so cute!

[eichin]

"G&K is in the final stages for the Smart car project. Smart cars will be available in the USA soon!"

(Mentioned in a current wired article. Amusingly, it does point out that the fortwo diesel actually gets 70 mpg, leaving hybrids in the dust...)

Update: ZAPworld, an EV vendor in california, also claims that they'll be selling Smarts soon. They

Comments

[cjsmith]

Rob and I were just grumbling about the unavailability of those here. :-)

(The fortwo diesel isn't properly comparable with a hybrid such as the Prius, since the Prius carries four adults and has a trunk. But the FOR-FOUR version of the Smart car gets 50MPG!

[cjsmith]

)

(sorry. couldn't let that sit.)

[eichin]

Sure, it isn't properly comparable if your usage is "hauling four people around". My primary (by miles-driven) usage is "hauling my ass to the office" -- a motorcycle is a non-starter for at least half a dozen reasons, but this is the next step up from that -- and for that, not only does it beat the Prius, it looks like it beats the Insight too (66mpg 2 seater.) We'll see if that rating survives US-emissions modification (or if the diesel will even be legal here before Low Sulfur Diesel comes on line...)

[cjsmith]

Sure, it isn't properly comparable if your usage is "hauling four people around".

Yeah, what I mean when I say it isn't properly comparable is that it doesn't solve the same set of problems. I have a friend who hauls large framed photographs around, along with the six-foot panels on which to display them, when he goes to his art shows. He can't get by with a two-seat Smart Car because it doesn't do what his Prius does. Other people have different usages, and perhaps some (many?) now driving Prii could indeed use a two-seat Smart Car.

We'll see if that rating survives US-emissions modification (or if the diesel will even be legal here before Low Sulfur Diesel comes on line...)

Indeed. I'll be very interested! I'm also curious as to how and why the four-seat version does so well on mileage without being a hybrid. Diesel helps, but THAT much?

[fyfer]

Dude! I fell in love with those when I saw them in Paris a few years ago. I wonder how much they'll cost. Maybe they'll become as popular as the little golf-cart-commuter things in Berkeley.

[coraline]

arethey going to allow them in MA?
(i don't know the details, but i know you can't buy the current model-year diesel rabbit, or other diesels in MA...)

[fyfer]

s/rabbit/golf for the last few decades, but yeah. ;-)

From the article and the smartcar uk website, I think that:
1. they come in diesel and non-diesel
2. while they have excellent emissions, none of them currently fit the exact US standards
3. the company Mark mentioned is planning to import some, frob with their engines to match the standards, and resell them

So I don't know if they'll be trying to mod the diesel to sell here, and I can't tell when/if Smart is going to try to make a US model, but I hope they do.

[coraline]

yeah... i'm going to be looking for a new car in the next 2-3 years i expect -- might be right up my alley.

[yakshaver]

I returned from my first trip to Europe a few years ago with several pictures of a SMART car. I thought it was the coolest thing with four wheels and a roof I'd ever seen. I'm also very intrigued by the Air Car, which is powered by compressed air. I'm not at all sure I buy their hype about fuel costs - the energy to compress the air has to come from somewhere. (Hmm. Looking at the site, they've released more technical details than last time I looked. I'm no MechE, but what I see there makes me more dubious, unfortunately. For one thing, now they talk about the engine running both on compressed air and by burning fuel, which has to add a whole lot of complexity. Oh well, we'll see what they're actually like when they ship.

[yakshaver]

)

What cjsmith said. (And no, I didn't fail to close the parens on purpose just so I could say that.)