SPARK EV crushed all over again

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jim

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When Chevy came out with the higher priced longer range Bolt it stopped making the affordable 100 mile range SPARK EV. It was about 1/3 the cost and about 1/3 the range. It's one of my favorite Electrics but is no longer available.

That's very similar to the famous EV1 that was stopped and since it was only leased they took them all back and crushed them. Lucky the Chevy S-10 EV1 drive train pickup truck had been sold to mostly Utility companies and survived. The controller and batteries were the same but the chassis and body were of course different. So why crush anything?

I think Chevy could have had a lot more sales if they had both the SPARK and Bolt. But as we can see by the numbers of Bolts sold they only need to meet there 25,000 requirement and made about 23,500. What will 2018 bring from Chevy?
 
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jim said:
When Chevy came out with the higher priced longer range Bolt it stopped making the affordable 100 mile range SPARK EV. It was about 1/3 the cost and about 1/3 the range. It's one of my favorite Electrics but is no longer available.

That's very similar to the famous EV1 that was stopped and since it was only leased they took them all back and crushed them. Lucky the Chevy S-10 EV1 drive train pickup truck had been sold to mostly Utility companies and survived. The controller and batteries were the same but the chassis and body were of course different. So why crush anything?

I think Chevy could have had a lot more sales if they had both the SPARK and Bolt. But as we can see by the numbers of Bolts sold they only need to meet there 25,000 requirement and made about 23,500. What will 2018 bring from Chevy?
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I loved the Spark EV too but the comparison is not even close!

1 they sold you (and me) the Spark EV.

2 they made over 10,000 Spark EVs and less than 2,000 EV1s.

3 They built the Spark EV out of an existing vehicle similar to the S10 pickup. That made it much easier for them to continue to provide service on the vehicles. The EV1 was pretty much custom from top to bottom.

4 Dealers nationwide were certified to work on the Spark EV so anyone, anywhere in the US can buy one and can call up their dealer to see if they can work on the car.

5 The EV1 was 100% a test vehicle that then became a compliance vehicle out of necessity... it wasn’t originally designed to go into production honestly. CARB literally used the Impact concept car as proof that a ZEV requirement was possible. But the EV1 was a tiny 2 seater that cost over 100k to build. That is not even counting R&D costs! It would have never been successful if they tried selling it at cost.

So enjoy your Spark EV! Its a great car! But comparing it to the EV1 is simply not correct.
 
jim said:
It's LIKE it was Crushed. They won't make any more. That is very SIMILAR
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I know you’re upset that the Spark EV is gone. I don’t blame you, it was an amazing little car.

Canceling the ELR wasn’t like they ‘crushed’ the ELR. Tesla made 1/4 as many first gen Roadsters as GM made of the Spark EV. That doesn’t mean it was ‘like Tesla crushed the roadster’ just because they stopped production.

And who knows, like the roadster, the Spark EV may come back some day!

The gas Spark is one of the best selling car in its class in the US... and it sells very well world wide. Including in China! There are dozens of GM EVs coming to China and the US in the next decade. It might make sense to bring back the Spark EV now that battery costs have dropped so much.
 
WadeTyhon said:
I know you’re upset that the Spark EV is gone. I don’t blame you, it was an amazing little car.

Canceling the ELR wasn’t like they ‘crushed’ the ELR. Tesla made 1/4 as many first gen Roadsters as GM made of the Spark EV. That doesn’t mean it was ‘like Tesla crushed the roadster’ just because they stopped production.

And who knows, like the roadster, the Spark EV may come back some day!

The gas Spark is one of the best selling car in its class in the US... and it sells very well world wide. Including in China! There are dozens of GM EVs coming to China and the US in the next decade. It might make sense to bring back the Spark EV now that battery costs have dropped so much.
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Would make sense for them to bring back the Spark EV name as a clean slate EV design.
 
JyChevyVolt said:
Go buy a used spark EV. There's thousands for under $10K.
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I did . I have bought two of them. They are still a best buy. I get over 90 mile range even after they are 3-4 years old.
They also DC Fast Charge faster and better than any EV. But I have been just using a 120 cord. I've been driving over 60 miles each day round trip for jury duty. I usually have 50 miles left after the round trip each day.
 
jim said:
I did . I have bought two of them. They are still a best buy. I get over 90 mile range even after they are 3-4 years old.
They also DC Fast Charge faster and better than any EV. But I have been just using a 120 cord. I've been driving over 60 miles each day round trip for jury duty. I usually have 50 miles left after the round trip each day.
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Just looked them up on Cars.com. There are 93 used examples listed for sale right now, with prices mostly $8,xxx and up. A little more expensive than the LEAF, I believe, despite being a smaller car. This, I believe, speaks to their perceived value.

