RAIN!!

[jay5729]

I can't believe you have the guts to do this every day. You have my admiration for being able to manage range that well. You can't afford to have any drop in charge capacity over time either. You must be saving a ridiculous amount of money on gas though. Have you considered that you may be putting miles on Spark EV faster than any other owner? If you average 25 miles a day on the weekends, you will put on almost 42,000 miles a year on your EV. GM should buy your Spark back from you just so they can test it. Not unprecedented either.

Thanks. I did a lot of homework before deciding to risk this venture. I am a little concerned about what the winter will be like, but I have confidence that the Spark will get me through it, and I have backup if things get bad. ( free charging mid way and ICE car if needed) My wife is also using the new spark to run the kids to and from school and other things around town during the day( I work nights) so I am putting a ton of miles on it, thus no lease option for me, but it came down to the cost savings. My entire budget for gas in my previous car now pays for this car and home charging. With the state rebate, fed tax credit and San Joaquin county rebate, that all paid for the down payment, home charging station install, and I will get money back. So in the end, the car is essentially free, ( or at least the money I was giving to the oil companies is now paying for the car and electricity, which is fine by me ) plus I'll get a little bit of money back, which is good since I imagine the car will be all but worthless by the time I need a new one.

 

[FutureFolly]

Thanks. I did a lot of homework before deciding to risk this venture. I am a little concerned about what the winter will be like, but I have confidence that the Spark will get me through it, and I have backup if things get bad. ( free charging mid way and ICE car if needed) My wife is also using the new spark to run the kids to and from school and other things around town during the day( I work nights) so I am putting a ton of miles on it, thus no lease option for me, but it came down to the cost savings. My entire budget for gas in my previous car now pays for this car and home charging. With the state rebate, fed tax credit and San Joaquin county rebate, that all paid for the down payment, home charging station install, and I will get money back. So in the end, the car is essentially free, ( or at least the money I was giving to the oil companies is now paying for the car and electricity, which is fine by me ) plus I'll get a little bit of money back, which is good since I imagine the car will be all but worthless by the time I need a new one.

You are a perfect archetype for future EV owners. You needed a vehicle to save you money over a lot of miles, and an EV is proving to be a great fit. Your story really validates a lot of the potential of EVs. You're making sacrifices, but they feel worth it, which is the most important metric. You're also proving that a 6.6kw charger isn't necessary if you can recharge at work. I'm sure it would still be a big help for the days you need to recharge on your way home though.

Of course, what you really need is an affordable EV with 100 miles of range. You probably won't have to wait more than 4 years for the next Spark EV to add 20 miles.

My personal speculation is that each generation of EV, on a 4-6 year cycle, will improve range by 20 miles. As recharging at work becomes extremely common and DC-Fast Charging become reasonably common, more people will just see EVs as logical the way you do. When EPA ranges hit 120 miles, I think there will be a huge influx into the market.

I have really wondered how quickly the Spark will lose range overtime, and you are going to be the best experiment I could imagine. I hope you stick around the forums. I think the economics for you will work regardless, but you really are a pioneer in this territory.

At a 100K or 150K you seriously should approach GM about buying it back.