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Benjamin Nead

Spark Member
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  1. Really? I hadn't heard about anything like that. There are flame retardent bags that you can put batteries into while charging, but I've never seen a battery with it built in. Could you post a link? Benjamin Nead Tucson, Arizona, USA
  2. Most lithium cells, Greg, can be damaged easily by overcharging and even by excessive discharging. Fortunately, the charging and controller circuitry found in modern electric cars prevents purposeful or accidental abuse in this regard. Such accidents there are almost non-existent. I fly model airplanes, where lithium batteries are now very common. Fires there are almost always a result of hobbyists who uses a multi-function charger and incorrectly dials up the wrong battery type (set it to charge a nickel metal hydride, for instance, instead of lithium.) These same sort of lithium cells are vi
  3. Yeah, Greg, the A123 bankruptcy is certainly not good news. Note, though, that A123's assets (presumably including technology) is to be bought up by Johnson Control. It's doubtful that anything is going to be dumped in the trash or suppressed. The A123 NXT technology, in particular, will be quite valuable to them . . . http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/content/us/en/products/power_solutions/Battery_Technology_Centers/lithium-ion_technology1/cells.html The other thing to remember is that GM has several irons in the fire in regards to battery vendors. LG makes the cells for the Volt and another c
  4. The shaped solar PV panel roof is a factory option on the Toyota Prius, Greg. But it's a very expensive add-on. It's probably about a $400 panel (if you were buy a flat one of the similar square footage) for something like $2000. These car rooftop panels probably don't provide the quantity of electricity needed to do much more than run climate controls to moderate the car's interior temperature while parked for a couple of hours . . . certainly not enough to even trickle charge the car's main battery. The Nissan Leaf has a little panel built into the rear hatch spoiler on its upscale model, bu
  5. Well, guys, lot's to chew on here . . . I'll dispense with hydrogen right off the bat by saying that it's the power source of the future . . . and, unfortunately, destined always to be so. There are so many problems with it that it will be years before we'll see it close to being affordable and reliable. I wish the technology well. When it gets here, it will be marvelous. The reality may not be as gloom and doom as the below linked article (which is a few years old,) but it gets you thinking about what's still ahead on a technical level . . . http://www.thenewatl...e-hydrogen-hoax Getting b
  6. Yeah, Greg, it's always a mystery to me as to why and where OEMs assemble cars like this . . . building one part here, another part there and then putting it all together somewhere else. My basic concern regardingt the Spark EV is that Chevy will actually makes it easy to buy. Nissan's Leaf is about the only pure EV (ie: no gasoline ranger extender) that is generally available across the US. Many manufacturers are announcing pure EVs and only selling them in California in limited numbers. This is simply to comply with that state's mandate, which basically dictates that a certain percentag
  7. Well, I don't know what went wrong, but that Autoevolution page link I posted last night, above, doesn't go to the proper page. Here it is again (fingers crossed that it'll work this time) . . . http://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-image/2013-chevrolet-spark-ev-to-offer-116-hp/60462.html And here's another, a Car & Driver web article with additional information and photos showing details of the Spark EV electric motor . . . http://blog.caranddriver.com/we-build-the-chevy-spark-ev%E2%80%99s-ac-permanent-magnet-motor/ Benjamin Nead Tucson, Arizona, USA
  8. Thanks, mightydog . . . I've just authored a couple of new posts on the existing threads on this site's Spark EV subforum just a few moments ago . . . http://www.chevysparkforum.com/index.php?/forum/24-chevy-spark-ev-forum/ Enjoy . . . Benjamin Nead Tucson, Arizona, USA
  9. Hi folks . . . All the reports I've read indicate that the Spark EV will, indeed, be built in South Korea. Batteries are lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) from A123 Systems and will be manufactured in Michigan. Interestingly, this is an exact reversal of Chevy's Volt, which is built stateside and uses South Korean LG Chem batteries. Below are a few Chevy Spark EV web articles . . . http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1067261_gm-officially-confirms-2013-chevy-spark-minicar-spark-ev-electric-version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Spark#Spark_EV http://www.hybridcars.com/news/chevrol
  10. Hmmm . . . I'm looking at the first post on this thread and all that's there now is a cryptic "no data found." I'm guessing it was a PDF from GM titled "Electric Motors 101."A bit of searching around the web allowed me to find the GM web page where anyone who agrees to their non-commercial use requirements can download a copy of that PDF for themselves . . . http://media.gm.com/...k_elec_mtr.html Hopefully, GM or the webmaster here won't mind me posting the above hyperlink. Here's another link of interest . . . http://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-image/2013-chevrolet-spark-ev-to-offer-
  11. Hello all . . . I just joined this forum. My primary interest is electric cars and, pertaining to what is being discussed here, I'm wanting to find as much information as possible regarding the upcoming Spark EV. At a recent National Plug In Day celebration, the local Chevy dealer (displaying an example of the gas/electric Volt) had a Spark parked nearby. This, of course, was one of the current gasoline-powered ones. But it gave me indication of build quality and features, which impressed me. Cute little car. I'll happily wait until I can get a battery-powered one and I hope Chevy really come
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