GM to debut all-electric Chevrolet Spark in 2013

[SpartanDem]

Source: Detroit Free Press

General Motors plans to bring an all-electric car to the U.S., bringing the Detroit automaker back to the pure-electric market for the first time since the EV-1’s demise.

GM will launch an electric version of its global Chevrolet Spark minicar in 2013, said Jim Federico, GM’s chief small- and electric-car engineer. Some global markets, including the U.S., will sell the car. Massachusetts-based A123 Systems will supply its lithium-ion batteries.


After building its last EV-1 pure electric in 1999, GM chose to focus on extended-range electric vehicles. Its Detroit-built Chevrolet Volt runs on battery power for 35 miles, then switches to a gasoline-powered engine for the unlimited driving range it believed would appeal to a wider audience, especially among suburbanites.


“This is our EV for the U.S.,” Federico said of the tiny electrified Spark. “We think this will be hopefully preferred from the urban point of view.”




Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111012/BUSINESS0101/111012013/GM-debut-all-electric-Chevrolet-Spark-2013?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[Kolesar]

1. I had expected a car based on the Delta-2/Cruze/Volt platform

Hope it works out. I think battery technology is *finally* ready.

[Xithras]

2. In case anyone is wondering...

It's built in Korea and India by Daewoo.

[NickB79]

9. That makes sense. It looks like the Chevy Aveo

Which is also built in Korea by Daewoo.

[SpartanDem]

17. The US model is built in Lordstown,OH

so this car will made in North America

[JNelson6563]

48. I notice this factoid being ignored.

Du, site of the biggest talkers/smallest doers when it comes to supporting organized labor.

Julie

[valerief]

12. the car or battery? or both? nt

[Xithras]

13. The car.

No way to tell on the battery. A123 has plants in Massachussetts, Michigan, and China. There's no way to know which ones the battery will be sourced from.

Of course, since the car itself is manufactured in Korea and India, I'd put my money on China. I'll hope to be suprised, but you'll pardon me if I don't hold my breath.

[valerief]

14. Well, it isn't like Americans need jobs. Rich people DO need to get richer, though!

Thx. :hi:

[Romulox]

18. You don't understand the auto industry. "World cars" are made in various markets where they're sold

There is absolutely no indication that the electric Spark will be made in South Korea or India. In fact, the battery packs are being made in Michigan be A123, which would tend to support a US location for the US spec Spark.

[SpartanDem]

20. The car will be built in North America

The Aveo and Cruze are built India, but the North American model is built in Ohio

[Romulox]

22. Chevy Cruze for the US market are made in Lordstown, Ohio.

World car!

http://detnews.com/article/20090803/BIZ/908030310/Lordstown--Ohio--hangs-its-hopes-on-the-new-Chevy-Cruze

[NickB79]

25. Wrong car. Your link is discussing the Cruze, not the Spark

They have different body platforms which are obvious from images and specifications.

[Romulox]

27. No, it was just to amplify the fact that Chevy makes these cars in the markets

in which they are sold. The location of manufacture for the electric spark hasn't been disclosed yet. It's likely going to be in NA, with Mexico being my guess.

[Xithras]

24. No, it will be built in South Korea

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1048444_2011-chevrolet-spark-a-few-more-details-emerge

The fact that they're releasing the car here isn't really news, but is simply GM making something official that's been fairly well known in automotive circles for a while. GM's last published VIN decoder guide includes the 2013 Spark, which revealed all sorts of different things about the car. It will be available in three trim options, with a couple of gas burning engines, etc. It also only included a single factory code, for their factory in Changwon, South Korea.

Unless GM releases something saying otherwise, all of their indicators point to this particular model being imported.

That's not to say that it won't eventually be made in the U.S. The Geo Metro (a GM rebadged Suzuki) was originally imported from Japan, until it proved successful enough that GM started a North American production line in Canada. I wouldn't be too shocked if GM followed the same pattern here. Because production startup costs are so high in the U.S., and the market for this kind of car is unproven, GM might just be waiting to verify that it will sell before spending the money to retool American production lines.

