Tag: spark ev

3 Year Blog Anniversary (and Happy Earth Day!)

happy earth day

Most people probably are not aware but this blog turned 3 years old today, marking a nice blog anniversary for Adam's Auto Advice.  (Also it's Earth Day, so Happy Earth Day!)  You can checkout my first post I did 3 years ago from today, which wasn't all that amazing, but that is how I got my start blogging and writing online.  As well you checkout the post I wrote at my 2 year blog anniversary and that happened to be my 200th blog post on here as well.

Looking back I am amazed and how much better my writing has come along over 3 years.  I mean 3 years isn't that long when you think about writing, but in internet time that marks a lifetime basically.  Ironically it doesn't feel quite as long as I thought it does, but having a blog anniversary really makes you look back.

Some cool features I did on this blog was attending the GM Baltimore operations event for the Spark EV.  I got drive the Spark EV, which not a lot of people have, around the a closed course.  In addition I toured the plant and got to talk with engineers who designed the Spark EV and Chevy Volt.   Another cool event I attended was the Consumer Reports Top 10 Picks announcement at the National Press Club in Washington DC.  I also got some slick vertical business cards made off of Fiverr but I might need to change the design soon since I am shifting my focus to new projects.

In the 3 years since I started this blog social media has become huge part of the internet.  I joined Twitter and I am still learning and getting better with Facebook.  (Although I still don't get it!)  I am more active on Google+ and try to stay active on there since Google clearly is putting a lot of importance on Google Authorship profiles.  As far as I can tell they really only want to highlight people that are active and legit writers AND are interacting on Google+ a little bit.  Pinterest exploded this year, and while I think it is really cool, I still need to master that and figure out how to market myself and my other sites I have on there in the best way possible.

With the explosion of social media, the blogging field in general has grown a lot too.  I remember hearing a statistic by Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress (the blogging software that this site runs on), that WordPress was downloaded over 430+ million time in 2012.  While not every download meant someone was using WordPress for a blog and people could use those installation files multiple times for different sites, that still shows the rapid growth of the internet as a whole.  (That statistic doesn't include automatic script install of WordPress by the way.)

New blogs and sites are popping up all the time, making it harder and harder to compete in the online world.  Some of my fans have probably noticed that I haven't contributed as much on this auto blog as I would have liked.  The main reason is I have done a lot more paid writing gigs.  Some were better than others and some paid pretty decently too, making me feel like the road I choose to be an auto journalist/blogger wasn't a wrong choice.  (Even though I know deep down it probably was.)  Honestly this field doesn't pay as much, unless you get crazy traffic, which is unlikely even if you know a lot about SEO (search engine optimization).

I think once you start writing you can't really stop though.  That's why I started a new online auto magazine, CarNewsCafe, with some auto journalist friends.  You can read my post about it here.  Starting another site, while challenging, actually has a lot of advantages when you do it with other people.  There are other writers are creating content, making it is easier to compete against larger sites.  In addition I can bounce ideas off of someone else if it doesn't work.  As well this makes you look more professional and you can network with others and create better more engaging stories.

While I will continue to write on this blog and write about cars, I am facing the harsh reality that this is a difficult market.  I have decided to slow down writing about cars for a little while, but won't stop.  I am going to be shifting my focus to some new site ventures, which will I will be very excited about when they launches.  The main one I am working on, HostTribe, will have tutorials about hosting and information for people that want to get started with their own sites.

I also want to wish everyone a Happy Earth Day.  Not sure what you are supposed to do on Earth Day, but I guess you should “Be Green” whatever that means.  If you want learn about Furoshiki, a Japanese gift-cloth wrapping technique, checkout the Fursohiki Forum.  If you use cloth, instead of paper, you can save $100's and even $1000's of dollars over the years.

I am glad that I could share this blog anniversary and milestone with all of you, and I look forward to writing and creating more websites that people can enjoy in the future.

Spark EV Photo Gallery

When I went up to GM's Baltimore operations in White Marsh, MD I took a lot of pictures of the Spark EV.  It took me awhile to go through my pictures and figure out which ones were good, and which ones could be moved to the trash.

Luckily I was the first group of journalists to get a chance to drive the Spark EV, but the sun wasn't out when I took pictures in the morning.  I later came back to take better pictures of the later in the day when the sun was out so the Spark EV could shine in all it's glory.  While it's not a style icon I don't think it doesn't seem to be a bad looking car.

