Spark EV Road trip, 550 miles!

[@x_ghost_x6612]

This should have more views. People need to get past the "anxiety" and enjoy road trips with EV's.

[@EVResource]

Thanks, I agree!

[@rogermartinez78]

I am glad you did make this video of a short range EV going on a 500+ mile road trip and now I am confident taking my 2023 Mini Cooper EV on such a journey, thanks.

[@EVResource]

Awesome! Just make sure you know your car and know what charging is available on your route. Also, bring along a mobile 120V EVSE just in case you run into a situation where you need a charge but can’t get to a DCFC. It’s a good backup because there are regular electrical outlets everywhere.

[@zollerattila3316]

I'm glad I found this video. FINALLY someone who enjoys driving a short(-ish) range EV and talks positively about electromobility even when doing loger trips with an "entry level" EV like Spark. Congrats and thumbs up! Greetings from Hungary!

[@EVResource]

Glad you liked it!

[@jamesdowns9394]

Just to put it out there, I have a 2016 spark EV 2LT with the DC fast charging, and I have found that one of the things that increases your efficiency greatly is driving without the traction control on. The only time you really need it is when you're doing hard take offs in the snow, which is a pretty bad idea in any vehicle, but as far as like when you're driving, it doesn't do anything for you. For summer range in mine, I get around 105 mi, and for winter range, I get around 80, and it dips down to the mid teens here for the lows. Also, even though you had the car plugged in while running the defogger, it was still using a good chunk of its own battery, because the most you can pull, sustained from a regular 120 volt house outlet is 1.4 kW, so that's a situation where it would make sense to have a level 2 at home. Also, the spark battery pack was built with a 2 kWh buffer so that when cells start dying, there are untouched cells that take your spot. This means that you don't get any battery degradation until between 75 and 100,000 mi, and even then, that's degradation starting on the stock capacity because Chevy was thoughtful enough to provide a buffer.

[@jamesdowns9394]

@@EVResource I know that when I got it, turning off traction control is the only thing that got me to my fast charger. I mean I didn't know how different things like hills and climate control affected it, and while my stop was 40 miles away and I had 60 miles of projected range on the battery, we (being my dad and I in case something went wrong) were doing everything we could to save every little bit of power, because when Google maps says the charger is 10 mi away and the car says you have 9 mi of range with the efficiency estimator trending downward, you get desperate. Almost immediately after we turned traction control off, I mean like within 30 seconds, the little efficiency dot things started moving up, and we were actually able to make it to our stop with I think three miles of range left. Since then, I mean it's just muscle memory at this point, whenever I get in I turn traction control and the auto lights off. Hopefully this can help you out. Also, I don't have any like hard numbers, but I recently got some LED headlights and taillights and the car seems to absolutely love them. I mean, I think it was like $30 for just basic LED headlights, it took maybe 5 minutes to change both of them out, and I didn't need to do any leveling or anything. And for tail lights, I just went to O'Reilly's, and they had them for like $15. It is a little finicky getting the taillight housings off, just because one of the tabs is metal whereas the other is plastic, but once you take the two screws off, it takes a little work, but they just pop off. Regardless of efficiency though, at least with the headlights, I'm able to see so much better that the increased safety from that purchase makes it all worth it. Another thing, you don't need to run the defogger if you just drive with the windows cracked or with a mask on. Lately, I've come to like the mask way to go, because it helps me keep warmth in as well. Also, as far as like driving style, I don't know how you drive, but I've come to find if you give yourself a good 25-30% more of distance to stop, and you pull it into L instead of using the brakes, you don't have to use the brakes very much at all, and it maximizes the amount of regen you're able to do. Hopefully this helps, and if you have any tips, I would be very willing to hear them.

[@jamesdowns9394]

@@EVResource also, what do you use that gives you all of that information on your tablet? I'm guessing it's some kind of OBD2 device?

[@BillyBurgh]

What a cool memory for you and your daughter. Very nice.

[@EVResource]

It’s still one of my favorite road trips!

[@Peter-st1lt]

Great video! I had a 2015 spark ev for a year and a half I really liked it! It was fun challenging the car to see how far it will go! There are days I miss it! Thanks for sharing the trip!

[@EVResource]

I can't wait to go on another trip sometime (hopefully soon!)