[Romulox]

28. That's simply not evidence of your claim. Why attempt to assert knowledge of something not known?

:shrug:

[Xithras]

38. Well, Autoweek confirms it

"The Spark is based on the Korean-market Daewoo Matiz and will continue to be built there."

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110804/CARNEWS/110809940#ixzz1abelHhJK

GM hasn't announced any U.S. production for the Spark, and every indirect indication is that it will be produced in South Korea. This includes the VIN codes for the car that they have already sent to their own dealerships, the state DMV's, and the federal government. While it's true that they haven't actually come out and said, "We're building this car in Korea for the U.S. market," the writing is on the wall. If the 2013 Spark, which will go on sale in 2012...less than a year from now...were going to be produced in the U.S., GM would already be retooling lines (or at least preparing) for it. They're not. There hasn't been a single public discussion about building this car in the U.S.

There is NO evidence that the car will be produced in the U.S. There IS evidence, published by GM themselves, that it will be assembled in Korea. Why are you trying so hard to shoot this idea down? I'd love for this car to be produced in the U.S. by U.S. labor, but GM has provided no indications that this will be happening.

[Romulox]

39. Autoweek simply cannot "confirm" something not announced, and your first sentence says as much.

:shrug:

[Omaha Steve]

40. Daewoo is a militant UNIONIZED plant that doesn't take any crap

Compared to China I'll take the Daewoo plant.

[IDemo]

3. "Spark" seems like an unfortunate name for an electric vehicle

Not something one generally wants to see around circuitry or motors.

[valerief]

15. Ha! It's less threatening than Blazer or Firebird. Or Conflagration XLS. nt

[KansDem]

4. It's about time...

I hope GM doesn't kill this line of electric vechicles...

[SpartanDem]

6. Yeah it was all GM's fault

Toyota killed it's EV RAV4, but they get free pass. That movie not, but anti us auto industry propaganda

[paulkienitz]

8. and Ford built, and killed...

an electric pickup truck! It was kinda awesome -- it had a real truck radiator, just to cool all the high voltage parts.

And Honda had an electric micro-van, which was the second most popular one of the era after the GM.

[KansDem]

10. Roger Smith nixed GM's electric car...

There was a waiting list of drivers who wanted to lease it. A waiting list!

But Smith nixed it.

Capitalism is suppose to provide products that consumers want. Why discontinue a popular consumer product?

[SpartanDem]

16. Popular does not mean it was profitable

also GM subsized those leases the car would've cost 80,000 without it. Even today with the Volt GM can't can't make profitbal, but GM's overall labor cost much lower so that they can eat those cost today.



Despite unfulfilled waiting lists and positive feedback from users, GM stated that it could not sell enough of the cars to make the EV1 profitable, ever. It should be pointed out that the leases were highly subsidized by GM. How long would the list be if leases were based on the true cost of the car, estimated to be about $80,000, rather than the $33,995 to $43,995 figures used to compute the lease?

http://www.greencar.com/articles/5-things-need-gm-ev1.php

[KansDem]

23. Too bad. If Bush can give $100,000 tax breaks for buyers of Hummers...

Then the feds could have given $80,000 tax breaks for buyers of electric cars. But then, that would financially hurt Bush's pimps in the mid-East.

SUV tax loophole widens

A 1997 provision in the U.S. tax code (Section 179) provided small businesses with a tax write-off of up to $25,000 for a vehicle weighing more than 6,000 pounds- used 50% of the time for work purposes. The original intent behind this provision was to encourage investments in pickup trucks, minivans, and other needed service vehicles. A far smaller incentive was provided for cars—less than $7,000 over two years.

