Where do we all live? Sparks are dispersing.

[NORTON]

Hello,
I'm from the Seattle area, and I just recently purchased a white 2016 LT ..
The day after Christmas I self-gifted myself this little coal powered clown-car... I'm loving it so far.
....
Now that I've gotten the hang of it, I can keep it above 4.5 miles/KWh.
I only have the 120v EVSE cord, .... but I wish it had a sunroof and a tray style bike rack.

Welcome to the future!
You're little clown-car is actually 39.7% Hydro and 36.2% coal ! So get it straight for the Fun little S-Box !! :lol:
If you look here: https://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.charts, you'll see your exact Electric Recipe. But this shows a lot of the NW as one grid, I suspect your area is even cleaner!!!

Don't be chasing that mi/kWh number. Pretty soon you'll have Penny-Pinching-Prius owners passing you, giving you the finger. Some of those guys drive by that big display and make a bad name for their car.
I love smoking almost anything that is next to me at stop lights! Silently, like it's no big deal...

I too almost always have the back seats down. I have a large cut piece of carpet covering that whole area. It's my 2 seat hatchback with a large cargo area!
In fact I'm considering having a clear plastic 'bulkhead' behind the front seats so I only have to heat that space during these -° F days,,, but nobody wants to think about that,, spring is coming, spring is coming.
For long airport runs with friends or family, it's easy to bring one or both seats back up!

If you currently get by on 8A, awesome. But as you use it more you may want to have big mile weekends and an L2 can be had really cheap these days. Preheating on L2 does not dip into the SOC as much, if at all.

 

[Planerench]

Hello,
I'm from the Seattle area, and I just recently purchased a white 2016 LT ..
The day after Christmas I self-gifted myself this little coal powered clown-car... I'm loving it so far.
....
Now that I've gotten the hang of it, I can keep it above 4.5 miles/KWh.
I only have the 120v EVSE cord, .... but I wish it had a sunroof and a tray style bike rack.

Welcome to the future!
You're little clown-car is actually 39.7% Hydro and 36.2% coal ! So get it straight for the Fun little S-Box !! :lol:
If you look here: https://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.charts, you'll see your exact Electric Recipe. But this shows a lot of the NW as one grid, I suspect your area is even cleaner!!!

Don't be chasing that mi/kWh number. Pretty soon you'll have Penny-Pinching-Prius owners passing you, giving you the finger. Some of those guys drive by that big display and make a bad name for their car.
I love smoking almost anything that is next to me at stop lights! Silently, like it's no big deal...

I too almost always have the back seats down. I have a large cut piece of carpet covering that whole area. It's my 2 seat hatchback with a large cargo area!
In fact I'm considering having a clear plastic 'bulkhead' behind the front seats so I only have to heat that space during these -° F days,,, but nobody wants to think about that,, spring is coming, spring is coming.
For long airport runs with friends or family, it's easy to bring one or both seats back up!

If you currently get by on 8A, awesome. But as you use it more you may want to have big mile weekends and an L2 can be had really cheap these days. Preheating on L2 does not dip into the SOC as much, if at all.

I have been turning the car on in my garage and letting the cabin completely heat while I get ready for work. With the L2 still plugged in. The green light will come on for a while but once the cabin is warm it starts flashing again. I leave for work with the battery topped, cabin thoroughly warm and driver smiling.

 

[VancitySparky]

My 2015 Sparky now lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but originates from California. It was a lease, then sold to a dealership in Seattle. I really wanted a 2014 or newer model with fast charge, and I could not for the life of me find one anywhere close to Vancouver. The drive home from Seattle was nerve-wracking and took 9 hours total - not fun!

I haven't seen any others in the city, though I know they're somewhere out there...

 

[Loaf]

I'm a "wanna be" owner in the Carolinas. Test drove one in Morganton...

Sorry for my very late reply, I've forgotten to check here!

You should definitely pick this car up as soon as you find one you like. With our cheap power in NC, I pay less for the loan + electricity per month than I did in gas with my previous car (even at 30 mpg.) Once my work gets chargers installed, even better!

