Battery degredation

[ElectricAdventure]

I've supercharged my eSpark over 300 times now and I still get 75 miles of hard highway cruising. The batteries are pretty bullet proof- if it can survive my lifestyle, considering I've put 40k miles on it in 22 months then it's going to work fine for someone who is softer to it for decades.

GM if you are listening and want to do analysis on my car (or the Bolt for that matter) hit me up, i'll give them hell ; )

 

[ElDobro]

You can't get a 2014 Spark battery. GM printed a bulletin that gives you a list of parts you need to adapt the 2015/16 battery to the 2014. That's the same bulletin that says you also need to use the 2015/16 rear shocks too.
[/quote]
Do you have the bulletin number? Also, Paul Gipe on the Bolt forum has a great post regarding Bolt HV battery degradation. The Bolt battery looks to be very good with minimum degradation.
[/quote]
Here you go. 17-NA-003

 

[marcusku]

Went through my first charge today. Energy screen says I used 15.2 kWh @89% used. I'm sure this has been discussed, that number doesn't take into account regen braking? In theory my capacity is 17.07 kWh or would it actually be less since I generated some power from braking?

 

[scrambler]

The energy screen does take the regen braking into account.

If you go down a hill with a lot of regen, you will see the kWh and % go down together, so regen or not the extrapolated usable capacity calculated from these numbers will be the same regardless of how much regen you had.

Regen has nothing to do with capacity. Usable capacity is the amount that can be stored and used in the battery. Regen simply refills the battery while you drive so it gives you more energy, but it does not change the Capacity itself. If your battery is full, regen does not work as it cannot add anything more into the battery

The nominal usable capacity has never been officially published but is supposed to be around 18.5 or 19kWh. Depending on how much battery degradation you have, your usable capacity will be lower. I am down to 13.6kWh on my 2014, and it has been on a steady decline form day one.

 

[rtaite]

My 2014 is down to 13.4 to 13.5 kwh. Has anyone tested the warranty waters yet? How much more would it have to go down before I could consider a warranty claim? I know this has been speculated on in other posts, but I've never heard of anyone who hit the magic number and got a replacement yet.

Also, since the 2014 battery is no longer, any idea what it would cost to convert to a 2015/16 battery should I choose to do that rather than simply sell the car?

Ralph

 

[SparkE]

https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4516&p=27965#p27965

 

[scrambler]

I don't think that the usable capacity of a 2014 is actually 21kWh, but no one knows for sure

I think assuming 18.5kWh usable is safer and so waiting until it drops under 12kWh usable should be the way to go if time permits.

Of course if your battery warranty is about to expire around 13kWh, I would have it checked by the dealer to see if it meets warranty requirement

 

[alanlcit]

Looks like we're down to about 11.4kWh (working on a measurement; 74% is 8.4kWh) in our 2016 Spark EV. It has 22.5k miles.

It sits in the warmish south-facing garage in San Diego, charged to 100% all the time (I can't be bothered with keeping it at 60% for the wife, and with daytime electricity rates the way they are). As long as it doesn't catch on fire I am happy.

Just a data point. It's really taken a major hit these last 14 months when it's not been driven at all, and left at 100% constantly. Chevy really should have allowed users to set a charge limit - I would have used an 90% limit (we live on a hill).

Anyone got the actual number Chevrolet uses for the starting capacity? Seems to be some debate about whether it is 19kWh or something in the 18kWh range. I saw one report here of 18.8kWh. Unfortunately I never fully documented mine when the vehicle was new.

Anyone think it's worth attempting a warranty replacement yet? Anyone been successful? What was the resulting energy available from the replacement? I've got 3.5 more years. Seems like I'm pretty close to that 40% number - 11.4kWh would be 60% of 19kWh.

The idea of them ripping the battery out of the car and getting it back in correctly without setting the car on fire seems like a dubious proposition to me, but I guess we'll see.

 

[scrambler]

Same question here: https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4516&start=110#p28285

Let me know if anyone answers

 

[ElDobro]

It's been 2 1/2 years since I bought the Spark and my battery went from 12.2 kWh to 14.2 kWh. You gotta love it.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Looks like we're down to about 11.4kWh (working on a measurement; 74% is 8.4kWh) in our 2016 Spark EV. It has 22.5k miles.

It sits in the warmish south-facing garage in San Diego, charged to 100% all the time (I can't be bothered with keeping it at 60% for the wife, and with daytime electricity rates the way they are). As long as it doesn't catch on fire I am happy.

Just a data point. It's really taken a major hit these last 14 months when it's not been driven at all, and left at 100% constantly. Chevy really should have allowed users to set a charge limit - I would have used an 90% limit (we live on a hill).

