JAN 14

Its still ugly and a death trap... I don't care if it passed the 40mph crash test... if and f-150 or bigger hits that game over man.. when you make an EV that looks like a CamaroRX-8MustangSupra.. on a side note I did look at one of these at a dealer in Western FL... what kind of a car company wont even give you a spare tire.. nah here's a can of fix-a-flat and an air pump... gee thanks that's really gonna help when the tire shred... and wtf is with the price 13k... I can get a Toyota Yaris for that price and unlike the "smart" I can actually carry things like... people in it.. in summary this car is a fail and shouldn't be payed any attention

Its still ugly and a death trap... I don't care if it passed the 40mph crash test... if and f-150 or bigger hits that game over man..

That's even more true for me on my bicycle, my motorcycle -- or in my pickup truck. It's a fact of life -- no matter how big your vehicle is, you can still be killed in a collision or by running into a brick wall. No vehicle, not even an Abrams battle tank, is idiot proof -- as evidenced by what I saw when I visited a tank repair facility during peacetime at Fort Hood back in the mid 1990s. While a big vehicle does a disproportionate amount of damage to a smaller vehicle in a collision a big vehicle just won't make you safe -- embankments and ravines are bigger than whatever it is you drive.

Get over it. Learn to drive. Learn to read the behavior of other drivers, learn where the blind-entrances (including driveways) are on the roads you drive regularly, learn how your vehicle handles in poor conditions, and then have some fun with maneuverable little vehicles.

A great way to do this is to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Introductory Rider Course. You don't have to ride a motorcycle afterward, but it's some of the best formal driver's education I've had. Plus, you get to spend a weekend riding motorcycles.

That said, I haven't been impressed with the gas mileage numbers of the US version Smart Car -- my mom's Saturn SL1 gets the roughly the same mileage, it has 4 seats, and it only cost here $2k to purchase. But I'd pay extra to drive electric -- even considering mountaintop removal mining, I'd rather send my energy dollars to West Virginia than to the middle east.

@set The fewer SUVs we have on the roads, the less we have to worry about cars being "death traps". They've had these things on the roads for YEARS in Europe. I was in Italy in 2002 and they weren't uncommon, so I'd think they'd have all the safety kinks worked out by now?

nice site thenk you

How can I get on a list to test drive or get an electric Smart Car?

If I could charge it at home with a regular outlet I wouldn't worry too much about an absence of electric charging stations.

I've owned several petrol and diesel SMART cars and love them. Although they are small and light, they are not that aerodynamic which is probably why the "gas mileage" is worse than people expect. An electric version with anything close to the Tesla performance would be awesome - bring it on!