Talk me out of the Spark EV

[Blaznjoe]

Don't buy the Spark EV!

Just suck it up and ride your bike to and from work each day! You'll save $215 a month and you'll be a lean mean fighting machine

It's ONLY fifty miles each way. You can do it! By July 2016 you'll be able to smash the field at Le Tour de France with millions of dollars in your pocket afterwards.

Glory
Fame
Blood transfusions
Cheryl Crow

 

[DaveSTR]

Hows the traffic on the commute. Time matters as much as money, if not more, since making time is impossible.

 

[PandaGTI]

Hows the traffic on the commute. Time matters as much as money, if not more, since making time is impossible.

There's alot of traffic as I leave home and when I come home. However with an electric I have access to the HOV lane so that helps.

 

[NolaMKVI]

Crunching the numbers for 39 months:

Spark EV Lease is going to be $5421 minus $2500 state rebate is $2921 for 39 months (also there is no limit to how many times you claim the rebate... I can claim again in 39 months when I lease another car as long as the state funds aren't diminished)

Additionally Chevy gives you $500 credit towards a Bosch Level 2 charger and I plan to use the $2500 state rebate towards a new home breaker box... the old one is actually an old dangerous 60's breaker box that needs replacing anyhow.

Bike/ Train is $8385 for 39 months and that doesn't include the cost of my folding bike which was $2,000ish. However since I bought the bike already a year ago lets just leave it at $8385.

So for 39 months it's $2921 vs $8385.

As far as electricity. I plan to switch to a time of use plan which means charging will probably add just $40 to $50 a month. Additionally I get to run my home AC at night at a cheaper rate.

I still have to see how much it changes my auto insurance policy. However it would mean that my FJ and M3 would just be 2ndry weekend recreation cars and the EV would be the main car.

As far as becoming vagiterian... that is worrisome... I'm already tricking myself into eating vegetables by wrapping deli meats around veggy burger patties and making paninis at work on my cheap George foreman grill.

I'm also going to see about parking my EV in the train station parking lot 1 stop from my work which actually gives me a longer bike commute as well.

Yea, going off of the 39 months term then youre making out like a bandit. Seems like you should do it.

 

[mattdibart]

Crunching the numbers for 39 months:

Spark EV Lease is going to be $5421 minus $2500 state rebate is $2921 for 39 months (also there is no limit to how many times you claim the rebate... I can claim again in 39 months when I lease another car as long as the state funds aren't diminished)

Additionally Chevy gives you $500 credit towards a Bosch Level 2 charger and I plan to use the $2500 state rebate towards a new home breaker box... the old one is actually an old dangerous 60's breaker box that needs replacing anyhow.

Bike/ Train is $8385 for 39 months and that doesn't include the cost of my folding bike which was $2,000ish. However since I bought the bike already a year ago lets just leave it at $8385.

So for 39 months it's $2921 vs $8385.

As far as electricity. I plan to switch to a time of use plan which means charging will probably add just $40 to $50 a month. Additionally I get to run my home AC at night at a cheaper rate.

I still have to see how much it changes my auto insurance policy. However it would mean that my FJ and M3 would just be 2ndry weekend recreation cars and the EV would be the main car.

That isn't necessarily correct based on what you said.

39 mo. lease - $5421
Rebate - $2500... except you said you are using it for a new breaker so you can't take it off the lease price
Electricity - approx 45/mo. = $1755
Insurance?

Based on those numbers it looks like:

$8385 (bike) vs $7176+insurance

If your insurance is $31 bucks a month you break even, any more and you lose out any less you make money.

If you do all of the breaker work and charging station work and have money left over, subtract that from the lease price.

 

[PandaGTI]

That isn't necessarily correct based on what you said.

39 mo. lease - $5421
Rebate - $2500... except you said you are using it for a new breaker so you can't take it off the lease price
Electricity - approx 45/mo. = $1755
Insurance?

Based on those numbers it looks like:

$8385 (bike) vs $7176+insurance

If your insurance is $31 bucks a month you break even, any more and you lose out any less you make money.

If you do all of the breaker work and charging station work and have money left over, subtract that from the lease price.

Wether or not I get an EV or not, I need a new breaker box since the one in the home a bought is old and unsafe. In fact if all the lights in the house where on, the home theater subwoofers thumping it would trip the fuse for the circuit. That stopped after I changed all the bulbs to LED. So either I pay that myself or use the rebate to pay for it.

As far as insurance, I checked with my insurance yesterday. They said if I'm just using my M3 and FJ recreationally on the weekends and the EV as my commuter then my yearly premium drops by $150. So it doesn't add to my insurance at all.