It's a shame you had a bad experience with Carvana. It was legitimately the easiest car buying experience I've ever had. No smarmy sales people, just a very fast and no hassle time for me. Maybe check out Carmax instead? (These national dealers can ship across country easily.) Or you can have the car shipped here yourself for probably around $1,000.

Keep us up to date when you finally get one!

 

[Loaf]

I'm willing to bet there pretty scarce in the Carolinas.

There are 11 registered in North Carolina. I can't speak for SC, though. There are 2 Spark EVs registered in Charlotte (mine is one of them.)

I have also seen another Spark EV here in Charlotte, but I don't believe it was the only other one registered in this city, so I don't know where that one came from. It was a white one that had a Maryland plate on the front and I think a North Carolina plate on the rear (is this any of you here on the forum? ) They turned the other way, so I didn't get a good look, and they didn't seem to notice I was in an identical car to them, haha.

 

[lilbluespark]

I purchased mine through Carmax and had it shipped out here to Sparks/Reno NV. Since then I've moved to Fernley. Lil' Blue is my primary transport to and from work at Gigafactory.
I've seen a white one owned by an elderly lady I spoke with at Smiths in Sparks, she said she loved it. Also saw a black one up at Giga once. The local GMC/Chevrolet dealer said they would handle all my servicing needs, so I'm pretty happy.

Alex
"Lil' Blue" 2015/Currently stock/Daily driven

 

[NORTON]

... Lil' Blue is my primary transport to and from work at Gigafactory....
Alex
"Lil' Blue" 2015/Currently stock/Daily driven

Awesome !! An insider!

Do you get props for driving EV?? Do you have to walk through "The Bottle Neck" everyday? That's where it's at, they say... :lol:

Just kidding, buddy, would love to hear your tales !

 

[Chris101]

Hi everyone.. I'm new here.

Bought my Spark EV on November 20th 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona and had it shipped back home to me in Chicago, IL

Right now I feel like I'm the only one in the area with a Spark EV

 

[PhilPen]

I 'm doing my bit to help disperse them since I and my wife have now introduced two Spark EVs to CT. Bought the second one (a new Salsa Red 2016 LT2 with DCFC with only 55 miles on it) at the very end of 2017.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

I 'm doing my bit to help disperse them since I and my wife have now introduced two Spark EVs to CT. Bought the second one (a new Salsa Red 2016 LT2 with DCFC with only 55 miles on it) at the very end of 2017.

I really enjoy reading about what people will do to get their hands on a Spark EV.

I started following the Spark EV in 2013 and leased my first Spark EV, a 2015 2LT, in May of 2016. 3 months later I purchased a used 2014 2LT with only 1500 miles on the ODO. Then, in October of 2017, I purchased a used 2016 2LT with only 5700 miles on the ODO. The leased 2015 will be returned to the dealer in May of this year and someone is going to get a very nice, well taken care of, used car. I have no need for a Bolt because over the last almost 3 years I found the Spark EVs met all of my driving needs. The 2015 and 2016 both have DCFC and there are sufficient EVgo DCFC locations to allow me to get to all of my regular destinations without any problems.

This really is one exceptionally fine little car! Too bad GM discontinued it.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Carvana delivered a 2015 2LT w/ DCFC to me today, in upstate South Carolina. I called the GM Certified Pre-Owned division prior to my Carvana reservation, and after they required my name, phone number, street address, email address, and left kidney (kidding.... only about the kidney) they confirmed the vehicle in question had DCFC (Carvana did not photograph the charge port or list it as a feature). Seems like a good one so far, minus it reeking of pot, a reverse bulb out, rear passenger door switch not working, and the additional cosmetic damages they either overlooked or decided not to photograph. Negatives aside, I'm stoked to finally have one charging in my garage, mwahaha!

