General Motors has denied reports that it no longer provides battery replacements for the all-electric version of the Chevy Spark, according to Kevin Kelly, a company spokesman. Kelly said the edge in an email that the company “is currently experiencing a temporary outage in the supply of new Spark EV packs,” but that it “remains committed to providing replacement packs to Spark EV owners in need in the future.”
Last week, a report from EV-resource quoted an unnamed GM district executive as saying the company was “no longer going to supply [the Spark EV’s] battery.” While GM has denied that is the case, EV-resourceThe report also says the company ran out of battery packs, which is consistent with Kelly’s statement.
When the original reports came in, there were concerns about warranty replacements. While older Spark EVs, released in 2013 and 2014, are likely out of their eight-year warranties, 2015 and 2016 models (the year GM stopped producing Spark EVs) might need replacement battery packs. In her statement, Kelly said GM “will work with owners” who need replacements until the company resolves its supply issues.
Battery supply has been a hot topic for GM recently. Like my co-worker Emma Roth wrote last weekthe company had to deal with delivery of replacement battery packs for over 150,000 Bolt EVs and recently started producing the car again after a halt due to the fires.
While there aren’t many people who own Spark EVs, GM only sold about 7,400 of them — nice to know that anyone who still has one won’t have to give up the vehicle if the battery starts to fail. Longevity has often been raised as a concern with electric vehicles, and it would have been a bad image if GM stopped providing essential components for cars less than a decade old.