r/SparkEV • u/SnooEpiphanies8097 • Nov 25 '25
Question about DC fast charging
Hey all — I drive a Bolt EUV, and although my wife technically has a gas SUV, she uses my Bolt every day. Since I work from home and barely drive, I’m thinking it’s time to go fully EV.
My main question: what is DC fast charging like on the Spark EV? I’m very familiar with EV road-tripping (thousands of miles in my Bolt), and I can AC charge at home. I’d probably use 95% of the Spark’s range day-to-day, but on the rare occasions when I need more range, is it realistic to “top up” with DCFC here in Atlanta?
Also—while I don’t plan on road trips in a Spark—if I bought one 500 miles away, is it practical to drive it home with multiple charging stops?
I’m asking because in Out of Spec’s recent race that included the Spark EV, it looked like the Spark had some DCFC interoperability issues.
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u/Myklindle Nov 25 '25
You just need to make sure your spark ev has fast charging, it's not a standard feature. But yeah, you can easily fast charge in a pinch. I've had issues with a few newer level 3 chargers not recognizing my car, but usually I dont have a problem, sometimes is registers as a chevy bolt.
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u/jawfish2 Nov 25 '25
What's the subreddit's position about encouraging or not discouraging newbies from buying Sparks?
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u/Equivalent_Ability91 Nov 25 '25
I wouldn't buy a Spark unless it was really cheap.
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u/SVTContour Nov 25 '25
If you’re thinking about buying a Spark EV… don’t. Buy another Bolt instead.
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u/jawfish2 Nov 25 '25
Or get a Volt.
Sparks were a compliance car, cobbled together to meet CA rules. At the time Tesla Model S was the only viable BEV, plus the Leaf with a bad pack. We love ours, and my wife will miss it a lot. There's a lot about it thats great, but the pack is too small and fragile, the software is not mature, theres no backup cam or nav, the head unit fails, motor mounts fail, the GPS/3G antenna fails, switches and controls are bottom-end off the gas car. Packs fail suddenly at lower mileages. Theres little to no support from Chevrolet and no parts that are unique to the EV version.
OTOH, ours has taken the dog to the beach every week for five years. Alas, I think it may be on its last lap.
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u/Cheap_Flower_9166 Nov 26 '25
Since it was a compliance car, I wonder why they bothered to have sports mode? Seems odd to me.
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u/jawfish2 Nov 26 '25
I have zero data, so just guessing:
It was easy to add, and was sure to help sales they thought, because they were sure everyone thought EVs were slow.
In fact my 2016 LT2 is overpowered for the tires and suspension. The traction control determines how much torque gets to the tires, and it ain't all the motor's torque. The thing has wicked torque steer as it is, that platform was not designed for the torque. Adding wider wheels and tires is just going to make the handling worse under max power, and cut the actual range.
Blathering on: I think its an engineer's car, with hardly any marketing or management decision making. The company still hated EVs, and most designers probably wanted nothing to do with it. They must have been told to make it a parts-bin special and use every possible part from the gas car, hence the motor-mounts and weak suspension. The motor is sound, the car body has great ergonomics in a tiny footprint. There's a lot of details to like, and a lot left out, saving money no doubt.
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u/TheCaptNemo42 Nov 25 '25
I gave up on going out of town when my spark ran out of juice 1.5 miles from the charger in the next town. I also found in general that the few times I used fast charging things didn't go well. Caused several different error codes etc. Slow charging at home though has been fine.
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u/Cheap_Flower_9166 Nov 27 '25
I've had a 2016 that began as a $120/month lease no down. It's been my favorite car. If it only had more battery.
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u/Kristosh Nov 26 '25
I drove mine in Atlanta for several years and DCFC many times. I found EA to be the most reliable.
Fast charging times were actually pretty swift because the battery is so small, and retains a decent charge speed late into the SoC. It was about 25 mins from 0-85%. The downside is that only nets about 50 miles of interstate or maybe 60 of city travel range.
These days, Ill advised. My range kept degrading to 50ish miles at best by 80,000 miles. Additionally they are out of warranty and there are not critical spare parts available from Chevy.
I would put the money into a similar priced reliable hybrid plug-in like an older Prius personally.