Anyone got the actual number Chevrolet uses for the starting capacity? Seems to be some debate about whether it is 19kWh or something in the 18kWh range. I saw one report here of 18.8kWh. Unfortunately I never fully documented mine when the vehicle was new.

Anyone think it's worth attempting a warranty replacement yet? Anyone been successful? What was the resulting energy available from the replacement? I've got 3.5 more years. Seems like I'm pretty close to that 40% number - 11.4kWh would be 60% of 19kWh.

The idea of them ripping the battery out of the car and getting it back in correctly without setting the car on fire seems like a dubious proposition to me, but I guess we'll see.

.
What are you expecting GM to do if 11.4 kWh is the point at which you can claim a warranty replacement for your 2016 Spark EV? If I have read the warranty correctly, GM could replace your battery with one having only 10% more capacity - 12.5 kWh.

The 2016 Spark EV Limited Warranty states on page 14, "Depending on use, the battery may degrade "as little as 10% to as much as 40% of capacity over the warranty period. If there are questions pertaining to battery capacity, a dealer service technician could determine if the vehicle is within parameters. If warranty repair requires replacement, the high voltage battery may be replaced with either a new or factory reconditioned high voltage battery with an energy capacity (kWh storage) level at or within approximately 10% of that of the original battery at the time of warranty repair.
Your Electric Propulsion battery warranty replacement may not return your vehicle to an "as new" condition, but it will make your Spark EV fully operational appropriate to its age and mileage."

 

[two20142lts]

Here's what I see on my 2014 do you think I have a valid warantee claim.

11.6 kWh usable at 0 miles on the GOM

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Here's what I see on my 2014 do you think I have a valid warantee claim.

11.6 kWh usable at 0 miles on the GOM

In August of 2015 I purchased a used 2014 Spark EV with 1500 miles on the ODO. During August 2015 I calculated the battery capacity six times using the information on the car's screen. My average battery capacity was 20.0 kWh.

Today, 6 years later, my ODO mileage is 28183 and my battery capacity, as measured by TorquePro, is 14.4 kWh. GM states the battery capacity can degrade up to 35% over the 8 year warranty period and not be considered a warranty issue. 35% of 20 kWh is 7 kWh. Therefore, if your battery capacity degradation, as measured by a GM technician, is more than 35%, you may have a warranty claim. If a new battery has a capacity of 20 kWh, then the 35% limit is 13 kWh. 11.6 kWh is definitely below 13 kWh. You will probably have to take your car to a GM dealer and have them run a battery capacity test and, you may end up having to pay for the test.

The A123 battery in the 2014 Spark EVs is no longer available. The dealer would have to upgrade your 2014 to the battery found in the 2015 and 2016 Spark EVs.

I think you need to have a heart to heart talk with your Chevrolet dealer and see what your options are.

 

[zzzzzzzz]

Just an update on my logs, as our 2016 Spark just turned 81k this morning on the odometer. Since November 2020, I've been holding a steady "calculated average" of 13.079 kW or 70.7% of the initial 18.5 kW capacity. Not sure what my chances of battery replacement is at this rate.

This year's log entries so far (most of these entries were taken on the first half of my daily commute; about 15 miles):

Date / Driving % / Climate % / Energy Used / Total (kW) / % from 18.5 (kW)
01/04/22 / 27 / 2 / 4.0 / 13.79 / 74.56%
01/04/22 / 76 / 3 / 10.5 / 13.29 / 71.84%
01/17/22 / 27 / 3 / 4.0 / 13.33 / 72.07%
02/09/22 / 27 / 3 / 4.1 / 13.67 / 73.87%
02/16/22 / 28 / 1 / 4.0 / 13.79 / 74.56%
03/16/22 / 25 / 0 / 3.2 / 12.80 / 69.19%
03/17/22 / 26 / 1 / 3.6 / 13.33 / 72.07%
03/28/22 / 26 / 0 / 3.4 / 13.08 / 70.69%
05/16/22 / 26 / 0 / 3.3 / 12.69 / 68.61%
05/17/22 / 27 / 0 / 3.4 / 12.59 / 68.07%
05/23/22 / 26 / 0 / 3.3 / 12.69 / 68.61%
06/07/22 / 26 / 0 / 3.4 / 13.08 / 70.69%
08/31/22 / 23 / 0 / 3.0 / 13.04 / 70.51%
10/18/22 / 29 / 0 / 3.7 / 12.76 / 68.97%
10/24/22 / 32 / 0 / 4.1 / 12.81 / 69.26%

 

[wywa]

2016 Spark local driver has 38k miles and charges to 68 miles of battery so should be fetching groceries from 20 miles away for a good while. Car was from Portland OR and now up in the Rockies @7400ft where it slips thru the air with ease. Not used for daily commuting so likely never reaches any significant battery degradation.
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