Chevrolet Spark EV

You win 100 internets, Tony.

TonyWilliams said:

MNL: Tony, did you order the Spark Range Test?!
Tony: I did the job that—-
MNL: Tony, did you order the Spark Range Test?!

TONY: YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!!

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MNL: Please the court, I suggest the jury be dismissed so that we can move to an immediate Article 39a Session. The witness has rights.

Too bad Gutless Motors does not sell that Spark thingy in all 50 states. :lol:

Tony, that's a pretty big difference from the EPA estimated 82 miles (which is very close to the 2013 Leaf EPA estimate of 84 miles at 100% charge). Any thoughts on why it outperformed the EPA estimate?

re: dgpcolorado

So we picked up the car, spent about 2 hrs learing about all the controls and so on. Chose 15000 mile a year lease option, total cost 248 per month and 1600 total down (999 plus all the other b.s.) Already filled out paperwork for 2500-buck Ca rebate. Sweet. Okay...

Brought the car home music playing. Then daughter and I took it for a spin. And there is this duck sound, right? Just as you take off for about 10 seconds. Duck sound. Can't miss it. Coming from left rear passenger area. Stops after you hit about 15 mph. This is not the pedestrian warning system. Better not be. It is supposed to work up to 30 mph, anyway. So, I am sure it's got nothing to do with that.

So we took the car straight back to Novato Chevy. Well, here is the good news: I was able to demostrate the sound to the dealer person. Loud and clear. That was very good. Beat Murphy's Law. Deed done. They'll be working on it tomorrow. I'm not an optimist when it comes to strange car sounds but we'll let them do their thing. I already see the lemon law hanging over both me and them. We'll cross that bridge as it unfolds.

But I stand firm I am not listening to no ducks when I take off in my Sparky. No siree.

Thanks for the info!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPsgnI4vRoQ[/youtube]

Stoaty said:

Tony, that's a pretty big difference from the EPA estimated 82 miles (which is very close to the 2013 Leaf EPA estimate of 84 miles at 100% charge). Any thoughts on why it outperformed the EPA estimate?

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Ya know, I have no idea. The car ran great. No issues, perfect weather, and it SMOKED the LEAF on the same course.

Best guess is that the motor is optimized for one speed, and we were at it. That would also explain the discrepancy over EPA.

The Rav4 EV only did 113 miles for the EPA, and yet at 100km/h it would go over 150 miles.

Stoaty said:

Tony, that's a pretty big difference from the EPA estimated 82 miles (which is very close to the 2013 Leaf EPA estimate of 84 miles at 100% charge). Any thoughts on why it outperformed the EPA estimate?

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I dunno, but keep in mind none of the EPA's tests are at a steady speed and none of the average speeds of any of the test cycles are at 100 kph/62 mph. http://priuschat.com/forums/other-cars/67235-car-driver-truth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has some great details about the EPA tests for ICEVs.

The highest average speed of any of the EPA test cycles is 48.4 mph.

TonyWilliams said:

http://youtu.be/TPsgnI4vRoQ

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Thanks! Watching now. I believe I'm viewer #2.

It was busy processing and unviewable for at least 30 mins after your post.

It'll be interesting to see what EV ranges look like in 2-3 years @ Leaf-like prices. I really do wonder about the resale value of a '13 Leaf w/slightly degraded (not Phoenix) battery at that time...

5 miles / kWh



Via Tony's road test vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPsgnI4vRoQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

92.8miles divided by 5miles/kWh = 18.56 kWh used
18.56/21.4 = 86.7%

Wow. Was not expecting such good range. Impressive motor. Thank you Tony and crew for your hard work!

Anyone else catch the humorous warning?



That's where you get the real range boost. :lol:

TonyWilliams said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPsgnI4vRoQ

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Nice video, and impressive range from the Spark EV - almost 100 miles (92.8 mi on the odometer, 3-5 miles on the DTE indicator).

I saw that the efficiency meter indicated 5.0 mi/kWh - that would indicate that the Spark EV has somewhere around 19 kWh usable. Nice efficiency on the freeway at 62 mph - also looked like the speedometer was accurate?

Thanks for sharing test results Tony. I'm surprised with a trailer in tow you stopped with 4 miles displayed range remaining. Did you (or do you know of anybody who has) run it until it literally stopped to see what the response was? I'm thinking of my Leaf that shows "---" remaining range for quite a bit before it goes to turtle mode, then finally eventually stops. I'm curious how accurate GM's range indicator is with regards to "0" remaining miles.

Based on all we know of GM's powertrain efficiency plots released, I'm not surprised it was extremely efficient at 60 mph. Here's the image I posted earlier in the thread:



Note that the peak efficiency is right at 100 km/h.



Ha...were the software guys being cute, or did somebody actually think this was a good idea?!? Weird. Do you think it will also turn off the map light? I'm guessing they're keeping track of all the powered circuits that are "optional" on the body controller and suggest turning them off. Since Tony already had the HVAC (and other power consumers...?) turned off, the only thing left was radio. It's still funny, as the energy used for the radio is about enough to back out of your parking spot.

Bryce

Nice vid.

....what, no annoying backup chime? :lol:

Nashco said:

<snip>Since Tony already had the HVAC (and other power consumers...?) turned off, the only thing left was radio.<snip>

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That is a very good point. If they did not do the several things to conserve energy that they did, I bet it would have been the recommended those. ie. a prioritized list they go through. Seems like this would be in an article or manual somewhere.

Found the manual but not have looked at it yet. A quick look shows there is a option for that. I suspect it is more than the "radio" and is various things in the center console display. "radio" was just the generalized term they used.
http://www.chevrolet.com/content/da...ip/Manuals and Videos/02_pdf/2k14spark_ev.pdf

Radio Power Down: Select to sets up the battery level to show the pop-up screen associated with the radio power down. Select: Off, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25%.

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With thermal management system for the battery pack, significantly better range at freeway speed than the Leaf, and a lower price than the Leaf I would seriously look at the Spark EV if I were in the market for a commuter EV today. It's good to have choices. Nissan needs to step up their game if they want to retain customers.

Thanks Tony, good video. Did you have a chance to try out its handling and torquey motor?

blackmamba said:

Thanks Tony, good video. Did you have a chance to try out its handling and torquey motor?

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No, I didn't drive, and I didn't test anything except range at 100km/h ground speed.

TonyWilliams said:

Stoaty said:

Tony, that's a pretty big difference from the EPA estimated 82 miles (which is very close to the 2013 Leaf EPA estimate of 84 miles at 100% charge). Any thoughts on why it outperformed the EPA estimate?

Click to expand...

Ya know, I have no idea. The car ran great. No issues, perfect weather, and it SMOKED the LEAF on the same course.

Best guess is that the motor is optimized for one speed, and we were at it. That would also explain the discrepancy over EPA.

The Rav4 EV only did 113 miles for the EPA, and yet at 100km/h it would go over 150 miles.

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EPA is vanilla crap. has been and most likely will always be...