Smart

You are currently browsing articles tagged Smart.

Daimler Brings Smart Car Sharing to Austin

April 10, 2009 in Consumer News, MPG, small cars by kristen | No comments

Daimler’s Car2Go program, which it launched in Germany last week, may come stateside — to Austin, Texas, no less, where they like to keep it weird. The company plans on bringing 200 Smart ForTwos to the Texas town and making them available to subscribers 24-7.

Cars can be prebooked or used on-the-spot, if it’s not already spoken for. Car2Go members use a smart card and PIN to access the cars, then pay about 25 cents a minute to tool about town, which includes gas. Hourly and day rates are available too, according to a post in the New York Times’ Wheels blog.

Austin city employees will get first crack at the system this fall.

Image of the Smart ForTwo at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

Electric Smart Car in 2010

October 13, 2008 in Biz News, EVs, Future Cars, small cars by kristen | No comments

Smart ED at the 2008 Paris Auto Show

One of the most talked-about unveilings at the Paris auto show this month was the all-electric version of the Smart car, called the Smart ED. (That stands for Electric Drive, not the subject of those old Bob Dole commercials.) Parent company Daimler says the cars will go into production in late 2009 for delivery to “selected customers.”

Daimler leased 100 early versions of an electric Smart to Londoners earlier this year to get real-world experience with plug-in vehicles. The second phase of testing, announced last month, will take place in Berlin with another 100 cars.

The updated version seen in Paris at the auto show will have a 90-mile range, which is twice as far as the current crop of neighborhood electric vehicles will go on one charge. No word on if or when the Smart ED will show up at U.S. dealerships.

PHEVs Get a Tax Break

October 6, 2008 in Biz News, Consumer News, EVs, PHEVs, racing by kristen | 2 comments

The bailout bill passed by Congress last week included “sweeteners,” as anyone with a radio, TV, Internet connection, or newspaper subscription has learned by now. What didn’t make the top of the news was the fact that a couple of these provisions to sweeten the Wall Street bailout bill directly affect alternative fuels — in a good way, for once.

Buyers of plug-in hybrid vehicles will receive a $2500 tax credit, plus $417 per kilowatt hour for batteries greater than 4 kwh. This makes the Chevy Volt $7500 cheaper, as GM’s Volt blog was happy to point out. The credit will apply fully to the first 250,000 PHEVs sold, then will be phased out over the next year’s worth of sales after than landmark number is reached. (See Section 205 on page 186 of the bill.)

The bill also extends the 30% clean-burning fuel property tax credit to electricity, and moves the deadline for taking the credit out a year to December 2010. (See Section 207 on page 197 of the bill.)

Since that information, while useful, was dry as sand, here’s  video of a souped up Smart ForTwo beating the pants off a Ferrari in the quarter-mile (38 seconds):


Tatooed Smart ForTwo

August 29, 2008 in Consumer News, small cars by kristen | 1 comment

I already let you know that G-Wiz EVs in the UK are undergoing serious customization. Now, I find out Smart ForTwos right here in the US are getting tatoo-inspired makeovers by Ed Hardy. That should butch up those Smarts.

The Project Tattoo upgrade is more than skin-deep, though. It includes a new chrome exhaust system that ups horsepower by 6 and torque by 14 lb.-ft. There’s also a Kenwood AM/FM/CD/DVD player and Garmin touch-screen nav system, in addition to the tatoo-embroidered car seats.

The cars will be numbered 1-100 as part of a limited-edition series and signed by French fashion designer Christian Audigier, who markets the Ed Hardy brand.