[@DarioCruz92]

I tip my hat to you - the longest trip I took in my Spark EV was a little over 200 miles. The cost and charge time were equal (in %) to your trip. And it really is an adventure, and not a typical boring long road trip, when you try it with a Spark EV :-) Thanks for sharing.

[@EVResource]

One of the best road trips I've ever taken.

[@msmith99ffl]

Loved this video, thanks to the two of you for making it!!! I've done several trips in my Spark EV from York PA to Richmond VA over the past two years. I got to know all of the chargers along the way and stopped at the Electrify America chargers which almost never worked two years ago. Started doing the "lift the cable" trick and had better luck then. EVGo always seem to be the most reliable. It is funny when you hear people say that 200 miles isn't enough range.

[@smhshyla]

What’s the lift the cable trick ?

[@msmith99ffl]

@@smhshyla After you plug in, lift up on the cable to make sure the top of the plug goes the whole way in until the car starts to charge. You may feel it lock in place.

[@dylanschademan3445]

Subscriber 957 here. You have sold me on that car. I'm getting one from carvana now, to use (and modify).

[@Chrisb8s]

We bought a mini Cooper SE. ev and it goes about 114 miles. It is so crazy efficient and fun. People stress over range but don’t realize how little they use every day. Each day my wife comes home she charges the car and it is full again after an hour

[@EVResource]

For sure! Most people drive less than 50 miles a day. This is easily handled by nearly every EV!

[@Chrisb8s]

@@EVResource it is actually our 4th ev, my first was a Volt that I rarely used the gas part.. then a Model S.. for long trips, free supercharging.. awesome.. I sold it for crazy money during the panedmic and got a Model Y.. my wife wanted an ev but didn't like the looks of the i3 or the spark, so when we test drove the Mini, she loved it.. and it still had the $7500 tax break when we got it.. yay.. love it.. honestly, I love driving it maybe more than the Tesla

[@EVResource]

Cool!!

[@johnwang9914]

This is important for a Spark EV since compliance vehicles are only sold in a few areas. For the Spark EV, it's California, Oregon, BC, and Quebec (maybe Ontario too). This means if you want one, it will be a road trip or shipping to bring it home for most of us. Did the hotel or motels you stayed at have level 2 destination charge stations? My understanding is that many would have two level two chargers, one with a tesla connector and one for everyone else but with level 2, you can have an adapter to use the Tesla connector if the other one is occupied though you're more likely to be iced by a Tesla. The charge times are greatly reduced if you run the charge down and then only do partial charges after that. I often think they should divide the battery bank into two sections, depleting one section to 20% before switching to the other then switching to the other till it too reaches 20% and then drawing on both in parallel. That way the depleted section recharges quickly and you can still have quick recharges if your strategy is stop offs with a significant reserve instead of aiming for depleted partial charges and risking being stranded.

[@austinfrazier7325]

Thinking of buying a Spark EV. How much of a battery degradation over time are you seeing? Is one year better than the others?

[@BambinoPinguino]

Went on a 1000+ mile trip a couple weeks ago in my Bolt EV. It was my first long distance trip in the car so I didn't let the battery get too low in between charging stops. Generally I'd have about 40-50 miles left when I'd stop to charge back up to 80%, taking about 45 minutes - 1hr 15 mins depending on the stop. At the end of the trip I had driven 1,025 miles and averaged 4.0 mi/kWh. Watching this and seeing your charging times might encourage me to let the battery dip a little lower so my charging stops don't take as long. The Bolt's charging profile is so conservative that it's annoying sometimes, but could be worth it for the long term health of the battery.

[@jp7489]

Nice car planning on getting a spark ev I live in Phoenix AZ I'll just be using it in the city and driving to work👍

[@Aaron-xr7oc]

I live in Phoenix lol

[@MylesV]

Nice video! My ex and I took my 2015 e-Golf from Fredericksburg, VA to OBX and back over the summer; around 500 miles roundtrip. It was a last minute decision with very little planning through ABRP after his 2019 Kia Forte broke down the morning we planned to leave. It went shockingly well. I was nervous about the DCFC at New Kent Pit Stop as it looked like it had some problems on Plugshare, but thankfully it worked both to OBX and on the way back. We had to wait at a level 2 for an hour in NC, this wasn't too bad since the e-Golf has a 7.2kW onboard charger. We had a problem with slow charging speeds on the way back home because of the lack of thermal management though, we charged at the Richmond Walmart EA station for about an hour on the way home whereas we spent 20 minutes at just about every other DCFC stop. Not ideal, but certainly doable. Glad the Spotsylvania Towne Center station worked for you. It is just 10 minutes from my house and it has been hit or miss about me, often I only get 20-30kW when I expect between 40-50 typically.

