14 months of ownership starting to regret Owning a sparkev

[NORTON]

.... Elk Grove: could not initialize and charge on 3 of the 4 EA chargers. The fourth was occupied by another car.
.... Walmart in Elk Grove. 2 of 3 EA chargers had a dead screen. I was able to charge at the one working charger.
...North Highland, CA. Could not charge on one EA charger but did charge on another.
.... EVgo DCFC in Galt, CA. This charger has always worked for me.

My point is this:.... there is no guarantee you will be able to charge at every charging location along your route.

.... But, out-of-town travel in my 2016 Spark EV, that requires one or more DCFC charging stops each way, is still is a BIG concern for me.

Crap, what a record.... :?

What do these DCFC Network Admins have to say about this?
Hint: It is a big deal, guys. It would be a good look to have your network 100% up and running.

Why isn't a technician with a well stocked truck dispatched immediately to every reported DEAD DCFC station?
In fact these units should be able to Self-Report when the station goes down.

What good is that map of EA having a route across America if it can't be relied on?

Even in my metro area with 15 Efacec 50kW DCFC stations, I breathe a sigh of relief every time I see the charging taking place.... :roll:

(50% of the time when I do find a dead station, I'll call and the help desk person sends a reboot command and I see the Linux code scrolling, and the station then WORKS. The other 50% is plan B.... Why can't this be an automatic function? It's just SW.... :roll: , )

My main use is during 'airport runs'. Fortunately there are 2 about 6 miles apart near the airport.
Sometimes one is Dead, sometimes a Tesla will be camped out there for gadknows how long... :?

 

[MrDRMorgan]

.... Elk Grove: could not initialize and charge on 3 of the 4 EA chargers. The fourth was occupied by another car.
.... Walmart in Elk Grove. 2 of 3 EA chargers had a dead screen. I was able to charge at the one working charger.
...North Highland, CA. Could not charge on one EA charger but did charge on another.
.... EVgo DCFC in Galt, CA. This charger has always worked for me.

My point is this:.... there is no guarantee you will be able to charge at every charging location along your route.

.... But, out-of-town travel in my 2016 Spark EV, that requires one or more DCFC charging stops each way, is still is a BIG concern for me.

Crap, what a record.... :?

What do these DCFC Network Admins have to say about this?
Hint: It is a big deal, guys. It would be a good look to have your network 100% up and running.

Why isn't a technician with a well stocked truck dispatched immediately to every reported DEAD DCFC station?
In fact these units should be able to Self-Report when the station goes down.

What good is that map of EA having a route across America if it can't be relied on?

Even in my metro area with 15 Efacec 50kW DCFC stations, I breathe a sigh of relief every time I see the charging taking place.... :roll:

(50% of the time when I do find a dead station, I'll call and the help desk person sends a reboot command and I see the Linux code scrolling, and the station then WORKS. The other 50% is plan B.... Why can't this be an automatic function? It's just SW.... :roll: , )

My main use is during 'airport runs'. Fortunately there are 2 about 6 miles apart near the airport.
Sometimes one is Dead, sometimes a Tesla will be camped out there for gadknows how long... :?

Well said, Norton! Well said! I am beginning to question using an EV for anything more than local driving which, in my case, is about 85% of my total driving. My Spark EVs work fine locally and I do not have to suffer "charging anxiety". And, for the "Big Boys", there are also many destinations where a Chevy Bolt can't go and even other locations where a Tesla can't go.

 

[LiLspark]

wow im a douche i let this thread marinate too long. so yes winter range killed a lot of my ev range when driving. i had a bad 12v battery. got a new one and it started to die. I found out on the right brake light drains the car battery to not start the car! (took 2 battery swaps and a sleu of burned out bulbs including leds) only to find out it was an electrical short I still have yet to fix this. I bought an electric scooter to combat low range and frequent charging so I can drop off the car and pick it up from a charging station. was ok till they stole that and broke the window in the spark. car is paid off in under 2 years of ownership, is a nice golf cart taking up room on the street haha. i drive the spark but seldomly since temps are now 40-55 degrees damn thing goes down to 30-40 miles range and the hassle of finding or charging and walking home in the cold. FML i bought 2020 chevy bolt for 18k so that's the story for now. please someone for the love of life makes a battery mod or better range battery pack upgrade for this damn car. so yeah I'm just going to detail the car and hope something pops up for this thing

