My take on all the EV's I've test driven...

[ezryder]

Not that I'm an expert, or anything. But, my personal opinion...

Overall, which car would I buy right now based on price? Easy: Spark EV. If I had unlimited funds? Easy again: Tesla Model S. Of course. If I had $10k or $20k more to blow...? That gets a little harder. The Mercedes B-Drive is pretty awesome, and I think easily beats the fairly lame BMW i3. There's really no comparison, in my book. The i3 is like a golf cart. But then there's the issue of driving what looks like a station wagon, with the Mercedes... Not so great. Plus, it doesn't look or feel like an "electric car". There's nothing that says, "I'm driving the future and it's friggin' cool". no one will even know you're driving anything "special" or "different". They'll just think you're lame for driving a station wagon. Unless, of course, you have a family and need/want a station wagon. One that won't take you very far.

Then there's the VW e-Golf. *yaaaawwwwnnnnn* Boring. OMG boring. To look at. Decently fun to drive, but, like the Mercedes, has no "future sizzle". It's nice. It's OK. Car of the Year? I don't think so.

The Leaf... Well, this one is tough. It has the future sizzle, but in a kinda douchey way. It's TOO different. Though, it is comfortable and is a nice car for the money - for sure. It's just not that great looking and tries too hard to be different. (the lame shifter, for one)

The Fiat 500e. Well, I don't fit in it, and anyone over 6'1" probably doesn't. It's cool and nice looking. Not sure about the gauge package and I haven't driven the EV version, but I liked the ICE version; I just don't fit in it at all.

Ford Fusion (or is it Focus; whatever) all electric. Drove it; liked it. Very "normal". Good looking. Not much to complain about, really. Maybe a little pricey, and a little too "normal", again. If I fit in it better, it would be something to think about.

The Volt. I shouldn't include it, because it's not a pure EV, but since it's probably the best "hybrid" out there, I'll just say it's very tempting except a few things: Really lame center console panel o'buttons. Really guys? Super lame. Like, "I won't buy this car because it's so lame", lame. I understand the 2016 will be different. Let's hope so. Second is the fact, again, that I'm in the back seat on it. But, for others, I think the 2016 Volt could be a real blockbuster - if they put a normal dash in it.

And then there's the Chevy Spark EV... I keep coming back to it. It has the PERFECT guage package. It's fun! It's fast! It's different! Granted, maybe a bit too small and a bit too different, but... not that bad. And... I actually fit in this - the smallest of all I've tried - better than the rest. I can rest my elbow on the drivers side armrest. I can't say that about any of the others, though the i3 was close. I love that it has a stick shift and not some stupid f-ing "joystick". I LOVE the gauge package! By far the best of the bunch. Easy to read, fun, and colorful. It fresh and young. The car is fast, has a nice feel to the leather-wrapped steering wheel, and handles well.

Tomorrow, I check out the last one one: The Soul EV. I'm not overly optimistic. It looks like it has the perfect combination of everything - except I doubt I will be resting my arm very well on the door panel. It's also $10k more than the Spark and has half the torque, but... it could be a contender if I actually fit in it. Good range; just the right amount of non-standard car style; looks like it may have a decent gauge package; not $80,000.

So, that's where I'm at . I can't wait for the Bolt, but I can't wait for the Bolt.

 

[tigger19687]

Funny you mention the arm rest. Since you are Uber tall, your arms may rest just perfect them.
I thought they were low and I am only 5'6"

 

[ezryder]

Funny you mention the arm rest. Since you are Uber tall, your arms may rest just perfect them.
I thought they were low and I am only 5'6"

I just tried the Soul EV today. Excellent car, with killer range, supposedly. Feels like a Range Rover in comparison to everything I tried. You sit a little higher, like an SUV. Very comfy seats; decent gauge package. Cons? My elbow hits air, not armrest. Serious bummer. Other cons: $10k more than the Spark EV; has noticeably less power off the line. I wasn't satisfied with it. It was OK, but the i3, the Mercedes, and especially the Spark EV all beat it, power-wise. Even the eGolf is a little better. If it was $10k cheaper...? I would seriously consider it, but in the end, the whole armrest thing would probably be a deal-breaker.

I also stopped at the Chevy dealer I've been haunting for weeks now, and got them to let me take a Spark EV home for a few hours. I wanted to drive it over the hill and back. Traffic was so bad coming back that I took a much longer way - through windy mountain roads - and made it back with 13 miles to spare. Now I understand "range anxiety". But, when I left the dealer I had 69 miles range showing. When I got back, subtracting the actual miles I drove shows I was +5 in range, so that was good news. (3.7kwh average)

Having driven the car now for a few hours - solo - I can say this: I LOVE IT! The main thing is the gauges - so easy to read, colorful, fun. The touch screen is great and well planned out. SO much better than ANY of the other EV on the market right now. I'm fairly well stunned that this car hasn't sold like hot-cakes. In my mind, it's the best gauge console ever, in any of the 24 cards I've owned in my life.

