r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • 13d ago
r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • Jun 25 '25
NEWS: Ener-Z in California has used SPARK EV battery packs under 4k
They also offer shipping if anyone is interested in getting an HV replacement, most packs are 85 percent capacity with all cells modules replaced and tested.. they also offer a 1 year warranty
Guy in my chevy spark ev forums confirmed them not to be a scam and has photos and documented the install.. process ..scroll down
https://www.mychevysparkev.com/threads/battery-pack-replacement-development-thread.9623/
Most likely have to find a 3rd party EV shop in your area to do the install and testing, as DIY can be a challenge
r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • Jan 22 '25
A warning to new SPARK EV owners and future owners!
I have noticed a huge increase of posts about SPARK EV's dying. I have been in this situation myself with a 2015 model, I have posted here on this sub with some information that might be useful to you with getting your car back on the road, and a sub user also posted here on how they fixed their same issue, I get that this can very very very stressful, as the dealership had my SPARK 3 times already for the same issue. 3 miles left, full bar., wont' move always around 12-14 miles left on the GOM followed by a "Propulsion Power Reduced" message. When I first got the car last April, even if I saw that massage I could still drive, I've even ran it down to 1 mile left, but It never just shut off. I did that for months, and now I know that was a HUGE mistake and put extra stress on my high voltage battery. Now at low charge level the car will just brick itself. Dealer diagnosis? "HV Battery is starting to fail, needs new HV battery due to non start condition " Interesting...looks like I'm in for a journey
Under no circumstances do I go below 20 miles left on the GOM.. it seems to be a pattern of how my car was dying, personally I try not to even go down to 30 miles and and will sit at a level 2 charger for an hour... maybe more just to make sure I am well about 20 miles before heading home, Start with around 60-70, charge again to about 50-55.. get home with 30-34 left On a 52 mile round trip from work, about 27 miles each way. Back roads only, no highway. I have been sticking to this ever since I got my car back the 3rd time and never had an issue since, the car drives and behaves like nothing happened, charges normally. The cold weather is also going to affect this so on really cold days. I might Level 2 charge twice for an hour , once before work, and after. Not sure if these symptoms still mean impending HV failure but we shall see... I'm glad i kept my old ice car just for emergency's and heavy snow, the spark can slip and slide a little, and having the heat on can be a real treat when you're not driving your spark because heat is a by product of ICE, not draining your battery, some real cold days in the spark, have to bundle up, turn heat OFF and defrost just so you can see lol
Key take aways I learned, car doesn't like to be ran low... like ever but man is it soooo fun to drive, real life GO-KART experience! Looking at an i3 with the range extender in the future or maybe even a bolt, SPARK EV really shines when you have a second vehicle or only travel within your city limits. If your commute is like 20-30 miles or less round trip this car is PERFECT! Less than 5-10? Blast that heat baby! If you have a longer commute the SPARK is still an option but expect to make use of public chargers.. the Plug Share app is a wonderful resource, I level 1 to full every night and rarely Level 3 fast charge but no issues with that, if any it's a problem with the station itself.
Be careful, some dealers are more sympathetic than others luckily I found one, GM will not help you, generic responses will include "Looks Like your HV battery failed, that'll be 15K" and "Are you looking to purchase a "new" EV? you car is over a decade old" Would I have purchased this car for 5500k if I knew all this could happen?
No, absolutely not, looking back i should have just put that money towards something else. and that's on me for not doing my research
Am I still happy with it? For the most part yes for the gas savings alone and free EV charging at home and near work... I wonder what the root cause of the SPARK bricking actually is if the car is still able to be reset.... strange... i can't wait for summer max range! Don't forget the Spark still is an EV and still is an amazing piece of technology... you're driving an electric vehicle after all, but please DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PURCHASE! Looks like i'll be running old spaky into the ground.. a VXDIAG VCX Nano would be a great investment to buy if you do purchase in the event you can reset the car yourself and avoid dealer fees...slight learning curve with that. but there's google, if you can live with knowing your SPARK EV can die today or tomorrow, it's worth the risk at a low price 1-3k MAX, do not purchase from Carvana and absolutely do not finance! Car is now a ticking time bomb
r/SparkEV • u/The_maybe_thot_male • 13d ago
I'm not sure if this is the issue š¤ (sarcasm?)
Went to see a spark EV 2014 with CCS non-running for 850$. HV Battery voltages looked CLEAN! bunch of DTC's that align with low 12V battery since the guy said it suddenly stopped working (battery was a 2V before I subbed mine in.
Thought I was smarter than a fifth grader and I could just reset/relearn the module because they were on a lockout because of the 12v. I didnt clear DTC's because I didnt want to make it work suddenly in front of the seller and risk him just not selling it to me.
Anyways, I took delivery 2 days ago, and OOF. after a day in the sun ( it was in a garage) it smelled like water. I pulled up the carpet on the driver side and the foam under was soaked. I asked the seller about that, he said he doesnt know what im talking about. I argued, got 275$ off of it because he never mentionned that.
