Daimler has been talking about electric Smart cars for about 10 years now, but the closest you've ever been able to come to a production model has been to go all
KIRF-style and buy a knock-off
CMEC City Smart. At the North American International Auto Show this past week the company again confirmed that a little Smart that runs on little batteries is still in the works, announcing plans to release 1,000 electric fortwos on lease here in the States by the end of the year. Now that the show is over,
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is letting everyone know that his company will be producing those little batteries, a partnership the likes of which he must surely be hoping to develop with other manufacturers as they jump on the EV bandwagon. 1,000 cars is disappointingly few, but it's better than the paltry 500
plug-in Prius models Toyota plans to pilot here.
posted Jan 14th 2009 8:35AM
London has a couple of electric smarts doing field testing since dec 07. Scheduled for smaller production in EU late 09
That's great news for Tesla and everyone who is enthusiastic about electric sport sedans, since it should give the Model S program a welcome cash boost...
yea. Maybe it'll even motivate tesla to branch out into a 3rd low cost model.
Perhaps not a Smart but I'd love to buy an electric Fiat 500. Now only if Fiat would start selling cars out here.
In some parts of the world these cars make sense.
But put one of these up against my Chrysler 300 or my S550 - and you've got the most spectacular fatality in years.
Surely that's a problem with your oversized American cars, rather than with the small, neat, efficient Smart car?
I drove one of the London electric Smarts, actually. Hopefully the Tesla battery tech will improve the range, cos that was a bit lacking - everything else was very neat.
Glad to see you have so much faith in your driving skills.
Thats FUD! Maybe you should review some of the crash tests that the Smart passes. It meets the highest standards of any car.
Anyone know how these electric cars would perform in colder weather? As a Canuck, I wonder how automakers would overcome things like car heaters, which would be a nasty drain on any electric - only vehicle?
Is the best Canadians can hope for a hybrid electric-gas vehicle?
They should tap Tesla's know-how on how to make an electric car that doesn't look like a freaking INSECT!
Hey guys, we're talking just about electric cars here. Why so serious?
No but seriously guys... Grow up. You're welcome to your opinion, but try to keep it clean, k?
If you can't get your point across without swearing and calling people dickwads, or by making blanket statements about an ENTIRE COUNTRY then you're not doing a very good job of convincing people of your point and in the end, you just end up sounding like a little kid that thinks he's all grown up because he swears a lot and thinks he's clever.
Looks like the blog police deleted your hate-filled comments. Thanks, Engadget!
See the first issue with HHO (H20) right now is that the most efficient way to produce it is from petroleum :/
This car is pretty nifty. Electric cars would be the way to go, but there arent enough clean power plants to go around that would make using them better than gas (not that gas is much better//America needs more Nuclear power plants IMO).
Secondly, Americas got WAY too many fat people and assholes, but there are a redeeming few and not everyones terrible. I agree with the UK folks point of view for the most part, though stereotypings a bit lame. Cup o' tea and a C**t anyone?
America for the win.
Europe for the Championship.
Yeah, America has too many assholes, but the EU has the French.
At least no one is trying to develop an electric Renault. Now THERE would be the death of the electric car.
I would buy an electric Smart car if they were sold here! I love that battery powered Elise, I mean Tesla, but I just don't have $100,000 lying around to buy one.
Hmmmmm.... I wonder if current Smart owners would get preference if they trade in their 93 Octane vehicles? I doubt it though, there is such a high demand for these cars that it took me over a year from the date i placed my pre-order to receive my car, and currently, even in the times of economic turmoil, there is a waiting of up to two years. viva la dalmer!
RE: madmike and other trigger happy pre-teens perusing engadget - For the record, gun ownership laws vary from state to state, and at least in my state (Virginia - sic semper tyrannis!) there is no licencing required to own a gun, simply a $50 fee and a gun handling course completion to carry a concealed weapon. Otherwise, it's an open carry state where almost anyone can own and handle a gun.
WOLVERINES!
Well then, as glad as i am that madmikes idiotic commentary was deleted from the internets, that also rendered my witty wolverine gun loving reference useless. i think i just died a little bit inside.
.
what's that scribbling on the side?
great looking car... for 4-year-olds
.
It's called an 'advert'. As noted, they're not selling this yet, just maybe making test versions available to rent.
And the car looks pretty decent, always has. Maybe there aren't too many people brave enough to drive something like that, but that's their problem, not the car's.
"Electric Drive?"
Bad enough to buy a minuscule car, but to admit to "ED?"
I think this validates something I mulled over in a recent blog post
http://www.colinmeeks.com/2008/12/automobile-bailout-an-excuse-to-move-forward/
Be interesting to see what other partnerships Tesla develops over the coming year. Colin
Its still ugly and a death trap... I don't care if it passed the 40mph crash test... if and f-150 or bigger hits that game over man.. when you make an EV that looks like a Camaro,RX-8,Mustang,Supra.. on a side note I did look at one of these at a dealer in Western FL... what kind of a car company wont even give you a spare tire.. nah here's a can of fix-a-flat and an air pump... gee thanks that's really gonna help when the tire shred... and wtf is with the price 13k... I can get a Toyota Yaris for that price and unlike the "smart" I can actually carry things like... people in it.. in summary this car is a fail and shouldn't be payed any attention
In other words, you have no idea what you're talking about.
These little city cars are for people who just need a vehicle to get back and forth to work, a quick trip to the grocery store or the mall once in a while. And how often do people really shred their tires?
ha what a joke.. the smart car.. i wonder if the electric one will get better mileage than the Mini? The regular gas one sure doesn't.