Topic: Preview: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV

[Autos_Editor]

The new Spark EV (electric vehicle) will go on sale here next year, but only to fleet customers as GM evaluates consumer demand.

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[canuckystan]

Nice review, shows how quickly EV's are advancing.  I'm guessing in 5 years they will be a lot better with big range.  The additional weight is a great safety factor for a small car.  If I were ever to buy a small car, it would be heaviest EV I could find.

[me_2]

As BEV only, the onboard 3.3Kw AC charger (20Kwh in 7 hours) if the same as the Volt, does not make sense.

External DC charging infrastructure seem to be very costly & rare (if any available) with this new combo plug. GM must include as a bare minimun, a 6.6Kw onboard AC charger as Ford did with its FFE (Ford Focus EV).

Being available in Canada through fleet only (at least at the beginning) would make it unreacheable to early adopter. Ontario is going to have a new incentive program L2 charging station program  http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/electric/index.shtml

[ArticSteve]

As with any electric vehicle, any HVAC operation will reduce the range in the Spark EV. The air conditioning also runs off the main propulsion battery and will further reduce range when used.

AC is not the big problem, heat is.  EVs only are not going to fly in cold climates.

[Neromanceres]

As with any electric vehicle, any HVAC operation will reduce the range in the Spark EV. The air conditioning also runs off the main propulsion battery and will further reduce range when used.

AC is not the big problem, heat is.  EVs only are not going to fly in cold climates.

I agree heat is a big issue.  In my Volt I can see my range go from 80km's on good days to 40km's on cold days with heavy defrost use.

But I'm seriously considering the Spark EV as a second car.  It appears to have enough range to get me or my wife anywhere in the Waterloo Region and back with room to spare even in the Winter.  If GM Canada offers some decent lease rates I would seriously consider it.

[Fobroader]

As with any electric vehicle, any HVAC operation will reduce the range in the Spark EV. The air conditioning also runs off the main propulsion battery and will further reduce range when used.

AC is not the big problem, heat is.  EVs only are not going to fly in cold climates.

I agree heat is a big issue.  In my Volt I can see my range go from 80km's on good days to 40km's on cold days with heavy defrost use.

But I'm seriously considering the Spark EV as a second car.  It appears to have enough range to get me or my wife anywhere in the Waterloo Region and back with room to spare even in the Winter.  If GM Canada offers some decent lease rates I would seriously consider it.

So with full heat, defrost, headlights and heated seats you still get 40K out of your Volt....thats not bad. Does it ever get really cold in the Kitchener/Waterloo area??

[Northernridge]

As with any electric vehicle, any HVAC operation will reduce the range in the Spark EV. The air conditioning also runs off the main propulsion battery and will further reduce range when used.

AC is not the big problem, heat is.  EVs only are not going to fly in cold climates.

I agree heat is a big issue.  In my Volt I can see my range go from 80km's on good days to 40km's on cold days with heavy defrost use.

But I'm seriously considering the Spark EV as a second car.  It appears to have enough range to get me or my wife anywhere in the Waterloo Region and back with room to spare even in the Winter.  If GM Canada offers some decent lease rates I would seriously consider it.

I had to read that twice...a range of 40km? I've got to say that seems...disappointing.  You'd think a bunch of university kids could make an EV car that would do 40km on a charge...as a class project.

[Neromanceres]

So with full heat, defrost, headlights and heated seats you still get 40K out of your Volt....thats not bad. Does it ever get really cold in the Kitchener/Waterloo area??

Yup.  In a typicall Winter we can hit as low as -25C to -30C at night.  But typically only get a few days like that a year.

I actually find that at lower temperatures there is a point at which the Volt's range doesn't drop much.

The range really drops between 10C and 0C but from 0C to -10C the heater is running and the range doesn't change much.  The Defroster is what really eats range.  At below -10C the gas engine will cycle on and off to help heat the cabin and I will get the message "Engine running due to temperature"

[Neromanceres]

I had to read that twice...a range of 40km? I've got to say that seems...disappointing.  You'd think a bunch of university kids could make an EV car that would do 40km on a charge...as a class project.

Yup.  Sure you could get university kids to do better but a few will likely freeze to death in the process.  And the car will likely look more like a science project than the simply awsome car the Volt is.

