smart News
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The First Gas Tank Fill Up Tells All
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Great Smart Car Road Trip: Is It Safe On the Highway
The 200-Mile Trek From L.A. To SLO
Jonathan McGrew -
Great Smart Car Road Trip: LA to San Francisco and Back
850 Miles In a Smart ForTwo Passion Cabriolet
Jonathan McGrew -
If No One Notices Your Smart ForTwo, Why Not Wrap It In Plaid?
You've got to be at least somewhat extroverted to drive a 2010 Smart ForTwo minicar, the smallest car sold in North America. People stare at it, point at you, and often ask you variations of, "What on earth makes you want to drive that?" Now, for the most extroverted of Smart owners, there's a new...
John Voelcker -
What Consumers Should Know About Cars Converted to Electric
Getting custom-built cars has been a part of the auto industry for many years. From improving the power curve on a small block engine through to creating custom convertibles from anything from a Hummer H3 through to a Toyota Prius, paying a company thousands of dollars for a unique vehicle happens...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
The Smart brand has enjoyed modest success in the U.S. since its launch here back in 2007 but with a lack of any new models or updates, the oddly-designed minicar brand has fallen largely off the radar of late. That’s all about to change as a facelifted 2011 Smart Fortwo has just been revealed ahead of its debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show in September. The car should arrive in the U.S. shortly after, complete with a fresh interior look, an upgraded exterior and even more environmentally friendly engines. The range of colors available for the exterior have been expanded and are complemented...
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Nicolas Hayek: Smart Car Creator Passes Away At Age 82
We Pay Our Respects To a Man With a Vision
Jonathan McGrew -
Smart Fortwo Goes Greener With Electrification
The Long Awaited Production EV Version Starts To Hit the Market
Jonathan McGrew -
Smart Drive App For iPhone: Who Needs COMAND or iDrive?
For the upcoming 2011 Smart Electric Drive, which we drove at The Car Connection last week, the brand has rolled out a new app that essentially turns your iPhone into that.
Bengt Halvorson -
2011 Smart Electric Drive: Mercedes Price, Maybach Exclusivity?
Want to be among the first to lease a 2011 Smart Electric Drive? You’re probably too late, as the brand only plans to make 1,500 of them available globally.
Bengt Halvorson -
2011 Smart Electric Drive: Better Than The Gasoline Fortwo?
The electric revolution is underway. With testbed vehicles including the Mini E, and big-name models like the Ford Focus EV and Nissan LEAF on the way within a year or two, it's no longer a question of whether electric cars will come back.
Bengt Halvorson -
Forget the 2010 Nissan Leaf or the 2010 Chevy Volt. A small, chic electric vehicle is set to be trialled in the U.S. this fall that has the potential to redefine inner city commuting. But are consumers ready to drive around in an electric car smaller than most people's closets? Smart U.S.A. has just announced a 250 car pilot scheme across key markets in the U.S. this Fall to test out the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive. It will lease the cars to interested companies, organizations, government agencies and individuals interested in driving electric. The so called second generation test vehicles...
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California Bill Seeks To Legalize Sharing Your Car For Cash
Ever loan your car to a friend for a day in exchange for a few bucks? Soon, that may not void your insurance and make you a criminal. At least in California. State Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) has introduced a bill (AB 1871) that would amend the state's insurance laws by allowing...
John Voelcker -
Earth Day Special: The 'Hybridest' Green Cities in the U.S.
Today is Earth Day, and in honor of that event--it started 40 years ago as a nationwide teach-in on environmental issues--we bring you a list of the greenest cities in the United States. It's not actually our list; it comes from Cars.com, which based its ranking on the percentage of car shoppers...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Megadeal: Renault-Nissan-Daimler Could Save Smart
This morning's deal bringing Daimler AG into the Renault-Nissan alliance has lots of interesting details--but first and foremost, it could be what Smart needs to survive in the long term. Today in Brussels, the CEOs of the companies involved--Renault-Nissan's Carlos Ghosn and Daimler AG's Dieter...
Martin Padgett -
Green Car Roundup: Best & Worst of the 2010 New York Auto Show
Well, it's done. The public are streaming in, and the two media preview days of the 2010 New York Auto Show are over. It wasn't a hugely significant show, but clearly the apocalyptic meltdown that automakers were experiencing last year has lifted. Sales are starting to come back, slowly, and while...
John Voelcker -
2010 Smart ForTwo: Seasoned City Runabout Or Scary Toy-like Go Kart?
We Take Another Look At the Most Recent Smart Car
Jonathan McGrew -
The Smart brand with its eye catching ForTwo had strong sales numbers for awhile, but the cute appeal appears to have worn off and the brand is searching for sales now. What the brand needs is a replacement minicar, one that outdoes the current one. In the small car class there few better to turn to for help than Renault/Nissan and that is exactly what Smart has done. Daimler has signed a deal with Renault/Nissan that will reportedly have the Renault/Nissan group working on the next generation Smart minicars due out in 2014. In return, Renault/Nissan will be able to use the finalized...
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More Than 30 MPG Highway: The New Benchmark For Green Cars?
So what exactly IS a "green car"? At both the Los Angeles Auto Show and Detroit Auto Show, you could find the word "green" all over the place. LA has been pitching itself for years as the greenest auto show, with fewer muscle cars and more hybrids, clean diesels, and so forth than any other U.S...
John Voelcker -
First Lease Program To Help Smart Buyers
Now There Is More Than One Way To Buy a Smart
Jonathan McGrew -
Nissan Planning Two Small Cars Under $10K For U.S. Market
Small cars aren't always cheap; increasingly, automakers are breaking that link with well-equipped and desirable compacts and subcompacts. Nor are small cars always green, though there's often a correlation. Now Nissan has said it will bring not one but two sub-$10,000 cars to the U.S. The company...
John Voelcker -
2nd Generation Smart ForTwo Electric Not Well Received
The Real World May Show Short Comings For the Smart EV
Jonathan McGrew -
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive to Undergo Trials in China
According to the Wall Street Journal, Daimler will launch a pilot program of the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive in China beginning next year. The report indicates that Daimler is considering several cities for testing of the Smart ED. As Ulrich Walker, chairman of Daimler Northeast Asia said, "We...
Eric Loveday