The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has been a long time coming, but it's almost here.

This morning, Chevy announced that its only battery-electric car will have a range of 82 miles and be rated at a combined 119 MPGe efficiency.

MPGe, or miles-per-gallon-equivalent, is a measure of the distance a car can travel electrically on the same amount of battery energy as contained in 1 gallon of gasoline.

The Spark EV's 82-mile range matches that of the 2013 Honda Fit EV, but isn't as high as that of the 2013 Fiat 500e (87 miles) or the 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV (103 miles).

But its 119 MPGe is the highest combined efficiency rating received by any electric car on the market, including the much smaller 2013 Smart Electric Drive.

The electric Spark has a 100-kilowatt (130-horsepower) electric motor, more powerful than the motors used in the other electric minicars on the market: the Smart Electric Drive and the Fiat 500e.

That motor is built in Maryland, at a factory outside Baltimore that GM has been very proud to show off.

We'll have some driving footage of the Spark EV circling the plant shortly.

We drove prototypes of the Spark EV last fall in California, and found the car to be smooth, peppy, and quiet--as are most of the electric conversions of gasoline cars produced by global automakers, including the 500e, Ford Focus Electric, Fit EV, and RAV4 EV.

The Spark EV will go on sale less than two months from now in California and Oregon. It will also be sold in Korea, where all Sparks are built.

While Chevy hasn't yet released final pricing for the Spark EV, Chevrolet product marketing director Chrisi Landy said that the post-incentive or "net" price will be under $25,000.

That means that the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV will have a sticker price below $32,500.

How much below, we'll have to wait until late May to find out.

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