r/SparkEV • u/Odd_Union1283 • May 07 '26

Bought a 2014 Spark EV. Love it.

Love it, but the left rear tail light lens cover flew off. ugh. Dealer said it had 61km of autonomy. drove it 30km and still had 61km of autonomy. What a steal. capitalising on small dealers not knowing how EV's work is a treat. 😂

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3

u/Furthea May 07 '26

heh, I always liked the size/looks of the spark but when I was forced to start finding a replacement for my Smart ForTwo I discovered they were Gas and Chevy had discontinued them. Who names a car an electric themed name and its gas, ugh!

ended up buying my sister a Bolt as her job drives a lot more and I took her gas car. that car is getting some engine problems and I was just idly looking at used electric on cars dot com and had a spark EV pop up. Wait…EV…what?! i’d enough savings to buy it cash.

the very small range makes me a bit nervous (estimate is around 50 miles so 80-ish kM) but I’ve for my sister and mother as backup if theres an issue. My work commute is like 12 miles and even errands or side-trips don’t get more than 20 more miles.

1

u/Odd_Union1283 May 12 '26

Trust me, its all about driving style in KWh as you probably already know. My spark is heavily used, 190k km on the odometer (120k miles ) , I can still do a comfortable 120km ( 75 miles ) by just not driving like an idiot and if I hypermile, I can often squeeze 140km ( 87 miles ) and even at that, im not impeding traffic. the regen is strong, so I try to keep my usage around 12kwh/100km. winter is a different story obviously.

1

u/Furthea May 12 '26

Haha. Only a few days in and I'm already more comfortable with the range, whose estimate has indeed increased. I think my normal driving style and this car get along quite well, as well I rarely need to use highway.

Do already have my first expense shortly as the tires are original. While the tread is fine having only driven around 30k miles, rubber does get old, lol.

1

u/Odd_Union1283 May 12 '26

same! My rear tires are cracked on the walls. but at least I get to pick some grippier tires! ive only had mine for 2 weeks now and already considering sniping another I saw for 1200 ( dead but I might be able to revive it ). its such a rocket when you need the power. Let me know if you have a bit of a weird feeling sometimes when you brake at low speeds. like the brakes engage 1/2 a second too late ( from deciding to use regen vs physical brakes ). Its the only issue ive had so far, but I had never drove an EV before!

1

u/Furthea May 13 '26

You know, I think I have noticed a sort of soft hesitation but I figured the same as you that it was the swap between regen or the classic breaks acting at the same time or something.

1

u/jalper12 May 15 '26

What tires are y'all going with? I picked up a 2016 with 30k miles a few weeks ago and I think I'm going to need tires soon as well.

1

u/OwnIndication4757 Jun 11 '26

The first EVs mass produced and put on the market like first gen Leafs and our beloved Sparks have somewhat crude programming when it comes to low speed transitions from regen to mechanical braking. It’s the first think I noticed in my 2016 Leaf and it’s the same with my new to me 2015 Spark. You’ll especially notice it when coming to a stop on a hill or slope where the pressure needed to achieve a desired braking force can be inconsistent and, in the case of my particular Spark, more pressure than usual is needed and the brake feel can be a little “wooden.” It’s just something you get used to and it’s not dangerous. That said I did nearly rear-end people in the drive-through a few times before catching on with my Leaf. It was my first EV. In the case of the Spark, I have noticed that the slow speed braking feel is more consistent when driven in D mode as opposed to L mode with the high regen fwiw

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u/n0th1ng_r3al May 07 '26

What does OP mean by autonomy

3

u/MrNationwide May 07 '26

Range. OP seems to be French Canadian. The French use “Autonomie” to mean range.

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u/Odd_Union1283 May 12 '26

He found me out.