[@MylesV]

@@EVResource I would be down!

[@billsmith810]

I got my 2016 Spark EV in sept 2020 and my longest trip so far was 146 miles when I drove it home to Pittsburgh PA from the dealer in Ohio. Stopped twice to play safe since there aren't a lot of fast chargers in western PA in fact I had to go further north to get a fast charge. First stop was an electrify America and was flawless but the second stop at an EVgo was not good but eventually I got a good connection and made it home with plenty of charge left. Now that I've had the car for a while I'm ready to take a longer trip like down to Fairfax VA to visit family.

[@EVResource]

It may not be a car designed for road trips, but as the infrastructure gets built out, it's definitely possible!

[@ZackN85]

I’m also a proud Spark owner. (Though mine doesn’t even have the CCS charging, so something like this is definitely out of the question for me.) It seems like you had a good time and essentially “gamified” your drive to make long days of driving more tolerable (even if, potentially, a little more stressful at times). It strikes me that so many people use road trips as a big hit against short range electric vehicles. (Especially people who, frankly, don’t go on very many road trips and/or have access to another vehicle for those instances.) There are a lot of vehicle use cases that aren’t well met by many vehicles. People don’t often criticize others for buying a sedan when, after all, there will probably be some time when you need a truck. I know lots of families have a car that literally can’t even seat their whole family and no one finds that odd. A short range EV is great for some use cases and very much not the ideal tool for some other use cases. And that’s totally fine. In that way, it’s just like every single other vehicle out there.

[@davidwilker4795]

I'm sorry if this is already answered, but what tablet and app are you using for your data?

[@EVResource]

Hey David! I’m using a generic Android tablet with TorquePro. I downloaded the PIDs for the Bolt EV because they are compatible. For more info, check allev.info/boltpids/

[@davidwilker4795]

@@EVResource Thank you, Sir. My 2016 doesn't have the DC Fast Charge, so i tend to have a little anxiety over range. Some day I hope to figure out a way to add it, and maybe a bigger battery of some sort (after the warranty, of course!)

[@hendo337]

I've been looking at these Spark EVs and Bolts online used, they're really cheap. $5,600-9,000 for a spark and as low as $12,000 for a Bolt. I am leaning towards the Spark if I could get it shipped from CA to TN for not too bad and get decent financing. Of course for twice as much the Bolt has 3x the range. I think both do 0-60 around 7s which is great. I bet the Bolt would be less efficient dragging that extra battery around and not be as fun to drive. I kind of like the Spark styling and rarity too. I have heard the Spark is more fun to hoon around on twisty roads with tire spin and tq steer too, maybe more hot hatch than the Bolt that seems more like a low crossover. I had a 2013 Focus EV for a 39mo lease and we loved it. It was slower(0-60 9s) than either one and was epa rated for 76mi vs 80mi or 239mi. I eeked 110 miles out of it once, very carefully on B roads. It seems like a great time to grab an EV with gas being so cheap, commuting being way down, so many EV options out there off leases and so many options considered superior to what I am interested in. Cool videos, I can tell you enjoy making them. I was more known for loud V8s and performance stuff when I did YT vids. I still appreciate EVs for the TQ, low maintenance, reliability and extremely low cost of fuel and operation. I want another one to use when my my hot rods are broken down or starting one to grab a rockstar and a frozen pizza 4 miles away is ludacris. Keep up the great content. Hendo

[@pHD77]

I used to have an ICE version of a 2012 Spark and man, considering how much that car cost me in repairs I might as well have bought the EV version and still be rolling. Aircon broke down twice due to rocks underneath somehow punching hole in some vital parts of the aircon system. According to the mechanic he blamed it on bad design, since the aircon "basically is exposed". Had breakdown 4 times, which DID get resolved, but repair shop was never really able to tell WHAT had caused the breakdowns. Only that it was somehow related to the electrical system. And finally the thing that had me selling the car: trouble with the gear box. I had run out of money to get it fixed, so it got traded in for a then brand-new 2018 Peogeot 108 - first car I've ever owned with 0 km on the odometer at the time of purchase. I really wanted to go EV at the time, but all those repairs had left me with not enough money... and I really needed a cheap, reliable car for work, so... yeah... Anyways, next year might be the year I go EV. Something like the Peugeot e208, VW ID3, maybe even the VW e-Up seems like somewhat sensible EVs.

