2016 Chevy Spark EV?

[SparkevBlogspot]

I think the Spark was both a compliance car and a test run for PEVs

SparkEV is also sold in Korea, Canada, Mexico, countries that do not require compliance cars. In case of Mexico, it's sold for cheaper than in US as I mention in my blog post. I think SparkEV is (was?) more of a test car, but not making it more widely available is probably due to federal tax credit.

Here's another little tidbit about Spark. If true, it was originally designed as EV.

http://sparkev.blogspot.com/2015/11/sparkev-destiny.html

 

[MrDRMorgan]

According to
http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

Chevrolet sold 2,629 Sparks in 2015.

According to
http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=994a4a1538d32dfd7a36903ab&id=09dd3af3c5&e=78867c2845

There were 5,163 PEV cars sold in California in 2015.

Since the Spark is only sold in California, Oregon and Maryland (and anywhere someone is brave enough to buy one and ship it in to), you can bet the bulk of the Sparks sold were sold in California.

The Spark might have a higher adoption rate in Oregon than other states because in 2015 there was no state rebate for the purchase of a PEV (only a small rebate for purchase of an EVSE) nor is there an HOV sticker available and the lower price of the Spark, compared to other PEVs, might have tipped it a bit.

This for a car with virtually no advertising or roll-out drama and supply-caused shortages. Not bad, eh?

Anecdotally, in 2015 here in Oregon the dealers repeatedly sold out of cars and then had to wait until they got their next shipment, indicating that popularity is not the problem, supply is. I took my Spark to an EV show with a dealer brochure and they said they had 7 people - in a town of less than 20,000, green and crunchy though Ashland is - show up at the dealership asking about test drives. That was in September, by that point they were sold out and only got another shipment in in January.

I think the Spark was both a compliance car and a test run for PEVs, we will see what lessons they learned when the do the US rollout of the Bolt.

In April 2015, a friend of mine called me and let me know about the fantastic lease GM was having for the 2015 Spark EV - basically, a free car after State and county rebates. He told me about the deal in the afternoon of the last day of the lease period and I could not find a single Spark EV in my area - NONE! I gave up, went to Hawaii for 2 weeks and when I returned I found out the lease period had been extended. I jumped on my computer, started searching and finally found two 2015 Spark EVs in transit to a local (70 miles away) dealer. I called and found out one already had a deposit on it. The other one was still available so I put a deposit on it! 2 weeks later it arrived and I signed the lease agreement without having driven the car although I had previously taken a test drive in my friend's 2015 Spark EV. Now, after almost 8 months of driving our 2015 Spark EV 2LT DC, I have no regrets. My wife will tell you that I love the car and she would be correct. I haven't had this much fun since I bought my first new car - a 1966 VW bug - in 1966 and the Spark EV is even more exciting to me.