Range and battery health for used Spark EV

[chrisg]

I am looking at some used Spark EV's and it's a bit tricky to filter through places like Carvana and CarMax.

If I get one home to "test" it, what would be a good/better/best for range on a full charge for something like: https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2507350

I did find a pic on the profile showing a max guessed range of 64 miles, at what seems to be a full charge?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LDnQisfH9DB8WFNVPkUZotTcw5R_DXtA/view?usp=share_link

And if I looked at the last "trip" what's good/better/best average mi/kWh?

I see that I could get an odb adapter and use Torque Pro to get more details while "test driving". Looks a little complex though?


This one seems like it'd have better range? https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2511329

It has a pic showing max 37 miles with what looks like a half charge.
https://vexgateway.fastly.carvana.io/vex-1592017/details/feature-25013174.jpg?v=1677516949.926&dpr=1&optimize=low&width=2000

Not sure if another half charge would actually double the max range? Is that what most owners see? A 74 mile range certainly would be nicer than a 64 mile range... and that battery would probably degrade more slowly through time since it may have been taken better care of?

Thanks!

 

[NORTON]

With warmer weather here, I suspect all this GOM numbers will be on the rise.
But they still depend on how the car was driven the last few times.
I know this isn't a definitive answer.
Ideally if you could do a ~50 mile test drive each one starting out with it topped up, that would tell you for sure.

BUT! You definitively want one with the optional DCFC. Only you can't mention you want that bc that make $$ signs appear to the sales dog.
Casually ask them to send you a pic of the open charge port on any candidates that don't show or mention the DCFC option.

Good Luck. They are great 1st Gen EV's!

 

[chrisg]

Thanks @NORTON !

I am in Tucson AZ (south of Phoenix) and it gets quite warm here in the summer. Hope the liquid cooling is enough and that the range won't get too low when it's 100 out! And that fast charging will work ok midday if I'm out on the town.

I am trying to find a Spark EV online at Carvana or Autotrader (any other suggestions?) and it is tricky to locate ones that have both DC fast charge AND a fair amount of charge so the GOM shows numbers that might be reliable. Carvana does seem to show "provisions for fast charging" in the text area, and often also has a pic of the charging port, so that's good. But it is harder to find pics that help explain the range... some have almost no charge and very few have a full charge.

For a Spark EV at 1/2 charge is it often the case that the GOM #'s are roughly doubled with a full charge? Some have pics of half charges and fairly good max range guestimates... but I don't know if that charging is linear.

Here's an example showing max = 37 on a half charge: https://vexgateway.fastly.carvana.io/vex-1592017/details/feature-25013174.jpg?v=1677516949.926&optimize=medium&quality=90&width=384.438&height=290.078&fit=cover

That is for https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2511329 and the Carfax shows it has been in a hot part of AZ for several years, so I don't know if that is the best idea.

Hoping to get the longest life possible out of the battery, since replacements are either not possible or very expensive at this point? I don't know if anyone might make an aftermarket one, or if you can source ones from crashes?

Thanks!

 

[Porsche]

The guessometer is pretty much useless for determining battery health. You could see numbers anywhere from 45 mi to 85 mi on a full charge and still have no idea. Recent driving style has a huge effect. You can get a gross approximation by using two GOM readings and the kWh used since last full charge, but even this is only a rough estimate. You really do need to use Torque-Pro or something to do a detailed analysis.