# Consumer Reports 'Shocked' By Chevy Spark EV



## dreamer (Feb 28, 2009)

Why did GM choose the ugliest car in their lineup to turn into an EV ? When will we have a choice of attractive sports coupes as EVs available to us ? Do people actually look at ugly cars and think, "Gosh that is so ugly it must be the only way to make an EV affordable !"


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## ElectriCar (Jun 15, 2008)

Except for Tesla, seems to be the norm.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Ugly isn't for affordability, it's usually for efficiency.

The prius was an ugly bloated whale for many years, but few cars could come close to its MPG. Now they've been able to refine the design and still get high MPG while reducing the ugly.

The Volt started out as an electric Camaro, but with an MPG in the teens they had to ugly it to make it useful.

Then there's the fact that if you made a car attractive people would want to buy it, and then you'd have to actually build it, or find an excuse to crush it or somethin.

Don't expect too much out of a compliance car.


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## Karter2 (Nov 17, 2011)

dreamer said:


> Why did GM choose the ugliest car in their lineup to turn into an EV ?.!"


 Beauty is in the eye of the viewer, and different folk view things differently.
You are obviously not the target market.
Some folk would crave a small city hatch , and run a mile from a "Sports coupe" . 
There were people on another thread complaining that there were no EV pick up's available !
You cannot please all the people , all the time !


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## dreamer (Feb 28, 2009)

Karter2 said:


> Beauty is in the eye of the viewer, and different folk view things differently.
> You are obviously not the target market.
> Some folk would crave a small city hatch , and run a mile from a "Sports coupe" .
> There were people on another thread complaining that there were no EV pick up's available !
> You cannot please all the people , all the time !


My point is that there are many choices for ugly EVs in the affordable price range -- the Prius PHV, the Volt, the iMEV, the Leaf, the Coda -- but there are NO affordable EV sport coupes. Now we'll have another ugly choice in the Spark, and still no sport coupe. The Cadilac XLR might qualify as a luxury sport coupe, but it won't be affordable, and neither will the I3 from BMW.


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## Karter2 (Nov 17, 2011)

I understand your point, but dont you think there is a reason why all these manufacturers are leading into the market with a small hatch type city EVcar ?
they will have all done their marketing homework and concluded that is where their best /biggest opportunity lies.
Sports coupes are a much smaller market ( hence why they are likely to cost more) and will give a much slower return on the development costs.

"Affordable" is also a relative measure.
Many people consider the Tesla "S" is very affordable considering the specs and performance...and its competition !


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## dreamer (Feb 28, 2009)

I have nothing against hatchbacks, but they don't have to be ugly. Something more stylish like the Veloster could make EVs popular with the younger crowd. The younger crowd is more likely to be open to an EV than us stick in the mud older types, and they are less likely to have long commutes that might dissuade them from buying a vehicle with only a 100m range.


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

Ziggythewiz said:


> Then there's the fact that if you made a car attractive people would want to buy it, and then you'd have to actually build it, or find an excuse to crush it or somethin.


Amen! You said it brother!


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

dreamer said:


> I have nothing against hatchbacks, but they don't have to be ugly. Something more stylish like the Veloster could make EVs popular with the younger crowd. The younger crowd is more likely to be open to an EV than us stick in the mud older types, and they are less likely to have long commutes that might dissuade them from buying a vehicle with only a 100m range.


Dreamer hit on the crux of the conundrum with those lines. I get the feeling that many on this forum are well over 40. That should be old enough to be influenced by the sleek lines of the cars back in the early twentieth century. The younger ones here are in a transition faze. Some are throwbacks and identify with the older view and others are more flexible in thinking than the older group. There are a couple of antique car clubs where I live with average member age over 65 at a combined age of about 14,000 years. Just about all of them will tell you that they quit making good looking cars after the 50’s with a few of the more liberal ones saying the 60’s and hardly any of them liking the rolling jellybeans of the 80’s and 90’s. Times change and so do tastes. Live long enough and the car manufactures may stare making cars look like 57 Chevys and Fords again.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Old cars were heavy gas guzzlers. If you haven't noticed, the shape of most new vehicles has been influnced by the Prius, and that's not going to change unless you find a way to grow gas in your back yard.


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