If you would like to use any of these photos on your auto blog or auto news site, you are more than welcome.  However you must give credit and provide a link to the source (this blog) if you do so.  Please contact me first as well just so I know were the images are being used.

GM starts production of Spark EV electric motors in Baltimore

2014 spark ev

General Motors (GM) unveiled the start of production for electric motors that will be equipped on the 2014 Chevy Spark EV at the automakers' Baltimore facility in White Marsh, MD today.  (Ok, that is not technically Baltimore but it is close enough.)  This makes GM the first automaker to assemble and build electric motors in the US.  In addition the plant will also manufacture and assemble transmissions for the Spark EV.

The 2014 Spark EV will represent a big shift for GM.  While many point to the Chevy Volt's success, the company hasn't released a fully electric car that has been available to the public since the EV1.  We all know that the EV1 was a PR nightmare for GM and is it important to note that the EV1 was not available for the general car buying public to buy.  Oh, the times are changing though.

GM seems to be committed to building electric cars like the Spark EV and being environmentally friendly at the same time.  Not only will the GM Baltimore Operations be building electric car motors  and transmissions, but it also has a solar panel array on the Baltimore operations that generate 1.25 megawatts of electricity.  I was told this provides roughly 9% of the energy for the plant, which isn't a lot but that is not bad either.  The Baltimore facility is also 100% landfill free.  Materials are either burned for energy, recycled or reused for other projects.

Larry Nitz, GM's global electrification director, mentioned that the through the whole process of designing the Spark EV that GM was, and is, customer focused.  “Quiet, reliable, fun.” is how he described the Spark EV.

Having driven the Spark EV around the closed Baltimore operations facility, I do agree it is all three of those things.  It is surprisingly smooth and has good pick-up but certainly is not fast.  (Some fit and finish could use a some work though.)  It is hard to tell from a drive that only lasted 5-10 minutes and was not on real roads though.  As well you need to have a GM engineer making sure you aren't doing burnouts or anything.  That is something a particular auto writer might have suggested.

GM has not announced official pricing for the 2014 Spark EV but has said it should be under $25,000.  With a tax credit of $7,500 it should be affordable for the average consumer putting it right in the electric car market with the Nissan Leaf.  While the Spark EV seems like it will be fighter against the Nissan Leaf, Nissan has sold 50,000 Leafs since the car's introduction.  This makes the Nissan Leaf the best selling electric car of all time and most likely will be hard to catch-up with in terms of sales.  (The Prius does not count since it is a hybrid, which has a gas motor, in case you were thought “What about the Prius?.”)

GM has also not confirmed the exact date when the Spark EV will be available for sale.  Larry Nitz did say during lunch that only a select amount of Chevy dealerships will be selling the Spark EV.  This is the similar strategy that GM used for the Chevy Volt launch.  No word on how many GM expects to sell or what the electric motor output for the Baltimore plant is.  (I asked they didn't say or budge a bit.)

Since this was a big announcement for GM and the area as a whole.  Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley was on hand, as well Baltimore county executives, today to show his support for GM and the push to electrify the nations's vehicles.  Governor O'Malley even took a spin around in the Spark EV exclaiming as he got in, “I haven't done this in 13 years!”  I guess that shows how pampered politicians are! 🙂

You can see my video of Governor O'Malley taking the 2014 Spark EV for a spin.  I need to work on my video editing skills a lot though.  (Btw Windows Live Movie Maker sucks!)

One surprising guest I noticed at the event today was Debbie Phelps, Michael Phelps mom. I guess Debbie Phelps is now a celebrity in Baltimore so she gets invited to events like this Spark EV gathering.  My guess is that Michael Phelps, Baltimore's most famous and beloved athlete, could easily buy his mom a 2014 Spark EV (well probably like 20) without affecting his wallet too much.  She didn't drive a Spark EV, she just rode along in one, so I am unsure if she will be buying one in the future.

All in all it will be interesting to see what is next for the Baltimore facility in terms of manufacturing capabilities for electric motors and transmissions and if this will extend to other parts of the US.  As well what is next for GM and their electric car future.

Stay tuned for more articles about the Spark EV and Baltimore GM plant.