[Pvillerob]

Had an interesting discussion with a Smart car owner the other day. Guy pulls up in a Smart car, but it looked "different". And, It had what looked like a big turbo boost gauge on the dash. (A turbo boost gauge in a Smart car?) We got to chatting and he said "...yeah, they don't make these anymore. Shootin' themselves in the foot, I think!"

What, is Smart going out of business?

"No, Mercedes created Smart, then spun it off. Now Mercedes is buying it back, but they're gonna make an ELECTRIC car out of it! Stupid idiots!"

Well, why is that a bad thing?

"Cuz the POS will have less than a hundred miles of range! That's useless!"

Well, if it's your only car and you drive a lot, I can certainly see the limitation. That's a pretty small footprint to try and stuff batteries into. But most people's commutes are less than that. So to some folks, it might make sense.

"Yeah, but then it takes forever to charge them...you gotta go somewhere and wait an hour for your car to charge."

Um, I don't. My car is ALWAYS fully charged, cuz I charge it AT HOME. Only on a long trip do I have to account for an extra hour for the car to charge. But then, I gotta eat too!

When I told him my Bolt has a 230 mile range, he said, "Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout! That's decent range. What am I supposed to do with a 75 mile range? But what do those Bolts sell for?"

Well, they aren't as cheap as a Smart, I'll wager....the Bolt Premier sells for over $40k.

"Right, I bought this turbo for under $20k. I like these cars so much, I'VE BOUGHT SIX OF THEM."

SIX? Whaaa....?

"Well, not all are turbos, this one is MINE. You know how it is when you have grandkids...." I don't, but... "someone always needs to borrow a car. I'd say "There's the Smart, have at it." And they'd go, eww....is that thing SAFE? **** yeah, it's safe! You know one of these got in a head on with a SEMI on Missouri Flat Road, and the people walked away from it?! Yea, they're safe. So they borrow the car, and I don't get it back. So I buy another one. Wife borrowed it, didn't get that one back. I've lost three cars that way! So now, I have this turbo, another back up, and one that's just a parts car. Oh, and now that Mercedes owns Smart again, guess what's happened to parts prices? They're MERCEDES prices now!! Pisses me off!"

Discuss.......

 

[Sean Nelson]

I've driven the ICE version of the Smart car because that's what car sharing company Car2Go uses. And I've also test driven the Smart Electric. The Smart Electric is a much nicer car to drive because it doesn't have the recalcitrant transmission of the ICE model, but it didn't have enough range for me. Last year I made 70 trips of more than 100km, and I wouldn't have been comfortable doing that with the range of a Smart Electric.

 

[psyflyjohn]

Brings back memories ! My first ride in an electric car was a Smart. I was fascinated with it and purchased a Miev. It only had 65 miles range, but we put about 60K miles on it just buzzing around town. Now, we have two Bolts, and are living "high on the hog"...

 

[Pvillerob]

Interesting observations. Wow, the MiEV only had a 65mi range, eh? Sounds minuscule compared to our Bolts. But I suppose if you live in a city, where parking is tight and tough to find, like S.F., I could see that a tiny, "short range" EV would be even easier to buzz around in than even our Bolts. The guy I was talking to even said S.F. allows micro cars, like the Smart, to park in places, and ways, that other cars cannot. So I can see the attraction for a city dweller. Being a "semi-rural" guy, and living in a town, as opposed to a City, I'm glad to have the freedom that comes with 230 miles of range. And a car of "normal" proportions, with the ability to haul bigger stuff around, like my wife's paintings, or our tandem kayak.
Too bad when I met the guy with the Turbo Smart that I didn't have my Bolt at the time. This dude wasn't small, so he might've appreciated the roominess of the Bolt as well as the range. Mighta made a convert.:laugh: I was just surprised that the Smart, such a little roller-skate-looking thing, actually has some decent crash resistance. Makes me feel better when I see them on the road instead of thinking, "Gee those poor folks in that little shoe box...hope they don't get in a crash in that thing!"

 

[KeithMoon]

Somebody needs to understand the idea of a registered owner. He can actually just call the cops and have his cars returned to him. It's about the only thing if value that one gets from registration fees.

 

[DrZip]

For short trips, with tight parking or when the Bolt is already on the road my Smart EDs, is the best option, my Bolt is used at all other times. And as a second car(s), the Smart (combined mileage of 2 Smart cars) has over 60,000 and has never been back to the dealers after purchase.
But, I really like our Bolt with almost 30,000 miles it also has never been back to the dealer.
IMHO: Each vehicle has it's purpose.

 

[Dimitrij]

Ain't no such thing as Too many Smart cars

 

[Pvillerob]

Wow, DrZip, you've had TWO Smart BEVs? And a BMW i3? Do tell! What were your experiences like?

 

[cwerdna]

The ICE 1st gen Smart ForTwo got terrible reviews: terrible transmission and not very impressive fuel economy.

Then Smart decided to go electric only for the US then they've now pulled the plug for the US and Canada: https://www.autoblog.com/2019/04/29/smart-stops-ev-sales-us-canada/.

I've never heard of them being spun off from Mercedes then bought back. The current gen Smart ForTwo was a collaboration between Damiler and Renault-Nissan Alliance: https://europe.nissannews.com/en-GB...g-announce-wide-ranging-strategic-cooperation.

 

[Pvillerob]

Great link to that autoblog article. That 'splains it. Just not selling. The guy was right about one thing: It must suck to have to buy parts for a $15k car at a Mercedes parts counter. ?

 

[GregBrew]

Great link to that autoblog article. That 'splains it. Just not selling. The guy was right about one thing: It must suck to have to buy parts for a $15k car at a Mercedes parts counter. ��

Except that the MSRP for a top-end 2019 model is $29k, and the cheap ones are $25k. For the same money, you can get an entire car! Many here, myself included, paid that ($29k) for a new Bolt Premiere!


https://www.smartusa.com/special-offers

 

[GJETSON]

 

[p7wang]

 

[ArizonaJon]

I have had and enjoyed 3 smart cars. (Note no capital on the name smart. The only car I know where the official name does not start with a capital.)
They are unique in more than one way.