new ones and given that the EV market is rapidly evolving I...

I'm at over 10,000 miles and I plug it in every time, everywhere that has a charger including my garage. GM has the expertise to do the right trade-offs between battery life and long term wear. I suspect that they already don't "fully" charge the battery just like a battery that shows 0 miles...

Perhaps this Chevy service bulletin could help? PI1382 12.18.2014 http://vitalysmobileautodiagnostics.com/6504/intermittent-unable-to-charge-from-dc-fast-charge-2014-2015-chevrolet-spark-ev