Chicagoist: David and Goliath: Smart Cars Coming to America

tom sherman

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 15:59:33 -0600

RS: Mopeds are allowed on the road, too. You didn't mention how long it would take to drive those 4382km in the above car. It actually takes close to 2 months.

RS

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:17:20 -0600

They've been around in Canada since 2004... extremely popular here. Considering that the main objective of it is to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency for city driving, it does a pretty good job. To drive across part of Canada on a 4382 km trip, it would cost about $157CAD for 162.1 litres of fuel, rather than about $430CAD for 429.4 litres of fuel in a normal car. It'll probably take a bit of getting used to over there, but they'll catch on. Safety wise --- there's a reason they're allowed on the road.

NSH

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:15:20 -0600

Really? $12,000 for his turd car? Just buy a golf cart or 6 with the money.

Ferdy

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:48:49 -0600

Just crossbreed them with a Hummer in your mind. It's pretty funny.

tom sherman

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:54:28 -0600

They. Look. Retarded.

Drew

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:15:30 -0600

I've been looking forward to these cars for a long, long time but think the big problem to getting them out of the showroom will be the model names that I've heard will be attached to them - Pure, Pulse & Passion. Personally, these strike me as "touchy feely" names that may work with the US female population but could be an obstacle in marketing to America's macho male population. Just my 2 cents...

Steven Andrew Miller

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:12:23 -0600

I will make the not os bold prediction that these will not sell. They look like death traps, I can not image surviving a crash at any speed above 30mph. Survival > ease of parking

Dave T.

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:35:15 -0600

FYI The smarts you are seeing are grey market versions of the last generation that were never produced to be sold in America. They've been expensively converted to be sold here. The next generation ForTwo (blogged about here) is built to meet US regulations. GM is planning a minicar concept it seems to built in Korea but if the Smart actually sells you could see a Chevy minicar for even less $. And for relatively the same price as a smart you'll be able to get a larger yet less fuel efficient Toyota Yaris, Scion xA, Suzuki SX4 etc. The Smart price doesn't include A/C at $12K, that'll be another $1K most likely. Still interesting though and Chicago should be one of its best markets if not THE best market for Smart in the US. That means expect lots of marketing/ads. your friendly neighborhood autoblogger dave.

ewwhite

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:15:07 -0600

We've rented them from budgetnorthshore.com in Skokie before. It's an interesting ride and definitely gets more than enough attention on the street.

Joe M500

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:55:48 -0600

we'be already seen three in chicago. One bright yellow and two with all different colors. The yellow has illinois plates. Unbelievably tiny...