Wish I can get a Egolf, or Leaf, or Fiat 500e for around or close to the same. It would make the decision much easier.

 

[NolaMKVI]

seems like all the pros and cons are about even if you spread them out..
the only thing is (and Ive never leased a vehicle so correct me if im wrong) can you cancel the lease early and if so do you have to pay any fees?

Hate to see you get stuck in something after only having it a year..

 

[mattdibart]

Wether or not I get an EV or not, I need a new breaker box since the one in the home a bought is old and unsafe. In fact if all the lights in the house where on, the home theater subwoofers thumping it would trip the fuse for the circuit. That stopped after I changed all the bulbs to LED. So either I pay that myself or use the rebate to pay for it.

As far as insurance, I checked with my insurance yesterday. They said if I'm just using my M3 and FJ recreationally on the weekends and the EV as my commuter then my yearly premium drops by $150. So it doesn't add to my insurance at all.

Wish I can get a Egolf, or Leaf, or Fiat 500e for around or close to the same. It would make the decision much easier.

well in that case I don't see why you wouldn't get it.

The only reason I would say don't get it is because you already know you would take any of those other cars in a heart beat. You way want to hold off a while to see if you can score a deal on any of those other cars because if you do sign the papers and you find a deal on any other car you would prefer, you are going to be kicking yourself.

 

[PandaGTI]

So over the weekend I decided to test drive a couple other electric cars. BMW i3, eGolf, and Leaf.

The Leaf felt slowest, handled the worst, and was just boring and sales didn't want to give a good lease rate.

i3 was really nice, great interior, best fit and finish, second fastest. Had a decent lease rate but the terms wouldn't get me $2500 back... ($3999 down and $349 a month)

EGolf was really nice too. Reminded me of my old GTI. 2nd best fit and finish, 3rd fastest, handled nice but not as good as the i3... ( lease was $2399 down $199 a month... Would've broke even with the cost of my train commute)

Overall the Spark EV felt fastest (significantly faster than the i3) and handled better than the i3. Also on slickdeals.net was posting people getting deals as low as $83 to $140 and nothing down. By the time I found out many dealers where sold out and others unwilling to deal.

In the end I signed on a white 2LT with dc fast charging for $127 nothing down... After my rebate check that ends up being $77 a month... So cheap enough to keep a monthly train pass and have my wife drive it 1/2 the time

 

[J-Cooz]

So over the weekend I decided to test drive a couple other electric cars. BMW i3, eGolf, and Leaf.

The Leaf felt slowest, handled the worst, and was just boring and sales didn't want to give a good lease rate.

i3 was really nice, great interior, best fit and finish, second fastest. Had a decent lease rate but the terms wouldn't get me $2500 back... ($3999 down and $349 a month)

EGolf was really nice too. Reminded me of my old GTI. 2nd best fit and finish, 3rd fastest, handled nice but not as good as the i3... ( lease was $2399 down $199 a month... Would've broke even with the cost of my train commute)

Overall the Spark EV felt fastest (significantly faster than the i3) and handled better than the i3. Also on slickdeals.net was posting people getting deals as low as $83 to $140 and nothing down. By the time I found out many dealers where sold out and others unwilling to deal.

In the end I signed on a white 2LT with dc fast charging for $127 nothing down... After my rebate check that ends up being $77 a month... So cheap enough to keep a monthly train pass and have my wife drive it 1/2 the time

Thats a crazy deal! Congrats!

 

[NolaMKVI]

Whats a 2LT? I dont keep up will the current powerwheels

Glad you found something with a good deal :thumbsup:

 

[PandaGTI]

Whats a 2LT? I dont keep up will the current powerwheels

Glad you found something with a good deal :thumbsup:

The Spark EV comes in 2 trim levels (1LT and 2LT) with only one additional option... DC Fast Charging.

As far as I can tell, the only difference is that the 1LT gets blue cloth that looks like a circuit board whereas the 2LT gets black leatherette seats, leather steering wheel, and I think it has a back up camera (I'll find out when I pick up the car today)

But if you're in socal, you have time to do the legwork, and you find a dealer wheeling to deal and has a Spark EV in stock... you can probably get it as low as $104 a month which after the state rebate that makes it $44 a month for a Spark EV.

I didn't have time to search and deal so the best I can get down to is $127 which after the rebate makes it $70 a month.

Still at those prices its a great way to keep my fuel costs down and miles low for weekend use on my M3 and FJ Cruiser