The explosion of SUV, pickup, and minivan sales in America’s passenger vehicle fleet has turned this small business benefit into a massive loophole in the tax law. Currently, 38 different passenger SUVs including the Lincoln Navigator, which nets a combined 15 miles per gallon according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Cadillac Escalade (16 mpg), the BMW X5 (18 mpg), the Mercedes-Benz ML55 (16 mpg), and the notorious Hummer H2 (estimated 11 mpg) all weigh more than 6,000 pounds. This loophole allows some of the least fuel-efficient passenger vehicles on the road today to qualify for a significant tax break.

In 2003, the Bush administration proposed increasing the tax deduction to $75,000. Lawmakers responded by expanding it to a whopping $100,000 as part of the $350 million tax cut package. Yet Congress did not change the weight-based classification of the vehicles, creating a huge benefit for the largest, least efficient vehicles.

http://www.skeptically.org/oil/id7.html

Can't upset the oligarchs...

[Romulox]

37. Where's the Honda electric car from that same era? The conspiracy thickens!

:rofl: :hi:

[Romulox]

19. Conspiracy skewerer: Where's Honda's electric, or Hyundais?

:hi:

[Maven]

5. Dumb name. Can they do anything that isn't painfully hokey?

[KansDem]

11. I'd like to see "Flow"

...as in "'Flow' of electricity" or "Go with the 'flow.'"

"I drive a 'Flow.'"

Has a nice ring to it...

[Possumpoint]

7. I Wrote GM

The letter was a notification that I will never again buy a GM car, truck, electric vehicle, etc. from them. Their tranfer of production of the Volt to China was a slap in the face of the American Taxpayers who bailed them out. At present, there are two GM vechicles in my driveway, they're going to be the last. Guess I'll need to look to Fords and see what they've developed.

Yes, I'm but one consumer, but I had to take a stand.

[Romulox]

21. LOLWUT?

Another who doesn't understand how this all works. :hi:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. I want my Red Line back!

:cry:

[Romulox]

29. LOL. Why does GM let bad things happen to good people?

Or was that God? Either way, I want to complain! :hi:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. I don't understand.

Still time to edit...

[Romulox]

31. I know you don't. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

32. Post edit bullshit.

Impressive.

:hi:

[Romulox]

33. Quit whining. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

35. I love time stamps.

:loveya:

[Romulox]

36. Truly, a moment for your scrapbook. nt

[Romulox]

34. "A123 Systems will make battery packs for Chevrolet Spark electric vehicle"

A123 Systems Inc., a Waltham-based maker of lithium-ion batteries, will supply battery packs for the Chevrolet Spark EV mini-car, which will be sold in limited quantities in select US and global markets starting in 2013, General Motors Corp. said today.

A123 recently opened factories in Michigan, where the Spark battery packs will be made. Those factories are also producing battery modules for the Fisker Karma, a luxury electric vehicle. The A123 factories are also producing battery modules for Smith Electric, which makes zero-emission all-electric commercial trucks. A123 supplies batteries for Navistar’s eStar truck, which is used in the FedEx fleet, an A123 spokeswoman said.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2011/10/systems-will-make-battery-packs-for-chevrolet-spark-electric-vehicle/UqZQ8HOCuG8bv7laFxNBwJ/index.html

[Devil_Fish]

41. If the volt is any example compaired to the Pris....

then The spark will probably have a max range of 75 miles and cost about $40K compaired to Nissan Leaf's 100 miles and $25K

[Romulox]

42. LOL. But NOTHING compares to the PRIS!

:silly: :hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

43. The BMW i3 and i8 are killer electric autos. nt

[dmallind]

44. ARE? Won't be out for two years. nt

[and-justice-for-all]

45. They "are"...

even if they are still in development, the prototypes are killer and so are the reviews.

[dmallind]

46. ...and of course cars NEVER change from concept to street......nt

[and-justice-for-all]

47. I have also seen the proposed "street" versions.....

looks great to me.