 

[MrDRMorgan]

wow im a douche i let this thread marinate too long. so yes winter range killed a lot of my ev range when driving. i had a bad 12v battery. got a new one and it started to die. I found out on the right brake light drains the car battery to not start the car! (took 2 battery swaps and a sleu of burned out bulbs including leds) only to find out it was an electrical short I still have yet to fix this. I bought an electric scooter to combat low range and frequent charging so I can drop off the car and pick it up from a charging station. was ok till they stole that and broke the window in the spark. car is paid off in under 2 years of ownership, is a nice golf cart taking up room on the street haha. i drive the spark but seldomly since temps are now 40-55 degrees damn thing goes down to 30-40 miles range and the hassle of finding or charging and walking home in the cold. FML i bought 2020 chevy bolt for 18k so that's the story for now. please someone for the love of life makes a battery mod or better range battery pack upgrade for this damn car. so yeah I'm just going to detail the car and hope something pops up for this thing

I would get the electrical short fixed and then re-evaluate.

Current local temperatures here in Manteca, CA are running 40 to 60 degrees F too. My full charge GOM currently runs from the 60s to mid 70s with a full charge of 13.9 kWh. On Dec 21 I had to take my son back to the airport in Sacramento - 71 miles one way. So it was my son and me, 65 mph, heater on and set to 74 degrees F. I quickly figured out I could not make it all the way to the airport at 4.3 mi / kWh. At 35 miles, with about 25 miles remaining, I stopped at a "very reliable" EVgo charger and filled up to 100%. There was no way I was going to make it all the way to the airport. I got to the airport with about 25 miles remaining. At the airport, I charged to 100% but this time at a 150 kWh Electrify America charger - worked great. On the way home, I charged again at the same EVgo charger.

Whenever I venture far out of town, I review PlugShare for working chargers and backups. This has worked for me for the 5.5 years I have been driving Spark EVs. Besides my current 2016 Spark EV, I also have a 2014 Spark EV but it does not have the DCFC option and, unless it is an emergency, I am not going to sit at a slow 3.3 kWh / hour charger just to add 15 miles of range.

I learned to work with a number of different charging situations and fortunately, both Spark EVs have been 100% trouble-free. The only concern I have for the 2016 Spark EV is the HV battery degrading to the point that I can no longer go out of town and get to a fast charger along my route.

Having said all of this, I am, after 5.5 years of driving Spark EVs, still enjoying driving this little car and I have no plans to stop - even if it can only be used for in-town driving. I expect I will soon be looking for a low mileage 2019 or 2020 Chevy Bolt.

 

[Engineear]

I've had mine 25 months and still charges to 84 or higher, depending on temperature, and am at 24K miles. Replaced the 12 volt battery and wiper blades but that's been it. Amazingly quick and handles pretty well for the suspension it's on. Still fun, a keeper.

 

[LiLspark]

wow im a douche i let this thread marinate too long. so yes winter range killed a lot of my ev range when driving. i had a bad 12v battery. got a new one and it started to die. I found out on the right brake light drains the car battery to not start the car! (took 2 battery swaps and a sleu of burned out bulbs including leds) only to find out it was an electrical short I still have yet to fix this. I bought an electric scooter to combat low range and frequent charging so I can drop off the car and pick it up from a charging station. was ok till they stole that and broke the window in the spark. car is paid off in under 2 years of ownership, is a nice golf cart taking up room on the street haha. i drive the spark but seldomly since temps are now 40-55 degrees damn thing goes down to 30-40 miles range and the hassle of finding or charging and walking home in the cold. FML i bought 2020 chevy bolt for 18k so that's the story for now. please someone for the love of life makes a battery mod or better range battery pack upgrade for this damn car. so yeah I'm just going to detail the car and hope something pops up for this thing

I would get the electrical short fixed and then re-evaluate.

