Two identical sparks, 2 very different range estimates...

[MrDRMorgan]

I just completed the same range/battery capacity test for my higher 2016 spark .....

Short story: higher 2016 spark has 1.7 kw more useable capacity than lower 2015 spark.

Did exact conditions, same route, same speed, same weight in car, about same temp outside.

The numbers:
2015 used 10kw shows 63 % = 15.9 kw avail
2016 used 10.2kw shows 58% = 17.6 kw avail

Is this normal?
The 2015 is one year older than the 2016 and has 10k more miles on it. (2016 has 14k and 2015 has 24k)
Normal to loose 1.7 kw in a year and 10k miles?
At 4.5mi per kwh average, this is about 7.7 miles of range difference.

Last thing, anybody know how much the battery needs to loose before Chevy replaces it under
8 year/100k mile warranty?

I wonder because at this point, I still plan on buying the 2015 spark and not the 2016.

In July thru Aug 2015 my 2015 Spark EV HV battery calculated capacity averaged 18.61 kWh. In July thru Aug 2016 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.95 kWh. In July 2017 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.50 kWh. Recently, I had the Yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light go on. I took the car to the dealer and the error code pointed to a part problem in the quick charge function which would not affect the L1 or L2 charging function. A special order part had to be ordered so I continued to drive the car. When I drove off of the lot, I notice my miles per kWh was varying all over the place. I took the car to my local EVgo DCFC and charges without any problem - go figure! The yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light has not appeared since but I noticed my calculate battery capacity dropped to 15.8 kWh. The part just came in so the car goes back in tomorrow morning. I am interested to see whether the new part will correct the drop in capacity or not. I do not think it will.

GM's warranty for the HV battery is 8 years or 100K miles. During that interval, HV battery degradation is considered to be normal if the degradation ranges from 10% to 35%. A friend of mine, who also has a 2015 Spark EV, reported he recently ran the mileage test and calculated his battery capacity to be 13.9 kWh. A HV battery with 35% degradation, assuming 18kWh to start, would still have about 11.7 kWh left if it had degraded 35%. It would be interesting to see what other 2015 Spark EV owners are experiencing and at what ODO mileage.

 

[CSW]

I just completed the same range/battery capacity test for my higher 2016 spark .....

Short story: higher 2016 spark has 1.7 kw more useable capacity than lower 2015 spark.

Did exact conditions, same route, same speed, same weight in car, about same temp outside.

The numbers:
2015 used 10kw shows 63 % = 15.9 kw avail
2016 used 10.2kw shows 58% = 17.6 kw avail

Is this normal?
The 2015 is one year older than the 2016 and has 10k more miles on it. (2016 has 14k and 2015 has 24k)
Normal to loose 1.7 kw in a year and 10k miles?
At 4.5mi per kwh average, this is about 7.7 miles of range difference.

Last thing, anybody know how much the battery needs to loose before Chevy replaces it under
8 year/100k mile warranty?

I wonder because at this point, I still plan on buying the 2015 spark and not the 2016.

In July thru Aug 2015 my 2015 Spark EV HV battery calculated capacity averaged 18.61 kWh. In July thru Aug 2016 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.95 kWh. In July 2017 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.50 kWh. Recently, I had the Yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light go on. I took the car to the dealer and the error code pointed to a part problem in the quick charge function which would not affect the L1 or L2 charging function. A special order part had to be ordered so I continued to drive the car. When I drove off of the lot, I notice my miles per kWh was varying all over the place. I took the car to my local EVgo DCFC and charges without any problem - go figure! The yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light has not appeared since but I noticed my calculate battery capacity dropped to 15.8 kWh. The part just came in so the car goes back in tomorrow morning. I am interested to see whether the new part will correct the drop in capacity or not. I do not think it will.

So are you saying there might be a problem with the batteries in the 2015 models?

 

[MrDRMorgan]

I just completed the same range/battery capacity test for my higher 2016 spark .....

Short story: higher 2016 spark has 1.7 kw more useable capacity than lower 2015 spark.

Did exact conditions, same route, same speed, same weight in car, about same temp outside.

The numbers:
2015 used 10kw shows 63 % = 15.9 kw avail
2016 used 10.2kw shows 58% = 17.6 kw avail

Is this normal?
The 2015 is one year older than the 2016 and has 10k more miles on it. (2016 has 14k and 2015 has 24k)
Normal to loose 1.7 kw in a year and 10k miles?
At 4.5mi per kwh average, this is about 7.7 miles of range difference.

Last thing, anybody know how much the battery needs to loose before Chevy replaces it under
8 year/100k mile warranty?