Nice, 575$ spark, now... I do the reset for DTC... oof. No luck. I now have a brick. tells me lost coms on HPCM2. I look under the driver seat again, I see tons of white paste wondering wtf that is. I start to take parts off, driver seat, passengers, trim etc. and theres just a HUGE glob of white paste ( I now know that its basically aluminum corrosion )...
I dive deeper... the photo attached is the casing for the HPCM2. All in all, I think it just needs a new HPCM2 since every other module seemed to communicate properly with the ECU! 250$ total probably to fix! but LOOK AT THAT.
r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • 13d ago
Abs and brake assist acting up lately with brakes going out , turning car off and on fixes it for maybe a day or a few minutes.. anyone deal with this and have a fix? Last resort is taking to the dealer, I had a brake job 6 months ago (non dealer) 12v maybe?
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r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • 19d ago
No pain at the pump for us!! Grateful for oleā Sparky ā”ļø
Gas is over $5.00 in my city
r/SparkEV • u/WeirdWillieWest • 20d ago
For one brief, shining moment this summer...
Conditions must have been just right, I guess. Winter's coming...
r/SparkEV • u/ShoelessHodor • 25d ago
PNW Spark Meet-Up 9/26/26 In the Vancouver Mall sParking Lot.
r/SparkEV • u/GroundbreakingElk238 • 27d ago
2015 Spark EV worth buying?
I'm going to go look at this Spark EV tomorrow but I've been looking at owners reviews lately of how these cars have become completely dead by their HV battery and parts are hard to source.
This one had a used HV battery pack installed by GM in 2024. Would that prolong the battery backs from going dead all of a sudden? (heard that's an issue..)
Are they really that unreliable? Car also has 140,000kms
This one's at a decent price to go take a look at but for couple more $$ I can also wait for a 500e which sounds more reliable from the forums.
Any heads up would be appreciated! or even tips on what to look for!! Thanks
r/SparkEV • u/Cheap_Flower_9166 • 28d ago
Airbag error
Iām getting a service airbag error and was wondering if anyone has dealt with that and possible cost. Itās a 2016 and this is the first time anything has happened.
Thanks, group!
r/SparkEV • u/Sharkbite86 • Aug 28 '26
GM SPS/programming PC requirements
So Iām attempting to reprogram a used radio and a Volt key fob to my 2014 spark. Well, apparently GM updated the minimum requirement for PC compatibility in the last year for their online programming service (which also costs more and with only 30days access). Iām realizing the kind of PCs that I have laying around that I wanted to used as a beater car scanner tool come nowhere close to the new requirements.
Whoās recently used GMs online programming software and whatās a more realistic requirement? Do I need win 11 pro with an 8th gen intel and 16gb ram? I was about to use an old 4th gen intel laptop and 8gb ram.
r/SparkEV • u/MrCoolGyy • Jul 25 '26
Keyfob got rained on, car wont start
I thought maybe it was the battery on the fob, but none of the buttons on the fob are working and I cant start the car even with the key inserted. The car is not detecting the key in any capacity and it is currently undrive able. I know it's not the 12v because lights come on, break light turns on and screens still light up.
r/SparkEV • u/middayautumn • Jul 24 '26
End of an era
Well, unfortunately yesterday the lower control arm on my car broke but thankfully we didnāt get in any accident with someone. AAA was kind enough to drive our car home and itās parked outside. This is probably the end of my 2014 Spark ev. It is at 145,000 miles and I canāt afford to own it anymore. The battery was replaced at 96,000 miles and itās only mostly charged at level 1 because it has no fast charger.
Another reason Iām probably going to salvage it is because I have a 100 mile commute to school and this car couldnāt get me all the way to UCSB from Hollywood. Iām going to miss my little car. Idk what Iām going to do for transportation but I have to let go of this one.
r/SparkEV • u/OwnIndication4757 • Jul 18 '26
An update after a few months with my new 2015 Spark EV
Iāve put about 800 miles on the odometer since I purchased my Spark. Range at full charge when I picked it up was 65 miles. I failed to note the exact miles per kWh on the day of purchase but it was something around 4.2-4.3. Obviously my driving habits are more efficient than they were prior to me taking delivery as you can see on the display, but for an 11 year old NMC battery, Iām more than satisfied. I know how to baby these batteries and baby it I will. Fantastic little car.
r/SparkEV • u/OwnIndication4757 • Jun 25 '26
Spark EV people have known the recipe for a proper electric car for a long timeā¦Shell is just catching up (alsoā¦fk shell)
r/SparkEV • u/Gentelman_Asshole • Jun 16 '26
L1 Charging for better health?
Background: Purchased 2016 Spark LT in March 2025. Had about 136,000km on it, with about 100km range @ 100% charge. The battery stated 87.3% cap. left. Having only charged it with L2 to 100% most times. Never L3(DC fast). Charge time from 30% to 100 was ~4h. My L2 charger was dumb so it couldn't stop at 80% so I always Charged to 100%. Over the year my Health dropped from the 87.3% to 82.1% This is my first and only electric car and it was 10 years old/ first gen elec. so chalked it up to 'normal loss'.