Current local temperatures here in Manteca, CA are running 40 to 60 degrees F too. My full charge GOM currently runs from the 60s to mid 70s with a full charge of 13.9 kWh. On Dec 21 I had to take my son back to the airport in Sacramento - 71 miles one way. So it was my son and me, 65 mph, heater on and set to 74 degrees F. I quickly figured out I could not make it all the way to the airport at 4.3 mi / kWh. At 35 miles, with about 25 miles remaining, I stopped at a "very reliable" EVgo charger and filled up to 100%. There was no way I was going to make it all the way to the airport. I got to the airport with about 25 miles remaining. At the airport, I charged to 100% but this time at a 150 kWh Electrify America charger - worked great. On the way home, I charged again at the same EVgo charger.

Whenever I venture far out of town, I review PlugShare for working chargers and backups. This has worked for me for the 5.5 years I have been driving Spark EVs. Besides my current 2016 Spark EV, I also have a 2014 Spark EV but it does not have the DCFC option and, unless it is an emergency, I am not going to sit at a slow 3.3 kWh / hour charger just to add 15 miles of range.

I learned to work with a number of different charging situations and fortunately, both Spark EVs have been 100% trouble-free. The only concern I have for the 2016 Spark EV is the HV battery degrading to the point that I can no longer go out of town and get to a fast charger along my route.

Having said all of this, I am, after 5.5 years of driving Spark EVs, still enjoying driving this little car and I have no plans to stop - even if it can only be used for in-town driving. I expect I will soon be looking for a low mileage 2019 or 2020 Chevy Bolt.

hey dr morgan thanks for replying back yes I believe here in so cal the lows I've seen is 45ish creep to mid to upper 50s. wow, that sucks 4.3 i know if I unplug the car before it's done charging it says 2.2 mi kWh I remember cussing and yelling when I saw 10 miles just piss itself away driving 0.5 miles @ 20 miles an hour I think I even filmed it. pure disbelief. DCFC does come in handy I've used it a hand full of times of the almost 3 years of ownership. for now, I let the wife drive it to work instead of the ice car. Sadly the ice car is so comfy Mazda 3 sport 2015 is going to be a keeper it's been paid off for some time now and I was considering selling it but long trips its a champ. the bolt was pure luck but this totally sucks about battery degradation and range loss I sometimes say damnit i bought another ev and pretty soon it will be behaving like the spark. If I can trade in the 2020 bolt for maybe the 2022 euv i might bite, evs are fun till you lose range then the fun is over lol

 

[LiLspark]

I've had mine 25 months and still charges to 84 or higher, depending on temperature, and am at 24K miles. Replaced the 12 volt battery and wiper blades but that's been it. Amazingly quick and handles pretty well for the suspension it's on. Still fun, a keeper.

yeah once you start going to 34k on the odometer you should start seeing that number drop. used to see 90 mph in the summer I was so ecstatic back in 2019 but 2020 and beyond I ended up buying another car

 

[MrDRMorgan]

I've had mine 25 months and still charges to 84 or higher, depending on temperature, and am at 24K miles. Replaced the 12 volt battery and wiper blades but that's been it. Amazingly quick and handles pretty well for the suspension it's on. Still fun, a keeper.

yeah once you start going to 34k on the odometer you should start seeing that number drop. used to see 90 mph in the summer I was so ecstatic back in 2019 but 2020 and beyond I ended up buying another car

In six years of driving Spark EVs, I have always noticed that the GOM mileage drops in the cooler winter months and recovers in the warmer summer months. But..... the battery capacity as measured by TorquePro shows a steady decline:

2014 Spark EV: 17.2 kWh in June 2018 and 14.4 kWh in February of 2021.
2016 Spark EV: 16.6 kWh in June 2018 and 13.9 kWh in February of 2021.

2014 Spark EV GOM as of 10 Feb 2021 is 73 miles. [26,492 miles on the ODO]
2016 Spark EV GOM as of 10 Feb 2021 is 84 miles. [33,566 miles on the ODO]