Chevrolet Spark EV

[RonDawg]

I looked at the lease details, and it's for 36 months, 12,000 miles. I'm not sure if that's 12,000 miles per year, or 12,000 miles TOTAL.

I hope it's not the latter, because it would make the lease basically worthless to most potential lessees, as it limits you to just 333-1/3 miles per month. Exceed it and you'll be paying a whopping 25 cents/mile for the excess miles, vs. 15 cents for the Leaf leases.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

The above discussion on torque, gear reduction, and axle shaft torque is interesting, they never hype anything but motor torque, so never thought of it that way.

The torque of the MY13 Leaf is down to 187, from 207, did the gear reduction change also?

With the Spark's set up, won't it seem slugish from a stop? Starting in the equivalent of 4th gear doesn't sound good. More energy efficiency helps. Competition will help improve all EVs.

 

[dm33]

I have already seen one in my area. Had no idea Spark was actually selling.
Looks to be everything I thought the Volt was going to be. :|

I rented the ICE version in the Bay Area for a couple of weeks. Fun cute car, but too small for other than a commuter. Tiny trunk. Very bouncy on highway and gets blown around too easily. In general, at a similar price, I would think the Leaf feels like a much more substantial car.

Will be interesting to see if this pricing could spark (pun intended) a price war. Big deal to get under 20k pricing. Could Nissan drop the base price on the Leaf any lower to edge under 20k after tax rebate?

 

[adric22]

Well now when people tell me that electric cars are too expensive I'll be able to point out the Spark.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Well now when people tell me that electric cars are too expensive I'll be able to point out the Spark.

And that will further their preconception that electric cars are tiny death traps.

 

[TonyWilliams]

"MUST TAKE DELIVERY BY JULY 3, 2013"

In other words, they will get all the advertising buzz on this cheap price (and it is cheap after rebates/credits), but won't actually deliver any (of very, very few) cars.

MODERATORS: Can we please move this to the Spark thread?

 

[KJD]

http://insideevs.com/chevy-spark-ev-priced-at-19995-after-federal-incentive-36-month-lease-is-199-per-month-with-999-down/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of the finer details on the lease deal include that it’s a so-called low-mileage lease (12,000 miles per yer) and that exceeded that mark will cost you $0.25 per mile.

I thought that .15 cents per mile for overage was bad enough. 25 cents seems like over the top. Might be a few unhappy Chevy customers in 3 years time.

 

[evnow]

Merged.

 

[KeiJidosha]

We'll see if they "charge" out of showrooms or not. Tiny car, 3 kW charger, nonexistent quick charge network.

GM buyers may be a different group than Nissan buyers, though, and Chevy might tap into another market, like Volt owners who want a BEV. The more EVs out on the roads the better, so the best of luck to them. I hope to see a lot of them out there.

I am also interested to see if buyers can get past ^^^ those items on an otherwise attractive EV package. Only 5% of US buyers will consider a B-Segment car, the SAE QC is MIA, and 3.3kW as back-up is insufficient. This is a likely replacement for Fit EV for me, but it will need a 6.6kW option. It is typical for Chevy to go lean on options at introduction and layer them on over time. That makes it easy to wait and see.

 

[scottf200]

I am also interested to see if buyers can get past ^^^ those items on an otherwise attractive EV package. Only 5% of US buyers will consider a B-Segment car, the SAE QC is MIA, and 3.3kW as back-up is insufficient. This is a likely replacement for Fit EV for me, but it will need a 6.6kW option. It is typical for Chevy to go lean on options at introduction and layer them on over time. That makes it easy to wait and see.

How much would you pay this? $1,300 is what it cost to get the option that includes the 6.6kW on the LEAF S level.

 

[evnow]

How much would you pay this? $1,300 is what it cost to get the option that includes the 6.6kW on the LEAF S level.

But that 1.3k includes QC.

 

[KeiJidosha]

I am also interested to see if buyers can get past ^^^ those items on an otherwise attractive EV package. Only 5% of US buyers will consider a B-Segment car, the SAE QC is MIA, and 3.3kW as back-up is insufficient. This is a likely replacement for Fit EV for me, but it will need a 6.6kW option. It is typical for Chevy to go lean on options at introduction and layer them on over time. That makes it easy to wait and see.

How much would you pay this? $1,300 is what it cost to get the option that includes the 6.6kW on the LEAF S level.

I'd pay whatever the charge, as I would not buy without it. 3.3kW is OK for the attention getting loss leader, but 6.6kW is my minimum for utility, as virtually all public charging provides 6.6kW, and many sites now charge by the hour. I'd also consider an additional ~$1.5-2k to get to 10-12kW on-board charging.

 

[KeiJidosha]

How much would you pay this? $1,300 is what it cost to get the option that includes the 6.6kW on the LEAF S level.

But that 1.3k includes QC.

Spark EV 1LT price does not include "SAE Standard Fast Charging" either. It is listed as a "Late Availability Option" Like the LEAF SV, useful charging may be part of an up-market 2LT level Spark EV, at extra cost.

 

[evnow]

Not sure why there is "so much" attention paid to Yet Another Tiny Compliance EV that most of us will never get to see.

 

[scottf200]

Not sure why there is "so much" attention paid to Yet Another Tiny Compliance EV that most of us will never get to see.

CA and OR are pretty popular markets. It provides a lot of technology (motor and user interface (See link in release) ) that GM can use in future versions of BEV, EREV, and PHEVs. For a commuter car use it is very well priced ($17k in CA) and even raising the bar. They put it out even with various challenges such as A123. Competition is good for everyone. After a couple years we can even see how the TMS holds up in the hotter areas of CA that has had an impact on the LEAF wo/TMS.

 

[GRA]

With that price, I'd say GM is serious. I think that price along with the Leaf S will really limit Smart sales, although Smart does have the battery leasing option and the best current guaranteed capacity. Now we have to wait for the other shoe to drop, and see how Fiat reacts pricewise.

Judging by the number I've seen around here since it went on sale (including one last night), the gas Spark is fairly popular in the Bay Area. When I checked last month it was outselling the Yaris for the year, IIRC. Oh, and you can get it in a nice green, too, like the one I saw last night:

http://www.chevrolet.com/spark-mini-car.html?seo=goo_|_GM+Chevy+Retention_|_GG-RTN-Chevy-Spark-BP-SN-Exact_|_Spark+HV_|_chevy%20spark" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[adric22]

Judging by the number I've seen around here since it went on sale (including one last night), the gas Spark is fairly popular in the Bay Area. When I checked last month it was outselling the Yaris for the year, IIRC. Oh, and you can get it in a nice green, too, like the one I saw last night:

That is the one problem I'm expecting... Who wants to drive around in a car that looks exactly like the $12,000 counterpart. The Leaf is at least more distinguished and people will know it is an EV when they see it. I believe the Focus EV suffers from the same issue.

 

[KJD]

With that price, I'd say GM is serious.

If GM was serious about this car they would sell it in all 50 states.

This is a compliance car only. Pure and simple.

 

[jackal]

Not sure why there is "so much" attention paid to Yet Another Tiny Compliance EV that most of us will never get to see.

+1

 

[smkettner]

I understand spreading the costs over other models.... but Spark does not come across as an EV if most will be built with a gasoline engine.

"Spark" seems to relate more to the "spark plugs" than energy in a battery.

Similar with FFE. Do you really see an EV when a Focus passes by?