I wonder because at this point, I still plan on buying the 2015 spark and not the 2016.

In July thru Aug 2015 my 2015 Spark EV HV battery calculated capacity averaged 18.61 kWh. In July thru Aug 2016 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.95 kWh. In July 2017 My 2015 Spark EV averaged 17.50 kWh. Recently, I had the Yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light go on. I took the car to the dealer and the error code pointed to a part problem in the quick charge function which would not affect the L1 or L2 charging function. A special order part had to be ordered so I continued to drive the car. When I drove off of the lot, I notice my miles per kWh was varying all over the place. I took the car to my local EVgo DCFC and charges without any problem - go figure! The yellow SERVICE VEHICLE SOON light has not appeared since but I noticed my calculate battery capacity dropped to 15.8 kWh. The part just came in so the car goes back in tomorrow morning. I am interested to see whether the new part will correct the drop in capacity or not. I do not think it will.

So are you saying there might be a problem with the batteries in the 2015 models?

The part [DC charge controller] was replaced and a battery capacity test drive after the part was installed showed no improvement in the calculated battery capacity. Is there a problem with the HV battery in the 2015?? I really do not know. I have observed my calculated battery capacity drop from 18.61 kWh in July-August 2015 [ODO = 2,400 miles] to 16.0 kWh today [ODO=24,500 miles]. A friend of mine reported his calculated HV battery capacity this month for his 2015 was 13.9 kWh.

It would be interesting to know what battery capacity numbers other 2015 Spark EV drivers are getting and at what ODO mileage.

 

[CCIE]

My 2015 at 16,700 miles showed 18.14kwh battery capacity. I got that from the car using GDS2, so it’s the “official” value.

At 11,000 miles it showed 18.5kwh.

I’m hoping the degradation will level off, not continue at that rate.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

My 2015 at 16,700 miles showed 18.14kwh battery capacity. I got that from the car using GDS2, so it’s the “official” value.

At 11,000 miles it showed 18.5kwh.

I’m hoping the degradation will level off, not continue at that rate.

What is GDS2?

 

[CCIE]

GDS2 is the program the dealers use to interface with the car. With it you can look at the battery capacity value that the computer (HPCM2) has learned. This is the real value, not an estimate based on what the energy screen shows.

If you have a 64bit Windows7/10 laptop, you can buy a VCX Nano GM for $130 from Amazon, which includes GDS2.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

GDS2 is the program the dealers use to interface with the car. With it you can look at the battery capacity value that the computer (HPCM2) has learned. This is the real value, not an estimate based on what the energy screen shows.

If you have a 64bit Windows7/10 laptop, you can buy a VCX Nano GM for $130 from Amazon, which includes GDS2.

What do you calculate if you use the information on the Energy Information screen and how does that compare with your GDS2 data?

 

[CCIE]

GDS2 is the program the dealers use to interface with the car. With it you can look at the battery capacity value that the computer (HPCM2) has learned. This is the real value, not an estimate based on what the energy screen shows.

If you have a 64bit Windows7/10 laptop, you can buy a VCX Nano GM for $130 from Amazon, which includes GDS2.

What do you calculate if you use the information on the Energy Information screen and how does that compare with your GDS2 data?

I've never bothered calculating based on the energy screen. But I'll try to take a look and compare next week.

 

[NORTON]

What do you calculate if you use the information on the Energy Information screen and how does that compare with your GDS2 data?

That's a very good question!

 

[MrDRMorgan]

What do you calculate if you use the information on the Energy Information screen and how does that compare with your GDS2 data?

That's a very good question!

I have been trying to find a way to get a reasonable estimate of what amount of battery capacity degradation I am experiencing. Each Friday I have to drive on the freeway to Oakland, CA for a meeting. The round trip takes me over two passes each way and they really chew up kWhs. The first leg of my trip is over one pass to an EVgo station in Pleasanton, CA which is 41 miles from my home. This month I drove a 35 mile trip on the 5th to a different destination and two 41-mile trips to the EVgo station in Pleasanton, CA on the 12th and 22nd. My calculated HV battery capacity for each of the three trips was 15.8kWh. It didn't seem to matter if I tried to minimize the effects of regen or not. Using the cruise control didn't seem to affect the HV battery capacity value either.

I connected the car to my L2 EVSE when I returned home from Oakland last night. This morning, after a full charge, my GOM read 79 miles which it about what I expected it to be, especially after using the heater for the last 41 miles.

I am really interested to see how close the GDS2 device correlates with the HV battery capacity calculation derived from the Energy Info screen data.