Well, forget a 2015. I'm going for a 2014 unless...

peterdaniel said:

... Most likely CA... where ... We have virtually NO DCFC units. As far as the range goes, ...the reality is that if you drive a lot of highway, it will go down..

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This is not a GM problem that there is a lack of DCFC. It is coming. These are still the early days for us early adopters!
On the east coast VW/BMW is partnering on a network of DCFC so 70-100 mile BEVs can do road trips up and down part of that coast.

There is a network now. The Tesla Superchargers.
Tesla could sell Tesla to CCS adapter cables and add card readers to the SC's so that other brands of BEV's can buy power.
It's an opportunity to make money from these SC instead of giving it away to just the Tesla cars that qualify.

In Kansas City, using the plugshare app, I see quite a few Tesla's using the free DCFC units with the $450 Chademo to Tesla adapter cable. And there is one SC in town. It's off the interstate on the east side.
I can also use the chargepoint app and hopefully see if a DCFC is available and working. Not a big deal around town, but if you are on a road trip and committed to using that DCFC up ahead, you really need to know if it is functional.

As for 'range'; are implying that the Spark EV requires more power to go highway speeds, just like every other vehicle on earth?

Oh NO .... another D vs L discussion. Note: The brake pedal is just regen right up the the point when friction brakes start to help after regen is maxed.
This has been discussed to the extreme on Volt threads.
There is NO advantage to driving around using the '1 Pedal' method. (unless you just enjoy it!)
Be glad you have 'Coast' in D. Some EV's don't give you that option.

Yep, did my own two week testing... all day, every day. Up hills, down hills, with AC and without. Went shopping and stuffed the back with uh... stuff. Drove to Santa Cruz through the windy Route 17 and it went 28 miles but thanks to regen, I only used 6 miles. Used every possible route and was very confident and had no range anxiety. Drove to my work which has no charging capability and the same asshats that have other EVs such as the Leaf and even one Mitsubishi ( go figure out of the 10 they have sold, I would encounter one at my work that ALWAYS beats me to the lone 110V outlet) are charging. No biggie, I have a Spark EV and I would drive 76 miles round trip without traffic and have 20 miles left when I got home. If there is traffic, I get even more miles. I rented one... loved the little car.. terrible cup holder placement and the stereo is a joke. Seats were super comfortable and I was averaging 96 miles and if I had more things to do in a day, I could have easily topped 100.

I noticed that from empty it would charge in 3.5 hours and give me an estimated range of over 100. My Volt on the same charger ( Chargepoint) took the same time or more and would only give me 44 miles. Yes, I know the Volt is not designed to give more. Thats not the point. The Spark EV got me usually 5-6miles per KW The VOLT struggles to get 4. I am always using the gas on my VOLT to come home from work... Not to mention that for some reason, my VOLT will only use about 10.4kw til gas usage turns on... It used to be 10.8 Not what I had planned

I am currently trying to get one. Will I get a 2014 or a 2015 or maybe a 2016... Problem is that GM changed the game and I have no idea if the '15 will be the same as the 2014 I rented. Little changes do big things. BIG changes such as the battery and gear ratio can do devastating changes. This is a purpose built car and I am making sure it will fulfill my needs.

Perhaps I havent been clear enough. I LOVE the Spark EV and want it to succeed so it frustrates me when I hear that Tony Williams who tests EV's on YouTube and has a very systematic way of doing it, says that the highway range is 10 miles less.

And if the final drive ratio is changed, of course the motor speed will change... Where do you think otherwise??

