SmartElectricVehicle

It's really no secret that sales of the gas-powered Smart Fortwo have dwindled down to almost nothing in the U.S., but when you put some numbers up, the Fortwo's slump becomes even more apparent. During the small car's ...

This is a post about the numbers. Here are three important figures about the second-gen all-electric Smart ED that was on display in New York City yesterday: 250 units are coming to the U.S. starting in October 2010 Leases will be ...

The first car that caught our eye on the AFVI Expo floor in Las Vegas was, well, the first Smart Fortwo of its type in the U.S. This is the all-electric Smart ED, which is currently being tested in Berlin and London. It will begin on-road ...

During the blur of the Detroit Auto Show this week, we checked in with fresh Smart USA president Jill Lajdziak to see what the boss has to say about her new job, sales of the fortwo in the U.S. and what's up with the all-electric Smart Ed. Lajdziak only recently joined up with Penske Automotive ...

When the first second-generation Smart Eds were handed over to customers in Berlin last week, Daimler and German utility RWE also announced a few details about how the all-electric ForTwos can interact with with the Internet. Smart Ed drivers are ...

There has been considerable hope that electrifying the Smart ForTwo would dispense with the micro-car's poor driveability and allow people to use the urban runabout more comfortably. Unfortunately, it appears that even with new lithium ion energy ...

The next-generation Smart Ed, which just started production in France this week, is out and about on the streets of Berlin being filmed for some sort of promotional video, we think. Treehugger spotted the little all-electric city car zipping around the famous Siegessäule (victory column) ...

Earlier this week, Daimler launched production of the new generation Smart electric drive at the Hambach, France plant where all Smarts are built. The first stage of production will see the plant build a run of 1,000 of the ...

To go along with yesterday's announcement that the second-generation smart ed will go into production in November, Daimler has released a bunch of new pics of the all-electric city car. Of particular interest are the reworked ...

Currently, fleets in the UK that are testing the all-electric smart ed have to pay Daimler £380 per month per car for the privilege. When the next-generation test vehicles arrive in 2010, Daimler hopes to get the per-month lease cost down to ...

Mitsubishi and Subaru were the first to start production, but the list of major automakers that are going electric is growing. As rumored, the Daimler is adding its name to the list with an announcement today that the smart ed "is ready for small ...

According to Channel 4 in the UK, the electric smart fortwo will be storming that country in full force by the year 2012. For what it's worth (which is probably a lot to Daimler), that date coincides perfectly with the UK government's plan to begin ...

We got our first look at the new smart ed for America yesterday (well, actually, it's just a European smart ed that's been brought over the pond). Daimler has now released details of just how Americans will be getting our hands on the vehicle ...

We know that smart sold over 20,000 units of the fortwo in the US this year, so it's proven to be a popular car for its market. In LA last month, we saw the new Brabus edition and now we can get our own pics of an electric smart fortwo when the doors to the Detroit Auto Show open in about two ...

Daimler has been testing electric smart fortwos for a little while now, and the cars have been switched over from sodium-based batteries to newer lithium ion units in the last few months. Hopefully, at some point, all of this various testing will result in electric fortwos intended for public ...

It's beginning to appear more and more likely that my previous speculation about the nature of the relationship between Tesla Motors and Daimler may have been accurate. In a Fox Business News interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in June, he mentioned the company has deal of some kind with the parent ...

Next year's arrival of the S400 BlueHybrid appears to be just the first stage of a massive move to hybridazition of the brand's lineup. The ML450 is scheduled to get a Two-Mode hybrid late next year, pending resolution of issues with battery supplier Cobasys. A new ...

And now for a little look inside the recently announced the SMART EV. DaimlerChrysler's tiny SMART EV will be powered by an electric drivetrain developed by British company Zytek. The drivetrain uses rare-earth magnet technology, a DC motor, and regenerative braking system for a claimed range of 72 ...