I knew full well going in that the range will fluctuate (as with any EV).  Overall I will still likely average 60 to 70km's of range over the whole year.  It's only on bad days where I need heavy defrost use were I may hit the low 40's.  My commute to and from work is 42km's so on the worst days I might use a tiny bit of gas.  Plus on the days where the temperature is below -10C which thankfully in Kitchener is usually not too many days (probably 30 to 40 days a year).

In the whole month of November I used 2L of gas and drove ~1800km's.  And I'm no hypermiler.

[Northernridge]

I had to read that twice...a range of 40km? I've got to say that seems...disappointing.  You'd think a bunch of university kids could make an EV car that would do 40km on a charge...as a class project.

Yup.  Sure you could get university kids to do better but a few will likely freeze to death in the process.  And the car will likely look more like a science project than the simply awsome car the Volt is.

I knew full well going in that the range will fluctuate (as with any EV).  Overall I will still likely average 60 to 70km's of range over the whole year.  It's only on bad days where I need heavy defrost use were I may hit the low 40's.  My commute to and from work is 42km's so on the worst days I might use a tiny bit of gas.  Plus on the days where the temperature is below -10C which thankfully in Kitchener is usually not too many days (probably 30 to 40 days a year).

In the whole month of November I used 2L of gas and drove ~1800km's.  And I'm no hypermiler.

Interesting. What would the range be on a tank of gas if you had to push it for some reason?

BTW I probably used 3.5 litres of gas just driving home from work today.

[Mike]

I probably used 3.5 L just exiting the parking lot today in this beast

[Northernridge]

I probably used 3.5 L just exiting the parking lot today in this beast

Yes but you looked good.

[Fobroader]

I probably used 3.5 L just exiting the parking lot today in this beast

Thats what i use warming the truck up lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[Erik]

I had to read that twice...a range of 40km? I've got to say that seems...disappointing.  You'd think a bunch of university kids could make an EV car that would do 40km on a charge...as a class project.

Yup.  Sure you could get university kids to do better but a few will likely freeze to death in the process.  And the car will likely look more like a science project than the simply awsome car the Volt is.

I knew full well going in that the range will fluctuate (as with any EV).  Overall I will still likely average 60 to 70km's of range over the whole year.  It's only on bad days where I need heavy defrost use were I may hit the low 40's.  My commute to and from work is 42km's so on the worst days I might use a tiny bit of gas.  Plus on the days where the temperature is below -10C which thankfully in Kitchener is usually not too many days (probably 30 to 40 days a year).

In the whole month of November I used 2L of gas and drove ~1800km's.  And I'm no hypermiler.

Damn. Not many cars that blow me into the weeds from a fuel economy perspective. I'm jealous!

[rrocket]

The commute is only 42kms.  Most any EV on the market can do that.  Even this little Spark.


And FFS....can we dispense with the whole "more torque than a Mustang, Corvette, etc" with this?  400 TQ is impressive.  But this is at ZERO RPM.  It this was from idle to redline, yea..it would be something.

Trust me...it this car had a "real" 400TQ, it wouldn't take 4 seconds longer to reach 60 than the only 306TQ Tesla does.

[Erik]

Yeah, but they can't keep going after the battery runs out.

[Neromanceres]

Damn. Not many cars that blow me into the weeds from a fuel economy perspective. I'm jealous!

It all depends on how far I need to drive and how often I can plug in.  In October I used ~36L of gas to go ~3000kms.  But I did 600km on Thankgiving weekend and I had to commute to meetings in Mississauga for three days.

That's why I got a Volt.  EV most of the time but the gas engine is there when I need it.  A pure BEV at this point won't work for me.

[rrocket]

Yeah, but they can't keep going after the battery runs out.

Which is fine.  But the price (compared to the Volt) of the Spark means you could have your Insight AND a Spark parked in the driveway and it would still cost less than a Volt.

[Erik]

Damn. Not many cars that blow me into the weeds from a fuel economy perspective. I'm jealous!

It all depends on how far I need to drive and how often I can plug in.  In October I used ~36L of gas to go ~3000kms.  But I did 600km on Thankgiving weekend and I had to commute to meetings in Mississauga for three days.

That's why I got a Volt.  EV most of the time but the gas engine is there when I need it.  A pure BEV at this point won't work for me.

Yup. Every other EV requires a second car.

[rrocket]

Yup. Every other EV requires a second car.

And it would still be cheaper than the purchase of a Volt.