Chevrolet has been testing a group of Chevy Spark EVs on the roads of California – and they’re easy to spot. With large black dots on the front and rear of the cars, and large QR codes on the door panels, the Chevy Spark EV vehicles are being used to test the electric driving experience as well as gain some press coverage.
The 2013 Chevy Spark EV will use a lithium-ion battery pack with cells supplied by A123 Systems. The electric motor will be built in Maryland.
According to Chevy Spark EV development engineers, the Spark EV is roughly 2/3 through the software calibration process. The pack of Chevy Spark EVs have covered about 1500 miles of all sorts of traffic and driving confitions. The GM employees are testing the cars to make sure they provide a good customer experience.
Although Chevrolet was very clear that it wouldn’t discuss the Chevy Spark EV battery pack capacity, electric range, or any other specs such as charging time or production volume, there was one new piece of info to come out of this: The Chevy Spark EV will come with charging abilities for 110 volt, 240 volt and DC quick charging.
The Chevy Spark EV is expected to be available for media drives some time after the 2013 Detroit Auto Show and then available to consumers some time in summer of 2013.
It seems Chevy was not about to let Toyota, Daimler and Fiat have the mini electric vehicle industry all to themselves. To that end, Chevrolet is releasing the Spark mini for just a shade under $13,000, which is not bad. There are only 3 other mini automobiles on the market from major auto makers, so the field is relatively light at this time.