Replacement Battery

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J

jef

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2024
Messages
7
Location
Surrey, BC, Canada
So, I’ve been driving a 2015 Spark EV for 5.5 years and love it. No problems at all, and it’s got 32,000 miles on it. Last week, the message "propulsion power reduced" popped up. After having it towed to two service shops (a Chevy dealership and then an independent EV shop), it turns out that the only way to fix it is to replace the propulsion battery. The modules were checked, and there’s one bad cell out of 192. Unfortunately, they can’t (or won’t) replace an individual module. The cost for the replacement? $21,000 to $24,600 CAD ($15,000 to $18,000 USD). The car itself has been well taken care of and is in great shape. It’s truly a shame to have to scrap it. Has anyone else found themselves in a situation like this?
 
Is the car driveable? My car seems to have recently developed at least 2 weak cells causing the car to shut down below about 20% SOC. When this happens, there's a secured code that you need a fancy scan tool to reset, but then the car will charge and drive. I can follow individual cell voltages on the TorquePro app, and see that under load those cells drop quicker than the rest, and also charge quicker than the rest. But even with this, I still have enough range to commute. I haven't found individual modules, new or used, for sale. There's the whole battery available new from one supplier for $12.5k, and not much else on offer.
 
Hey, thanks for the info.

I found out today that the car does drive. I haven’t taken it out for a full drive yet, but I was able to move it into my condo’s underground parking.

What you mentioned about the battery dropping below 20% and shutting down is intriguing. I was around 20% when it stopped, but I know it hadn’t dropped below that. I usually keep it between 30% and 80%, occasionally charging to 100%. That day, I had an extra errand and was heading to a DC quick charger when it shut down.

The EV service shop told me the batteries are testing at 80% capacity. They also mentioned the same thing about the bad cell that you did—it charges and discharges faster than the others.

It would be great if I could reset the computer to drive it if it happens again. I only need the car for a weekly 50-mile round trip commute.

Thanks for pointing out that battery. I had looked into it as well, but the service shop told me they aren’t reliable because they sit on the shelf for too long, and they’ve stopped using them.
 
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So twice now I've had the car die on the road, both times around 20%. The second time I was watching my cell voltages on TorquePro and could see 80 and 81 dropping nearly a volt lower than the rest. At higher SOC, even under hard acceleration, those cells sag, but within .080 volts. So the car is completely usable from 100% to 20%.
To clear the secured codes that lock out the HV battery, the first time I used a VCX Nano which is a sketchy knockoff of a GM scantool and software. It was $125, and took me about 4 hours of messing with their bootleg software, but it worked. I wiped the computer after I was done though. So the second time I upgraded to an Autel MK808S scan tool, and it worked perfectly. It's also small enough that I keep it in the car so I can clear a code wherever it happens. There are a couple cheaper bidirectional scan tools that should work, but this was the cheapest I trusted.
 
I keep checking ebay for modules. Long term, I'd like to rebuild the pack with newer cells with some more capacity. But for now, it gets me to work.
 
Randy960 said:
So twice now I've had the car die on the road, both times around 20%. The second time I was watching my cell voltages on TorquePro and could see 80 and 81 dropping nearly a volt lower than the rest. At higher SOC, even under hard acceleration, those cells sag, but within .080 volts. So the car is completely usable from 100% to 20%.
To clear the secured codes that lock out the HV battery, the first time I used a VCX Nano which is a sketchy knockoff of a GM scantool and software. It was $125, and took me about 4 hours of messing with their bootleg software, but it worked. I wiped the computer after I was done though. So the second time I upgraded to an Autel MK808S scan tool, and it worked perfectly. It's also small enough that I keep it in the car so I can clear a code wherever it happens. There are a couple cheaper bidirectional scan tools that should work, but this was the cheapest I trusted.
Click to expand...
The MK808S looks like the tool to use and is selling for $511CAD. Thanks.
 
broken spark said:
Hey, I found these back when my spark was doing the same thing yours is doing. 2 cells were weak and the car would die and need the nano. I never ending up buying them but thought I would show you sense I still have them saved 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/424203890556716/?mibextid=dXMIcH
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I just talked to this guy. He’s in Canada said it’s a pain to ship to the US. Does anyone know where I could buy an individual battery module here in the states?
 
Fordtech_24 said:
I just talked to this guy. He’s in Canada said it’s a pain to ship to the US. Does anyone know where I could buy an individual battery module here in the states?
Click to expand...
They're definitely around. Reach out to https://batteryhookup.com/ , https://www.greentecauto.com/ , maybe EV West https://www.evwest.com/catalog/index.php . There are also DIY EV forums where members have all sorts of knowledge and connections to share.

There are a lot of companies popping up that are not just remanufacturing used EV packs and modules, but are using these as "second-life" batteries for on and off-grid applications. Try them too.

Send some emails, make some phone calls, you will find something.

Worse case you could cross the border and transport the Canadian module yourself, but you should observe any hazardous material transportation restrictions.

Worst case you hunt down a scrap spark and yank it yourself, then sell the remaining pieces to those second-life companies to recoup your cost.
 

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