If I had to give any cons, it would really be one, (oiutside of the 3.3kwh charger, which is a real drag, but whatever): My right leg rests perfectly against the cup-holder bump-out. That causes me pain, which really sucks. It takes a while for it to start bothering me, but it's definitely a serious bother. I'm sure I can come up with a way to ease that, so it's not a deal-breaker by any stretch. One other slight con is that I had a woman with me on the Soul EV test drive. She liked it very much; and then we stopped by a Chevy dealer and she took one look at the Spark and didn't even want to test drive it - "too small". So... I guess I'll never see her again. LOL

 

[cwerdna]

The Leaf... Well, this one is tough. It has the future sizzle, but in a kinda douchey way. It's TOO different. Though, it is comfortable and is a nice car for the money - for sure. It's just not that great looking and tries too hard to be different. (the lame shifter, for one)
...
Ford Fusion (or is it Focus; whatever) all electric. Drove it; liked it. Very "normal". Good looking. Not much to complain about, really. Maybe a little pricey, and a little too "normal", again. If I fit in it better, it would be something to think about.

...
I love that it has a stick shift and not some stupid f-ing "joystick". I LOVE the gauge package! By far the best of the bunch. Easy to read, fun, and colorful. It fresh and young. The car is fast, has a nice feel to the leather-wrapped steering wheel, and handles well.

(As Leaf driver) Not sure what's up with all the hate about the "lame shifter". The pattern's EXACTLY like that of an 04+ Prius except the placement is different. I like it. There's no need to modulate your movements to avoid shifting past the "gear" you intend to (e.g. R or D). Just move it or press the Park button.

Re: styling... that's subjective but yeah, I'll admit it's rather odd in a bunch of ways. To each his/her own. Someone (a she) I know thought my Leaf was really cute. (shrug) That's the first I've heard of that. IMHO, of the ones you listed, the Fiat 500e has the best styling.

As for Ford... err... there's the pure BEV Focus Electric + hybrid and PHEV versions of the Fusion and C-Max. The PHEV versions end in Energi. The biggest downsides of the Focus Electric and C-Max Energi is the severe loss of trunk/cargo space.

Oh... and of the vehicles you listed, these have no DC FC capability: 500e, all Fords, Volt, B-Class ED.

(oiutside of the 3.3kwh charger, which is a real drag, but whatever)

It's 3.3 kW, not kwh.

kW and kWh are very different metrics. It's the same as confusing gallons with horsepower. Think of kW = horsepower, kWh = gallons.

If one charges at 1 kW (or 1000 watts) for 6 hours, 6 kWh came out of the wall. If it's at 6 kW for 1 hour, it's also 6 kWh. If it's 1 watt for 6000 hours, it's also 6 kWh.

One pays for electricity at home in cents per kWh. There are a few utilities w/residential plans where they not only bill per kWh but also have demand charges, but that's rare and complicates calculations. (Demand charges aren't unusual on many commercial plans.)

Battery capacity of EVs is expressed in kWh.

(BTW, 1 hp = ~0.746 kW. And, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evsbs.shtml says 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh.)

 

[NomadMac]

1. I've had a number of women tell me my Spark is cute. Its looks seems to be universally despised by men.
2. I put self-adhesive 6mm neoprene on all my door armrests. The hard plastic really aggravated my tendonitis.
You might consider doing the same where your knee makes contact.

 

[ezryder]

1. I've had a number of women tell me my Spark is cute. Its looks seems to be universally despised by men.
2. I put self-adhesive 6mm neoprene on all my door armrests. The hard plastic really aggravated my tendonitis.
You might consider doing the same where your knee makes contact.

Good idea. I assume I can get that at any hardware store...? Thanks

 

[ezryder]

(As Leaf driver) Not sure what's up with all the hate about the "lame shifter". The pattern's EXACTLY like that of an 04+ Prius except the placement is different. I like it. There's no need to modulate your movements to avoid shifting past the "gear" you intend to (e.g. R or D). Just move it or press the Park button.

Well, I guess I was a bit harsh. It's not that bad. It just seemed a little... different, I guess. I did n't like the Prius version, either.

Re: styling... that's subjective but yeah, I'll admit it's rather odd in a bunch of ways. To each his/her own. Someone (a she) I know thought my Leaf was really cute. (shrug) That's the first I've heard of that. IMHO, of the ones you listed, the Fiat 500e has the best styling.

