Chevrolet Spark EV - fastest small EV car out there

Created: 2022-12-11 Mon

Car specs (2016 model)

Pros and Cons

Pros

1. BIGGEST UPSIDE: No repairs. For the 5 years I have owned Spark EVs the only "repairs" I did were 2 maintenance sessions. Changed the windshield wipers once and changed the tires once. That is it. No oil changes, no coolant change, no break pads replacement, nothing. If you have a family member who is not into cars EVs are the best car for them to "take care of". They only need to remember to plug it in at night.
2. Energy usage. In the winter I use about 14kWh/100kms and in the summer I get around 11kWh/100kms. These numbers are excellent compared with other electrics out there. Which means I get to save 20-50% in electricity cost compared to other EVs. Compared to internal combustion engine I am saving over $2k a year. I paid about $18k for the EV so as I see it I am getting a rate of return of over 10% per year. After 7 years (including maintenance savings) the Spark EV should have paid itself in savings.
3. Fast charging rate for size of battery. The car charges at 50kW max and it has a 17kWh battery. It can charge to 80% in 20 minutes.
4. Power ... so much power.
   This is probably one of the highest power / highest torque sub-compact out there. Every time I drive it - it makes my heart flutter.
5. Dashboard. I like how much information is available in this entry level car.
6. 5 door hatchback. I don't have to slide the front seats forward to get passengers in the car. The Spark EV seats 4 comfortably.
7. Decent cargo room with rear seats folded flat.

Cons

1. BIGGEST DOWNSIDE: GM has actually discontinued supporting the car before its warranty expired. So no new parts are available (other than those that are common from the ICE version). So:
   ** no susepnsion elements
   ** no charge port doors or front left fenders
   ** no batteries are available for service. This most likely means that when mine dies the car value is zero.
   
2. Range. I am not going to lie. I wish the range was 200kms so I can drive it farther out of town without needing to recharge.
3. No heat pump. This means heating the interior can take a lot of energy. In the winter more than 50% of energy use is dedicated to heating the cabin. Which means the range drops from 120kms to around 60kms. I counter this by dressing warmly and using other heating methods (see the heated blanket).
4. Related to heating when it is snowing the heater can barely keep up with melting the windshield.
5. No heated mirrors. This another big downside for me as the weather around here is rainy for half a year and heated mirrors would improve visibility significantly.

Car quirks

1. In cabin heating uses between 1kW to 6kW. Defogging the windshield without depleting the battery thus is a balancing act. I normally set the in cabin temperature to 16dC (just above the "low" temperature) and then use the defog setting button. In most weather above 0dC this results in less than 1kW of power used for defogging.
2. If wind shield wipers are turned on the rear wipper will turn on automatically when the car is put in reverse. This setting can be turned off from the car settings menu.
3. The rear wiper doesn't make full contact with the entire rear windshield. This means I need to clean up the top of the rear windshield on my own every now and then.
4. Flashing the lights also beeps the horn twice. I grew to like this feature.
5. Pre-heating the cabin works only if the hood is closed. You need to click on lock button and then on the pre-heating button on the remote.
6. When headlights are set to auto during the day the high beam does not work. It does at night (when it is dark).
7. The car has staggered wheel sizes. Front 185/55R15 and rear 195/55R15.

Advice

1. Don't deplete the battery. That's when most often cells die. I keep the battery fully charged even though it gets degraded over time to prevent an individual cell from malfunctioning.
2. When charging the car gets warm under the hood. In winter time many rodents find this location very cozy and build nests. I spray the motor bay with a 1:5 mint peppermint oil:water mix to prevent this from happening.
   
   NOTE: Some spray the tires with the peppermint oil mixture. I don't think this is very useful as the rain and snow in winter will wash the extract away fairly quickly.

Accompanying items

Product	Notes	Pictures
Peppermint Oil	$10 I use 1 part peppermint extract to 5 parts water to spray the engine bay to prevent roddents from making nests there.
Window Rain Guard	$54 Because there is not much heat available from an internal combustion engine the interior of the spark can be fairly moist. I like to keep the windows slightly open so they can let fresh air in.
Side Mirror Rain Guard	$5 The Spark EV does not have heated mirrors. These covers help with the amount of drops that get on the mirrors.
Blind Spot Mirror	$6 The B pillar in the Spark prevents me from getting a good peripheral view of the car. These little mirrors help with my situational awarness in city traffic.
Heated Blanket	$30 To save energy I don't heat the entire cabin. I use the heated seats and an electric 12V blanket. I use the 2nd 12V outlets - in between the front seats to power this blanket.
Tire Repair Kit	$10 Spark EV does not have a spare tire. It has a tire inflator but I have used this tire kit for multiple punctures and it works great. Be prepapred to push hard that slimy rubber.
EV Charger	$230 I have a spare EV charger that I use to charge the car from a regular 110V plug. It's slow but gets the car charged overnight.

Resources

• 2015 Chevrolet Spark EV owner manual (can't find the 2016 version)
• Video of the Spark EV lead design engineer.