Barina Spark to be GM's first BEV

GM has announced the Spark (known in Australia as the Holden Barina Spark) will be its first battery electric vehicle to reach the market, but not before 2013.

The word from GM started to get around two months ago, but for many among the local press, the first mention came from Richard Marshall, Holden's Director of Energy, Environment and Technology. Marshall was addressing journalists during the preview of the Holden Volt last week when he presented a slide showing a Spark-sized graphic for a battery-electric vehicle of the future.

Asked for me detail concerning both the BEV and a plug-in hybrid also appearing on the same slide, he explained that GM had already "announced the battery-electric vehicle, the Spark", but he was not prepared or permitted to speak of the two-mode plug-in.

"It hasn't been announced yet," he said, but "it's part of the plan..."

Holden's Senior Product Communications Manager, Kate Lonsdale, told motoring.com.au today that, as far as she was aware there were no technical hurdles to overcome bringing the (Barina) Spark EV to Australia, but it was more a question of the local market's acceptance of electric vehicles by the time the GM product is available. Also, and more significantly, Holden has bigger fish to fry with the marketing and promotion of the larger Volt EREV ('Extended Range Electric Vehicle') over the next 12 months.

"At this stage we're pretty much focused on Volt," she said. "That's not to say we're not looking at [the Spark]."

Chevrolet — latterly GM's global brand — has been running demonstration fleets in China, South Korea and India. Drivers in those markets have offered the company feedback for the further development of the car in series production form. When it reaches the market in 2013, it will feature nanophosphate lithium-ion battery packs. For the moment, GM is revealing nothing concerning the car's range or performance.

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