I tend to agree, though it's too small. And I still prefer the bright and fun nad intuitive instrument panel on the Spark EV. The Soul EV is pretty nice looking, but the Fiat has the European flair. "Regular car"-wise, I still like the Ford, but I wouldn't buy one.

As for Ford... err... there's the pure BEV Focus Electric + hybrid and PHEV versions of the Fusion and C-Max. The PHEV versions end in Energi. The biggest downsides of the Focus Electric and C-Max Energi is the severe loss of trunk/cargo space.

Well, really not much worse that the Spark EV, though I don't recall if the Ford's rear seats fold down.

Oh... and of the vehicles you listed, these have no DC FC capability: 500e, all Fords, Volt, B-Class ED.

Good point. I didn't fully assimilate that. That's huge. Automatically off my list.

It's 3.3 kW, not kwh.

kW and kWh are very different metrics. It's the same as confusing gallons with horsepower. Think of kW = horsepower, kWh = gallons.

If one charges at 1 kW (or 1000 watts) for 6 hours, 6 kWh came out of the wall. If it's at 6 kW for 1 hour, it's also 6 kWh. If it's 1 watt for 6000 hours, it's also 6 kWh.

One pays for electricity at home in cents per kWh. There are a few utilities w/residential plans where they not only bill per kWh but also have demand charges, but that's rare and complicates calculations. (Demand charges aren't unusual on many commercial plans.)

Battery capacity of EVs is expressed in kWh.

(BTW, 1 hp = ~0.746 kW. And, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evsbs.shtml says 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh.)

Thank you! I was confused about this. Nice job of explaining it.

 

[gra]

<snip>

Re: styling... that's subjective but yeah, I'll admit it's rather odd in a bunch of ways. To each his/her own. Someone (a she) I know thought my Leaf was really cute. (shrug) That's the first I've heard of that. IMHO, of the ones you listed, the Fiat 500e has the best styling.

I tend to agree, though it's too small. And I still prefer the bright and fun nad intuitive instrument panel on the Spark EV. The Soul EV is pretty nice looking, but the Fiat has the European flair. "Regular car"-wise, I still like the Ford, but I wouldn't buy one.

I agree that the Spark's digital dash display presentation is one of the very few I actually liked and wouldn't mind living with.

As for Ford... err... there's the pure BEV Focus Electric + hybrid and PHEV versions of the Fusion and C-Max. The PHEV versions end in Energi. The biggest downsides of the Focus Electric and C-Max Energi is the severe loss of trunk/cargo space.

Well, really not much worse that the Spark EV, though I don't recall if the Ford's rear seats fold down.

They do, but the space is just too small if you need to carry stuff, especially with the seats up. It's a matter of height, or rather the lack of it. <snip rest>

 

[fengshui]

<snip>

Re: styling... that's subjective but yeah, I'll admit it's rather odd in a bunch of ways. To each his/her own. Someone (a she) I know thought my Leaf was really cute. (shrug) That's the first I've heard of that. IMHO, of the ones you listed, the Fiat 500e has the best styling.

I tend to agree, though it's too small. And I still prefer the bright and fun nad intuitive instrument panel on the Spark EV. The Soul EV is pretty nice looking, but the Fiat has the European flair. "Regular car"-wise, I still like the Ford, but I wouldn't buy one.

I agree that the Spark's digital dash display presentation is one of the very few I actually liked and wouldn't mind living with.

I think GM learned a lot about EV dash design from the Volt, and it shows in the Spark EV. I definitely prefer the Spark graphical display over the hacked analog dials and gauges you see on a lot of other ICE->EV conversions.

 

[SteveC5088]

I think it is interesting that you keep going back to the instrument panel and the controls as the biggest thing with the Spark. I just figure one has to learn how that particular model works, and get used to it. But to each his own!

Lots of people don't like the current Volt's instrument panel and controls, and the 2016 Volt will come out with controls more like the Spark EV's.

I have a '13 Volt (2 1/2 years), and a '14 Spark EV. I think the Spark aint so cute in the rear tail light area, and it's way too tall/boxy for my liking. But its zip makes up for all of that.

The Volt is the car I really love -- no range anxiety, and it goes on long trips anytime I feel like it. As for your size, seems like you could have moved the seat all the way back and it you would have been comfortable. But it's definitely a different car from a pure EV. Chevy seems to be changing what they call it (EREV for Extended Range EV) to Electric Hybrid. The "Electric Hybrid" seems easier for normal people to understand -- electric for 50 miles, then hybrid after that.

Since we're talking Spark's, I recently found this image of the 2010 Spark as a concept car. This one is a gas-burner, but I sure like the orange color and white accents. And the slightly less protruding tail lights. And the little air spoiler on the top back. Makes the car look way better to my eye. More pics at Chevrolet Spark Z-Spec