[@EVResource]

Yeah, one of the best reasons to go EV is the minimal maintenance or repairs. You’re looking at some great options!

[@kathyfann]

Well it may mater what city you live in. I live in Sacramento California

[@EVResource]

Completely agree

[@smhshyla]

Me too ! Do you have one ?

[@klausjackklaus]

$0.324/kWh cost seems decent. I was worried about that as it wouldn't make sense for me to have an EV if I were paying the same price as gas, as I've heard it can take upwards of $30 per charge with larger vehicles. I pay $0.0475/kWh for my home currently so I don't worry about that but if I had to use a charger network those costs could add up

[@EVResource]

I’m paying $.12/kWh here at home and I thought that was cheap. Would love to have much less!

[@klausjackklaus]

@@EVResource I do not know how it is where you live, but in Ohio energy supply is decoupled from energy transmission so you can choose who your supplier is for Electric and Natural Gas but still receive transmission from the company who owns the lines; all of the current rates are on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio website. For example, at my parents' house the transmission goes through Duke Energy, but for electric right now my father chooses AEP and for Natural Gas sticks with Duke

[@EVResource]

Yeah, I’m in VA under Dominion Energy.

[@MYJ61]

I’m feeling much better about my trip to Winston Salem from Richmond in my i3 REx!

[@EVResource]

Lol. A range extender definitely would have made a difference!

[@BLUExEYEDxSLICKT]

This tells me to always have a gas generator with you for safety reasons on a long trip with these for a slow but steady charge to get a little further to a charger if you run it dead just before getting there lol.

[@BLUExEYEDxSLICKT]

@@EVResource What type are you recommending to charge a spark.like that?

[@EVResource]

I wouldn’t recommend a generator honestly. The best advice I’d give is know your car, and be familiar with the charging stations around you. We could have made better decisions, honestly.

[@kathyfann]

I need one with at least 150 that 60 out and 60 back subtracted for Hills and sitting in Traffic

[@EVResource]

Yeah, there are many other EVs that have a greater range than this one!

[@jaym3552]

A newer leaf is the cheapest bet. After that it would be a Mini Cooper EV (although they are hard to find), Chevy Bolt, VW ID4, Ford Electric f150, BMW I4, Any tesla, Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Nitro. There are probably more but without getting insanely expensive and fancy those are what come to mind.

[@jaym3552]

15-20 minutes is a work break where I am. It's faster than it sounds..... Definitely the chevy spark ev will be my next vehicle I hate maintenance I have been screwed so many times and have had smug mechanics smile knowing how screwed I will be. I hate gas stations I have been acused of stealing shit in them because they are high theft places when I didn't. I will not be getting another gas car. This is a great solution and every time you need a quick charge it's cheap. Plenty of 50kwh speed chargers that are compatible at this point in my high populated area. Most of the time will just be going back and forth from work and groceries.

[@EVResource]

I hope you find a solution that works! The Spark EV is a great choice, but there are so many options these days!

[@Turk380]

DCFC rates still have to come way down.. esp in the midwest. the typical road trip we make from STL to NAS would cost 2x as much and take an extra 2-3 hours in our Bolt vs driving our RAV4

[@Turk380]

@@EVResource well, for one thing gas is only like $1.90 right now, and the RAV gets about 35mpg highway. With per-minute DCFC billing and the Bolt being capped at like 50kw/h charging... it doesn't make for a very good long-distance vehicle in the midwest.

[@Charles.D89]

It’s crazy but fast charging near me is either the same as Level 2 or less. But I’m also very lucky that there’s a few free fast chargers nearby

[@thelondonbroiler]

I've used an Electrify America BTC Power station with my Spark in Raleigh, NC. It took some trying to get one that operated at full capacity, but worked none the less. Could have been a network error perhaps. I'm a little disappointed that EA doesn't have better NFC capability or offer RFID cards... but I guess of it's plug n play like the Mach-e going forward, perhaps they're not necessary.

[@johncarey9005]

OK , now do it again @ 55 mph. Love the video -JLC

[@EVResource]

Lol, maybe some day.

[@MsPokey1234]

Hi Guys~Hope "WALMART" soon sees the advantage of having say 6x EV Charge Stations near front door of every USA Store! It is perfect blend~ Shopper now has a hour or more to shop inside!

