RideLust

Two years ago I was given a Smart Fortwo to road test for a week and to say that I thought it was a monumental pile of crap would be an understatement. Yes it’s small, and yes you can park it just about anyplace, the problem is that after parking it, too many of its owners simply walk away from it without setting them ablaze. When Smart first entered the U.S. car market they brought with them a great ad campaign, the promise of amazing fuel economy and a fun little car that would make you feel happy when you drove it. The ad campaign worked because in 2008 Smart sold 25,000 of these little buggers to people who bought into the hype before ever having driven one.
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A 2010 Toyota Prius. Photo: IFCAR

Registrations of hybrid vehicles in the United States have fallen some 17% between 2007 and 2009, according to Carscoop. While some of this drop can be explained by the ongoing recession, the decline of hybrid registrations is steeper than declines in other vehicle types. Industry research company R.L. Polk explains that part of the decline is due to changes in state laws, which now exclude hybrid drivers without a passenger from HOV lanes in several states. Other reasons included the obvious response: hybrids aren’t much fun to drive, and handle worse than the economy cars of yore. The Honda CR-Z may have a positive impact on that sentiment, and I can tell you that it was the first hybrid I drove that I didn’t absolutely hate.

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A 2006 Smart Roadster Collector's Edition

Autocar and Autoblog seem to think the answer is yes, and I say that’s a good thing. Especially if the mid-engine, rear drive roadster graces our shores this time around. In case you’re not up on quirky European sports cars the size of go-karts, the Smart Roadster was a drop top (or removable roof) “sports car” version of the iconic Smart car. Like the Smart, it was underpowered (in non-Brabus tune, it featured a maximum rating of 81 horsepower) and over-priced (equivalent to the larger, better equipped Mazda Miata).

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Funny, it doesn't look more expensive than a BMW 335d.

Smart, the microcar built by Daimler and popular everywhere in the world except the U.S., will launch an electric version of their two seat urban commuter this fall. Dubbed the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, the pocket sized eco-mobile will feature a maximum range of 82 miles per charge, with a recharging time of 3.5 hours. It will also feature a whopping price tag; available only for lease, the monthly cost will be $915, or $600 per month once you factor in the federal EV tax credit.

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In many of American cities, it is just more viable to take public transport with gridlock traffic consuming the cities. But even if you don’t live in the city, public transportation may be a great choice, not only to help the environment but to also save yourself a considerable amount of money. Not only would we not have to pay for the the car itself, the gas that powers our cars to get us from home to work and back again, but you may also avoid tolls and car maintenance bills. We can also avoid the monthly car insurance bill as well and when the average cost of a car insurance premium in 2009 was $1,800, that breaks down to be $150 a month. That is $150 we can save or even use to buy something more important.

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Apparently sourcing inspiration from a generic beige socket plate, the tuning experts from Deutschland have introduced to us the Brabus Ultimate High Voltage Concept. Underpinned by the comically compact smart fortwo and co-developed by the master electricians over at Tesla, the Brabus Ultimate High Voltage is the biggest performance upgrade on a city vehicle we’ve seen since that kid from the bike messenger shop down the street started wolfing down Power Bars.

Boasting a design scheme rivaled in its dearth of creativity only by the Velcro Stride Rite’s your Grandpa wears and featuring a similarly uninspiring 82-horsepower 206 lb-ft lithium ion battery pack, Brabus brags the Ultimate High Voltage is capable of sprinting from 0-35 mph in 3.7 seconds, and 0-62 mph in 9.8. To prevent any oblivious pedestrians from being mowed down by all that silent white-knuckle speed, Brabus outfitted the Ultimate High Voltage with an artificial sound generator designed to mimic the exhaust note of a snarling V8. Read More…

Starting in November of this year, Daimler will be producing prototypes of the smart fortwo electric drive. Select pilot cities will include Berlin, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Rome and an unnamed selection of locations in the US. Large-scale production will start in 2012. Powered by a 30 kW motor producing 120 Nm of torque, an overnight charge will provide a maximum range of 72 miles. 0-60 times are slightly faster than reading Atlas Shrugged. Hit the jump for the pics and the press.
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Scion unveiled the iQ concept today at the New York Auto Show, which really wasn’t that surprising. Ever since its European debut, we’ve been expecting the iQ’s arrival as a competitor in the super-ultra-compact market against the Smart ForTwo. However, what was surprising was the modifications Scion had done to the Concept model–including extra-wide fender flares and fat 18” wheels.

Just like the production car, the iQ concept features an asymmetrical 3 + 1 seating arrangement, with the front passenger’s seat positioned just far enough in front of the rear passenger’s so as to allow actual human beings to sit inside comfortably. But Scion (being an undisputed driver’s car, of course) makes no compromises from the driver’s seat, so the left rear seat is suitable only for amputees, and possibly a buddhist and an indian, provided they are meditating or sitting, respectively.

The Concept also showed a handy new safety feature–a rear window airbag–for those in the back sitting (or praying) whose heads are butted up against the window wondering, “Are we there yet?”

There were also special lights and a crunk 10” pop up LCD display embedded in the dash.

While we doubt very seriously the best features of the Concept car will make it to production, we’d be even more surprised if Scion’s little toe-dip into the U.S. market here didn’t result in a production model for North America.

Check the Press Release after the jump for the complete run-down.

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Mercedes Benz SLS AMG

Even though the Mercedes SLS has only unofficially been sighted in various places Sasquatch-style, it is not surprising that the German automaker is also planning an all-electric version of the upcoming supercar. Not surprising because it has been a mere two months since Mercedes plucked up a 10 percent stake in American electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors. Read More…

Renault Megane Trophy Concept

Is a stateside Renault built for Saturn a complete pipe-dream? Following up on a report from Bloomberg over future Saturn production, the new/future owners of the former GM brand are addressing rumors of possible replacement models coming from Renault or Nissan. At the same time Roger Penske has thankfully taken Smart cars out of the mix for Saturn dealers…sort of.

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