OT. No Battery Chevy Spark

[Dean Hoffman]

GM won't is out of replacement batteries for the Chevy Spark. They were made from 2013 to 2016.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Before anyone says otherwise, they do not have to supply them

There is no law requiring parts to be available for 7 years, 10 years, whatever. Depending on the restrictions the car maker places on any of its intellectual property rights, that supplier [who may have designed that part itself] may choose to continue making that part for sale through independent retailers.

[Dean Hoffman]

It's just a downside about being an early adopter.

[Marilyn Manson]

I don't have any skin in the game, so I'm not going to do any research, but I'm just a little curious: How much of an issue is this?

"Putting vehicle owners in a tough position." How tough of a position are they in?

The article says nothing about how many replacement batteries have been needed so far or what their actual life expectancy is.

Is battery pack failure in the Spark an actual issue or is this all just noise?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Tough position is resale value at the least. Depending on actual life, you are heading towards a $0 value, probably faster than an ICE.

From what I've read, it should easily go 100,000 miles or more.

Always exceptions. If you go 200k great, but if it dies at 40k, you are SOL

[hubops]

If I owned one that was at or close to end-of-life of the battery - I wouldn't have expected any significant resale value. < it's an econo EV > and would not have likely considered buying a new battery. If I owned a mint low use 2015-16 I'd be a little peeved - - the resale / trade-in value has certainly dropped .. The test for GM is seeing what they offer the owners. ... sometimes the buy-back or other incentives can be quite good - to avoid the long expensive class-action suits. John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I wonder how many people will truly be affected.

The Spark EV was only sold in three states, and Chevrolet told Detroit News that it sold only around 7,400 of them in total since its introduction in 2013.Jan

If they offered a really good trade there would be few people to join in a class action suit. It was more limited than I thought.

My daughter had a gas version. It suited her needs at a low price. The EV would be good for local travel, easy to park etc. In the rain, better than a golf cart.

[Marilyn Manson]

That's what I was asking about. The article makes it sound like it's a huge deal but doesn't talk about the actual scale. I'm always skeptical of articles that are light on relevant facts.

[trader_4]

I guess you're saying just junk the sucker, which given the high cost of replacements, is likely the realistic route. What do you suppose that does to the per mile cost that the green heads tout when they claim how cheap and cost effective these cars are? Maybe time for another govt rebate program, your electric car battery dies at 125K miles, give you another $5K for the dead one plus the $7500 or whatever for the new one.

[Marilyn Manson]

I guess you're reading *way* more into my question than was there.

Get out of attack mode and read my other comments. Your speculation is so far off base it's laughable.

[trader_4]

My so sensitive, the guy who dishes it out, thinks some simple comments are an attack. For an attack, go look at some of your posts here. What I posted is factual, on target,which is that if you're battery dies at 110K miles, it looks like your electric car is headed to the junk yard or for a very costly repair, which makes the junk it option more likely. Even Tesla only warrants their batteries to 100K miles or eight years and only 70% capacity at that point. And all that should be factored in to the "miracle" $1.25 gas equivalent fuel cost.

[Scott Lurndal]

Given that there were less than 8000 Sparks made, I can understand Cheverolets reluctance to continue to support battery pack replacement.

It's an opportunity for a third party to build a replacement battery pack if there really is a market for it.

It is true that it is rare for anyone to keep a car for a decade, which is a shame.

And what other car manufacturer warrants _any part_ of their vehicle for more than three years (excepting emissions controls, which has government mandated support requirements)?

[Jock]

Nothing useful given that the other EVs aren't seeing the same problem and that one was only produced in trivial numbers.

Even sillier. That would be up to GM to do, stupid.

[Marilyn Manson]

My so sensitive. Show me where I doubted or disputed the information that you posted.

While your points are valid where I take issue is your opening line:

"I guess you're saying just junk the sucker, "

I never said or implied any such thing. I asked a simple question and you made an assumption as to what I saying. The article was weak on the size of the issue so I said I was "curious" as to how big of issue this really is. e.g. How many cars were sold, what is the lifetime of the battery, what percentage have been replaced under warranty, etc. You know, the part that you snipped from my original response.

[invalid unparseable]

Google sez:

"The average age of a car on U.S. roads rose to 12.1 years in 2021, according to IHS Markit. The average age had been 11.9 years in 2020. In

2002, the average age was 9.6 years. There was a time when drivers didn't expect to get more than 100,000 miles out of their cars at the most."

Appears that in the future the electric cars will drive the average down.

[invalid unparseable]

It is normally not a good idea to buy a car model that has not been on the road more than a year or two. This gives the manufacturer time to iron out the problems seen in large fleet testing not seen with the small sample used in development.

As most of us in this home repair group know, sometimes it is a good idea to wait ten or twenty years before adapting something new for the home, e.g. plumbing.

[Marilyn Manson]

Honda, for one, specifically when purchasing a Certified Pre-Owned vehicle.

My current vehicle fits in the 2nd column. Powertrain Coverage 7 years/100,000 miles

[hubops]

Kia < and Hyundai ? > in Canada are 5 year/100 k km.

5-year/100,000 km - Worry-free comprehensive warranty covering virtually the entire vehicle. * 5-year/100,000 km - Powertrain Warranty covering the engine, transmission, axles, differentials and driveshafts.* 1-year/20,000 km - First-year adjustments covering consumable items such as bulbs, wiper blades, fuses, brake pads, etc.* 8-year/130,000 km - Major Emission Components that guarantee that the car will conform with government emission regulations. * 8-year/150,000 km Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid, Electric Vehicle (EV) Components 5-year/unlimited mileage - 24/7 roadside Assistance covers you in case of mechanical breakdown.

John T.

[Scott Lurndal]

Apples are not the same as Oranges. How many original owners kept their car for 12.1 years in 2021 (only 12 percent, as per google).

"According to the car shopping website iSeeCars.com 12.9% of all new-car buyers hold onto their purchases for a decade or longer,..."

It would be ridiculous to extrapolate from the poorly selling Spark to all electric vehicles, based on the data you've gathered from this thread on a extremely-low-readership usenet newsgroup.

[invalid unparseable]

You think this thread is the only source?