 

[PhilPen]

My wife and I used to car-pool because (worked at the same place) so the 1st Spark EV cut our gas consumption massively. However, shortly thereafter I ended up working elsewhere and we commuted in opposite directions and thus one of us was force to resort to using the other car (a gas-guzzling hybrid). Hence the purchase of a second Spark EV. Both Spark EVs were purchased online and shipped to CT.
I noticed quite a few multiple Spark EV owners in this forum and was pleased to join them.

 

[Pegasus]

I bought mine originally in California but have since moved to Las Vegas and paid about $400 to ship it here. Worth it! What's more, we drive less here than we did in Cali so the decreased range from normal battery degradation is not a problem. (I have about 16kWh usable now from 19 originally. These are the A123 cells too, which makes me happy.)

 

[GuyClark]

I bought my 2015 2LT with the DCFC in January 2017 in Watsonville CA. Before I bought it, I made sure that the car had the DCFC before making the trip from work in East San Jose. Leaving my old Honda Del Sol at the dealer until I could retrieve it, I drove it home just north of the Summit of the Santa Cruz mountains off of HWY 17.

The car had just under 4000 miles and I got it for just over $12K. It was virtually brand new, except that the previous owner (lessor?) had driven it hard, so that when fully charged, the Guess-o-Meter indicated only 58 miles! After a year of fairly careful driving, I'm getting an average of 4.9mi/KWh, even though I have to climb the mountain every night.

With 7KW solar panels on my house, and 750KW panels at work (free EV charging!) my car is vitually 100% solar powered!

I never thought I'd own a Chevy, but this car is ok! Someday, when cheaper, I'll probably get an off-lease Bolt, but for now, with my DelSol for longer trips (or my wife and I travel together in her ICE Kia Soul) I don't totally NEED more than the range I get in my Spark.

 

[Loaf]

GuyClark, I'm so jealous of your ability to fully solar fuel your car! That is such a massive reduction in air pollutants and greenhouse gases at the same time. Good on you!

 

[Rosegrif1]

2016 2LT arriving in Lexington MA on the 1st March - can’t wait to get it running

 

[Anonymous]

Montreal,Canada. Bought my '14 Spark EV on dec.'18. Winter driving is not bad, and car is actually fun to drive. Can't wait for spring.

 

[neomaxcom]

Bought my spark LT1 EV from another fellow in the Atlanta metro area. I mentioned its history in my introductory post - it was originally registered in Michigan in February 2013 as a Factory fleet car. It had just over 10,000 mi. on the odometer and from what I can figure it has just a little less than 16kw of capacity in its battery. Still, as I don't do much freeway or even highway driving, the GOM is promising 83 miles on my last charge. Most of the roads I run are county roads or state highways where 55 mph is the max and you're often running 40-50 mph in the rolling hills.

I know of at least one other Atl Spark EV owner - he suggested I join the EV club of the south in another topic.

As far as the lower 16kw capacity, I imagine the car, given its first two years in the GM fleet, often sat fully charged.

I am heartened that after a week of 70-degree temps, the GOM is reading 83 mile range.

BTW, I'm retired and using the car to do one of those 1099 jobs running around taking real estate pics. I chose to do it for the entertainment value of running around in the country because operating the vehicle - about 1.9 cents a mile - is so cheap. Combine that with the mileage deductions sheltering the income means it is kind of like being paid well to play carmeggedon or GTA on the computer. The driving dynamic of the Spark EV adds greatly to the carmeggedon illusion

 

[TucsonTerry]

My EV is in Tucson, Arizona. Couldn't find one locally, so went to a dealer in Phoenix and had him trailer the car to the half-way point so I could drive it from there!

 

[NORTON]

.... so went to a dealer ... and had him trailer the car to the half-way point so I could drive it from there!

That's a new method I haven't heard of !
You won't be sorry!!

From what I've read, Tucson gives the Leaf a bad name from battery degradation due to the heat. Hopefully people haven't given up on EV's.
With the Spark EV that isn't an issue,, if you can keep it plugged in when you aren't driving it during the Hot Time of the Year.

The Spark EV warms or cools the pack as required!