Hopefully this makes it much clearer to all.

peterdaniel said:

Tony Williams tested one and it showed a 10 mile decrease

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Link please? (that kid has a history of crapping on GM products or anything with an SAE CSS plug. lol)
In any case GM data I have access to shows both cars to have near the identical range city or highway. This was apparently due to the LG cell having 35% higher energy density than the A123 (so they were able to use 144 fewer cells) combined with ~85lbs less pack weight even with going to a fully flooded cell cooling system similar to the Volt's. (which also takes up more packaging space compared to the A123)

Lowing the final drive gearing ~22% would increase traction motor RPM by a similar amount at all road speeds but that in itself isn't necessarily bad as it depends on the traction motor delivered torque and efficiency maps. Given the high torque of that motor I cant see ratio being a serious detriment to acceleration either, given torque is regulated in software. But if anything it should accelerate quicker.

So IMO this thread is much ado about nothing

But of someone (even TW) did an actual side-by-side MY14 v MY15 test under identical conditions I would be interested seeing the data collected.
So like I said, link please?
WOT

peterdaniel said:

Are you saying the 2014 with the A123 battery doesnt have the cooling system as the LG does?

The link is from the mychevysparkev forum... I will try and find it for you...

And what is with you saying my post is much ado about nothing? Really? To me its something. As a moderator, you should be the last one to be so rude.

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Sorry.It wasn't meant to be rude or disrespectful, but moderators are permitted to have opinions too and that is mine. It's just you seem to be content on making a lot of "noise" over what to this point appears to be unsubstantiated data (most people post links to supporting information if/when they start "yelling" in a forum)

Besides Mr.Williams isn't an automotive engineer, AFAIK he's an airline pilot/EV advocate/Chademo fanboi/GM hater. (based on his forum posts at least) If he says his data conflicts with the GM and the EPA testing then the testing methodologies certainly should be compared and scrutinized. But based on what we know to this point, I doubt we can expect an SAE paper or anything.

FYI the 2014 does have somewhat of a liquid cooling system although it's a bit different in design. Basically a pair of liquid cooled thermal plates (aka t-pads) that the battery cells sit on. Thermally it's a bit of a compromise. Set a warm beer on top of a block of ice, how long until it is cold enough to drink?

The cell cooling/heating system used on the 2015-16 Spark EV is the same as the Volt's with coolant constantly flowing and passing through special "circuited" separator plates in between each pair of cells. This system has proven to be superior in quickly achieving and keeping desired cell temperatures consistent across the entire cell and throughout the pack during ALL activities from charging to driving.
HTH
WOT

HERE"S THE CURRENT MY15 SPARK EV PACK INTERNALS. IDENTICAL ENCLOSURE/HOUSING AS THE MY14 AND ESSENTIALLY THE SAME SPECIFICATIONS/PERFORMANCE BUT WITH 144 FEWER CELLS AND IMPROVED THERMAL CONTROL/MANAGEMENT


FULLY FLOODED RESS COOLING/HEATING SYSTEM ON THE VOLT NOW USED ON 2015-15 SPARK EV


2014 SPARK BATTERY COOLANT LOOP WITH T-PADS (2)

No problem
I posted a couple of additional photos/diagrams above

Please keep in mind the sudden switch to the LG cells was essentially "forced" upon GM by the demise of A123 (in the USA at least) which almost resulted in the demise of the Spark EV as well!

The EPA testing cycles are rigorous, and the 2015 data WAS NOT "fudged" in any way. The 2015 gets nearly identical city and highway range as the 2014 pack AND throughout a significantly wider range of ambient temperature swing.

The quick re-design goal was to "fill the space" with an LG based battery pack (and associated thermal management) that was as close to the performance of the existing pack as possible while remaining within cost objectives (the 27Ah LG cells are more expensive and GM didn't want to have to raise the MSRP)

IMO this was absolutely achieved.

As with the Volt these LG cells will last a very long time with little to no charge-discharge cycle related battery capacity degradation/fade, which bodes well for new owners of the Spark EV.

Good luck on your search
WopOnTour

PS> There's no need for that "other" forum. Gm-volt.com represents the definitive online source of accurate and reliable data (and sure sometimes opinions too lol) on ALL of GM's electrified products!