Tuesday, November 10, 2015

SparkEV destiny

I don't know if this is true, but this post was found in Tesla motors club forum by a user named "Red". If true, Spark was destined to be an EV, and EV is merely fulfilling its destiny. I sincerely hope that it can live on as EV for a long, long time. May you live long and prosper, SparkEV.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/6557-Chevrolet-Spark-EV?p=451641&viewfull=1#post451641

"GM wrong about itself

Actually GM is wrong when admitting the Spark was not designed as an EV.

It actually was, just not thoroughly, because it was one of the earliest ones. Spark is basically a reworked Daewoo Matiz, which was originally designed by Italdesign for a partnership between FIAT and the EV drive train pioneer Miro Zoric, who created the first inverters for AC motors, yes, even those in the Tesla. First for industrial use and then for automotive use. He also made first drive trains for GM's EV1, for instance... AC motors were a non existing option for cars before that. They were not controllable. In a way, due to that breakthrough, today batteries are the narrow throat, since AC drive trains are usable and efficient now.

Anyway, what was later known as Matiz, was originally intended to be FIAT's first electric car. A small but zippy city commuter. Due to administrative issues, Gianni Agnelli's desire to have each FIAT model also have an electric version by 2000, was put aside and Daewoo bought the Matiz design and GM later bought Daewoo and renamed Matiz into the Spark. So in terms of legacy, the Spark did start out as a would be EV, but not in the way most would think.

And it was originally supposed to have an AC motor and lead acid batteries, since Mr. Zoric only made rechargeable zinc air batteries (first one in the world) slightly later, in 1997. Because they would take up more space than lad acid, the little car would have lead acid batteries initially and zinc airs were used in buses and trucks. Some trivia "

Thanks, Red. Haven't seen recent posts from you in a while in Forum. I hope you're doing well.

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