[@guyjclark]

@@EVResource 2015 Spark EV owner here... I would suggest that the Walmart chargers be placed as far from the door as necessary. If they are "good " spots, we'll be "ICED" by someone who just cares about themselves. Having the chargers in less desirable spots makes it more likely that only EV drivers needing a charge will park there. That's my $0.02!

[@jaym3552]

21:00 "gas prices were 2.25." Cries in 4 + dollars a gallon.

[@EVResource]

Yeah, the situation with gas prices now... yikes!

[@jaym3552]

@@EVResource apparently there was a story ran that it was 8 bucks a gallon in certain areas in CA. Ya I rather chare a electric care over and over again for premium fast charging cost than pay that any damn day.

[@jaym3552]

@@EVResource just pulled the trigger on a 2016 chevy spark ev with only 15k miles on it. Great deal was like 25 percent off current market value for the shape it's in and has the quick charge package. So excited for it to be delivered in about a week. It's time to start in the future of driving. Bye bye gas. Can't say it was nice knowing you. 4 bucks a gallon pffffffff.

[@BLUExEYEDxSLICKT]

They should start doing what rv’s do and build a generator into ev’s that hold limited gas or propane to charge up a ev enough to get it like 10 or 20 more miles range or make the generator electric only and you charge it up as well and it is used as a emergency back up for extra range.

[@EVResource]

Yes, that’s called a range extender, and many EVs have one! The Spark EV just doesn’t have any room for that, which is ok.

[@KayzWulf]

I don't have a EV Spark, regular Spark. I do 4 hour drive every month. The only down fall is the wear and tear on those tires. You don't get the long lasting. Gotta change them every 3 months. It's also my everyday job.

[@EVResource]

In the 3.5 years I’ve had this car, the ONLY money I’ve spent on it has been front tires. It’s amazing.

[@keithm39]

how much you pay at your stops

[@nevco8774]

Very courageous trip made in the winter! A short range EV is funny to use as long as it is during a vacation trip. Otherwise in case the travellers are on restricted time schedule then it is needed a proper highway EV. To me it occurs that outside California and some other densely populated by fast EV chargers areas, the best case scenario is covered by a long range PHEV. The latter does go electric in town the way you use your Spark but on occasional trips you had in this video it is safer to use gasoline especially in the winter. Honda Clarity PHEV should have the same EV range as your used Spark. The difference is made by CCS charger present in your Spark while the PHEV makes sense to charge home overnight. In North America there are only two PHEVs equipped with fast charging Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and BMW i3 with REX. Nice video!

[@whitechocolate4986]

I HAVE A 2016 CHEVY SPARK LT2 .HAVEN'T TAKEN ON A LONG TRIP ... WANTED A SPARKCHARGE PORTABLE STATION TO PUT IN MY TRUNK ,,WOULD FEEEL BETTTER ,,

[@EVResource]

Yeah, this car is definitely dependent on charging infrastructure if you don’t have that.

[@jo9732]

Definitely not a Midwest option. Maybe Cali or New York dc metro area.

[@EVResource]

For sure! Most 200mi EVs aren’t a good Midwestern option (my parents live in KS so I get it)! We have a lot of work to do out that way.

[@adamselene9264]

"Problem" not "issue".

[@myphonyaccount]

I'm sorry I got rid of my Spark EV it was well made and never needed a repair or made noises. I drove it up and down the west coast and loved it's super fast charging speed. You stop more often than a Bolt, but the charging speed is the same as the Bolt only when it't between 22% and 55% full which is only 100 miles. Below and above that range, the Bolt is slower to charge than the Spark. You don't want too many charge cycles and you want to store it overnight as close to 50% (40-70 ideal) but letting it get to zero or 100% full for a few minutes before recharging or driving off the power is ok for long trips. Google "secret life of ev battery".

[@nso3803]

Just by looking at the car who in the world is going to used that toy for long trips.

[@EVResource]

Nobody should buy this car FOR long trips. But that doesn’t mean the car can’t do it.

[@beausbargarage6213]

I was just told that the spark is incredibly unreliable and a scam. What is the damn truth?

[@EVResource]

I would stay far away from the Spark EV at this point. You will almost definitely have problems getting replacement parts for it. And, the cost of replacement parts after the warranty period ends isn’t worth putting into these cars. You’re better off getting an EV that has much better aftermarket support.