I've driven the Fiat 500e, which I found to be pretty fun, and I prefer the looks of that car. However, I think the Spark EV is more reliable, which is more important. I imagine it has to offer a similar driving experience as the Fiat.
 
Domenick said:
Just looked them up on Cars.com. There are 93 used examples listed for sale right now, with prices mostly $8,xxx and up. A little more expensive than the LEAF, I believe, despite being a smaller car. This, I believe, speaks to their perceived value.

I've driven the Fiat 500e, which I found to be pretty fun, and I prefer the looks of that car. However, I think the Spark EV is more reliable, which is more important. I imagine it has to offer a similar driving experience as the Fiat.
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I haven't driven a Fiat 500e, but I hear it's a pretty fun car to drive. Even smaller than the Spark EV though. Both cars are "cute". But neither is a looker.

Overall I feel that the Spark was the best non-Tesla BEV of the first new generation of EVs. :) Not surprised that it is holding it's value better than the Gen 1 Leaf and 500e. It was a great car that I loved driving.
 
It's funny. My wife would be fine with me buying the 500e, because it's cute. She already nixed the iMiEV because, to her, it's too small. o_O
I suspect she'd also say the Spark EV is too small. But if I somehow got my hands on a Nissan Pao, she'd be fine with it, because cute.
1200px-Nissan_Pao_001.JPG
 
WadeTyhon said:
I haven't driven a Fiat 500e, but I hear it's a pretty fun car to drive. Even smaller than the Spark EV though. Both cars are "cute". But neither is a looker.

Overall I feel that the Spark was the best non-Tesla BEV of the first new generation of EVs. :) Not surprised that it is holding it's value better than the Gen 1 Leaf and 500e. It was a great car that I loved driving.
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The Fiat 500e is very good and similar in handling to the SPARK EV. It also has Liquid cooled batteries and is very reliable. One BIG difference is the 500e Doesn't have a Fast Charge Port.
 
jim said:
The Fiat 500e is very good and similar in handling to the SPARK EV. It also has Liquid cooled batteries and is very reliable. One BIG difference is the 500e Doesn't have a Fast Charge Port.
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I used to follow a Fiat 500e group on Google+, and there were a lot of reports of problems. I know it's hard to judge reliability from that, but I suspect the Spark EV would be more reliable.
 
Yes I've also heard of problems from Fiat 500e owners in the,area.
I was going to get one as I love to test and compare,all electrics but I also see they only have 2 doors while the Spark ev has 4. That along with the lack of a,fast charge port will make it awkward to buy and test one but I'm check some for,sale in our,area now. A good point is the 500e charges,at 6 kw over the spark ev at 3 kw.
 
Another important factor of the Spark vs 500e: if the car requires service. Both are compliance vehicles, but since Chevy also sold the Volt and Bolt, dealerships nationwide are trained to service electric vehicles. In Fiats case you may be hundreds of miles from a service shop that will work on them. Combined with the brand’s less than stellar reputation, that’s how I ended up with a Spark.
 
Paul, yes service close by is a big issue.

I wish we could upgrade the Soark Ev to 6 instead of 3.3 kW charging.
It would be nice to have a range addition option.
Chevy could make the Bolt with a smaller range battery to answer both of those issues.
The Bolt Fast Charge port should be standard on all Bolts.
 
I had to give up my Spark EV. Range dropped below what I needed for winter commute.

traded in my Pontiac Solstice GXP and the Spark EV, for used 2018 Model 3 AWD from my local Chevy dealer. They gave me a great deal on the trades (thousands more than Tesla offered) and ended up taking $3k off their asking price after negotiations. Way better deal than I could have gotten direct from Tesla.
 
Too bad Tesla would not offer more for your electric trade in. On the Pontiac they probably took off more of their fake MSRP prices. They could give it away and make more on service and parts in the future.
 
Domenick said:
I used to follow a Fiat 500e group on Google+, and there were a lot of reports of problems. I know it's hard to judge reliability from that, but I suspect the Spark EV would be more reliable.
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Best thing about the Spark is that it's serviced everywhere. Despite being a compliance car, it is now service nationwide because of the Volt and Bolt. One of the reasons I picked it over the 500e.
 
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