# GM Spark Preview w Photos



## Mountainsport (Jul 11, 2013)

The Spark EV appears to be the first high performance EV at an affordable price. I hope it is the first of many more.

Some quotes:

"The Spark EV has a 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds, making it one of the fastest publicly available plug-ins on the market today…not bad considering it is also the second cheapest EV offering in the US (after the smart ED)."
"The shifter has two modes: "Drive" works like a conventional automatic transmission without aggressive regenerative braking. "Low" maximizes regenerative braking and slows the car down as soon as you lift off the accelerator."

"The Spark EV has an oil cooled 100kW DC motor at its heart, utilizing coaxial drive. The BHP equivalent works to 130 horses and a stunning 400 ft.-lbs of torque. GM says that the Spark EV will be capable of posting a 0-60 time of under eight seconds."
"Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/20...c-cars-market-article-1.1384434#ixzz2YiCm8aEh

Seems like it could be a great system to use in conversions. Does anyone know about the DC motor and controller?
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## TexasCotton (Sep 18, 2008)

Give Nissan Leaf a run for its money/cost 
80 range
vs
100 range


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## hbthink (Dec 21, 2010)

In the lab we found the vehicles to be quite peppy (ie quick off the line). They use a Remy controller/motor I believe see specs above. The user accelerator pedal interface needed much work and was not nearly as smooth as the Leaf's.

It appears over-powered IMHO, and its range was barely 70 miles under normal lab testing use. The backseat was useless unless you have no legs. Again I didn't see it as really challenging the Leaf in sales but it may appeal to those wanting more sport and less useful car. Also GM seems to be really dragging its feet on these and I doubt they'd be available in any substantial numbers until late '14. 

The Spark is basically an ICE conversion and the Leaf is a real designed from ground up EV. IMHO they really don't compare.


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

hbthink said:


> In the lab we found the vehicles to be quite peppy (ie quick off the line). They use a Remy controller/motor I believe see specs above. The user accelerator pedal interface needed much work and was not nearly as smooth as the Leaf's.
> 
> It appears over-powered IMHO, and its range was barely 70 miles under normal lab testing use. The backseat was useless unless you have no legs. Again I didn't see it as really challenging the Leaf in sales but it may appeal to those wanting more sport and less useful car. Also GM seems to be really dragging its feet on these and I doubt they'd be available in any substantial numbers until late '14.
> 
> The Spark is basically an ICE conversion and the Leaf is a real designed from ground up EV. IMHO they really don't compare.


 Thanks! Very useful info. Do they use the same battery temperature control as used in the Volt, or is the pack just air cooled as the Leaf?


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## hbthink (Dec 21, 2010)

I didn't get to see the battery pack although it was under the rear seat and not under the floor as in the Leaf. As to whether it was cooled I cannot say but didn't see cooling going into or out of the pack either, and they did not tell us, so really can't answer that one. They did say the battery manufacture was the same as in the Volt.

Steve


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## Karter2 (Nov 17, 2011)

Mountainsport said:


> "The Spark EV has an oil cooled 100kW DC motor at its heart,....
> ...... Does anyone know about the DC motor and controller?


 Can we assume this is a "brushless DC " motor. ?
I cannot imagine GM designing a new brushed motor.
There does appear to be 3 fat cables ( motor phase cables ?) running down from the controller.


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## EVSource Mikey (Apr 24, 2012)

hbthink said:


> The Spark is basically an ICE conversion and the Leaf is a real designed from ground up EV.


I was under the impression that the leaf was more or less a conversion of the Versa. Am I mistaken?


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