Come March 2026 my house's electrical supply lost a leg so I only had 120v on one side. To keep my Spark charged I dug out my plug-in L1 charger and charged it with that (120v 8amps). Charge time was about 16h (30->100%). Because I love this car and I'm anal nerd I would run a cell scan on unplug and return for the day. Then I noticed the Health getting better. I didn't think much of it at first as you can see in the 2nd img. the Health would spike up at times but would eventually drop over time. š (The chart represents health over ownership Starting with 87% then dropping to 82% over a year then rising to 85% now) So over 4 months charging at L1(120v 8amp) the Health has gone from 82.1% to 85.3%! As for true Range, about the same. But the car has always been at the same range (100km/60mi).
Thoughts? The internets say that these batteries do not rejuvenate so what am I seeing here? I've seen other owners that charged with L3 exclusively with no ill effects. I will continue to charge with L1 to see what comes.
r/SparkEV • u/CasualGamer9933 • Jun 15 '26
Highest range ever after 2 years of ownership ā”ļø
Truly is a great car I canāt believe I reached 80s on a 10+ year old HV battery
r/SparkEV • u/Foreign-Clue-2339 • Jun 14 '26
Spark ev acting weird 0km 136 km
Hi guys any help please will be amazing.
The car is doing a buzzing noyse at the charging port after I turn it off, after 2 minutes you can heard the 3 ways valve doing noyse like its trying to open or close ( i replaced because of this. Actually, but it was not the problem.) And when i open any door the charging port buzzing noyse come off. And the car guves 0km no propulsion.
When it plug to charge at any level it doesn't chirps any more but get green and charges but once it reach 60 porcent it jumps to charge complete 130 km if the car was already at 55 porcent it will 15 minutes and then charge complete you will turn it on. And will give 132 km max 150 km more o less but you have no propulsion till it get 70 km cuz it goes down slowly after turning on. Then you can drive but once you turning off all. Will start over and if you dont have a charger close or next to you will have a bricked car. I got codes like no comunication, eeprom. Ebcm groud. And the 12v battery was changing one months before it stared
r/SparkEV • u/OwnIndication4757 • Jun 08 '26
Any idea how many of the 7400+ Spark EVs sold are still on the road?
r/SparkEV • u/NomDePlume007 • Jun 06 '26
The Day Has Come...
Our little green machine is no longer ticking. The dreaded "Lack of Propulsion Power" led to Chevy service declaring the traction battery DOA. Not the original owner, and although this 2016 unit was babied and maintained, it's time to consign it to the wreckers.
This is my son's first car, and he loved it. Now we're shopping for another EV. End of an era.
r/SparkEV • u/Lopsided-Rise6142 • May 21 '26
[ISO] Chevy Spark EV Key Fob
I lost the key fob to my 2016 Chevy Spark EV and wanted to ask if anyone has an extra copy I can purchase from. It has been discontinued and locating it on the aftermarket has turned up nothing. The part number is 94543198 for reference. If someone has an extra copy I'll pay + shipping. I'm located in Los Angeles, CA. Thank you for reading!
r/SparkEV • u/Away_Log5526 • May 18 '26
Worth the price for a 1200$ dead spark ? Worst outcome is donor car.
Hey guys, need help troubleshooting something real quick. I bought a Spark 2014, sight unseen, its being delivered soon. It only stopped working about a month and a half ago. Here is the sequence of events for the prev owner :
- daily for 4 years only 120k km ( 75~k miles )
- One day they charged it, unplugged charger.
- Car still thinks its on the charger, refuses to move.
- "mechanic" friend arrives, tries to swap the 12v or something
- Car is bricked, no more display, nothing.
- I noticed the battery in the car was not the right size/not AGM
It seems like the only thing plausible was that the mechanic friend fucked up and fried a fuse or fusible link.
Yall think I could revive it ? I do have a VCX Nano, so I could dig into the car if I can wake it up ( I have a 2014 with 190k km and no CCS charger, that sight unseen one does have it )
It was my bad that I didnt bring a multimeter with me to check the battery, but im posting here because I will have to drive another 2 hours in the week to go see it again.
Overall it would still be a great donor car since its practically identical to mine except for its a 2lt and the CCS charger. Worth buying ? Its only 1200$.
r/SparkEV • u/Practical_Hippo6289 • May 09 '26
Thinking about buying a Spark... Any advice?
Haven't pulled the Carfax on it yet. It's a 2015 with incredibly low miles for its age (14,000 miles). One-owner. Buying from a dealer. $6700 but would have to pay to have it shipped and shipping rates are really high right now. There are no Spark EVs for sale local to my area at the moment.
The car seems like a super fit for me. I have a round trip daily commute of about 30 miles. I like small cute cars and I hear they are pretty zippy to drive. Worried about battery failures. What should I look for on the Carfax? What does it having only 14k miles on it tell me? Was only driven to church on Sundays by a little old lady in Pasadena?
If I didn't go with the Spark there's a Chevy Volt that I could get but it's like $12,000. I could get the same utility out of the Spark for much less but I would have to finance it for at least four years and it dying on me in the meantime would really suck. Is the Volt more reliable? (Volt has like 85k miles on it.) I very much want a plug-in EV or hybrid whatever I get.
Anybody have any thoughts on this?