Smart Cars in Metro Detroit: Still Smart?

Enroute to winning $448,000 on the Los Angeles set of NBC game show Deal or No Deal last October, Tommy Knowlton scored something bigger than the briefcases of buckos on offer: It looks like a dinosaur's roller skate, but runs on a 1-liter, 3-cylinder engine. It has environmental sex appeal. Oh, and it takes two of these cuties to fill one parking space.

"Before they revealed the car, they said to me, 'The challenge is, all you need to do is get in it. You have to get in and shut the door, if you can fit inside it's yours'…So I walked right down there and with ease just got in it and shut the door and they said it was mine, free and clear," recalls the pharmacy technician from Sterling Heights.

He knew the smart fortwo – at just over eight feet long and five feet wide, a weehicle by any measure – was his for the taking. He'd already comfortably slid his six-three, 400-pound frame into the two-seater on display at the Detroit auto show.

Over the last 5,000 miles on the road, he and his wheels have been regularly recognized and photographed – and admired. "All the girls think it's so cute!" he claims.

Knowlton also owns a Chrysler 300C, but commutes to work at Beaumont Hospital in his babe-magnet black Passion Coupe. Off duty, he cruises with his six-foot-plus, 300-pound buddies. (One passenger at a time, please).

A brake on gas

Bloomfield Hills-based Smart USA, a division of Penske Automotive Group, is the exclusive U.S. distributor for the brand owned by Daimler AG and manufactured in France. The ballyhoo? At EPA ratings of 33 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway, the smart fortwo gets the highest mileage of any gasoline-powered vehicle in the United States; comparable to a hybrid, but without the cost premium, Rick Cortwright, brand manager at smart center Bloomfield, says.

As such, the smart fortwo's share of the Compact Basic Car segment has nearly doubled in the U.S. – from 3.3% in March 2008 to 6.3% in March 2009, according to the Power Information Network. Parked an average of just 29 days on dealer lots, it's a top 10 hot model for March 2009.

Itty-bitty, inexpensive, and fuel-frugal are the operative words the world over. Similar in appearance but slightly larger than the smart (it holds four people), the Tata Nano, at about $2,500 the world's cheapest new car, is now available for sale exclusively in India.

Without the winning prize, the three models – the Pure Coupe, the Passion Coupe, and the Passion Cabriolet – are base priced at $12-17,000. A fully loaded Cabriolet runs just over $20,000, Cortright says. Not quite nano-level, but not otherworldly.

While cars are typically sold through an online reservation system, where $99 gets your order in with options to customize, smart center Bloomfield (Michigan's sole outlet) has stock now for clients flexible with colors and options. Delivery used to take about a year, but the economic slowdown now equates to a 5-month wait, Cortright says.

While Italy is the top market for the vehicle, in the United States "We're perfectly happy to fill 25-30,000 vehicles a year, which is what we can get in allocation from the assembly plant, and as far as Detroit is concerned it does just as well as most markets," Cortright observes. "We've sold beyond our planning volumes in Detroit. We were expecting short of 800 the first year and we sold over 800, so we're very pleased."

There is no typical buyer, he says. Baby boomers, urban dwellers, and commuters all find room in this buggy. "Something like 70% of all vehicles are driven with one occupant. It works extremely well as an add-on or second vehicle for a lot of homes."

Revving up recycling

The car, which is 95% recyclable, has a big following among green enthusiasts, Cortright adds. The entire manufacturing process is green-driven, from the construction of the plant to its exterior grounds, which eschew manicured lawns in favor of more natural vegetation, to the powder-coat painting process, which eliminates overspray.

Environmental considerations were top priority when Linda Diane Feldt, a holistic health practitioner from Ann Arbor, made her purchase decision. "I was looking for something very fuel-efficient and very safe, and then the environmental practices of how it's built and their consistency at every stage of the process was extremely impressive. And that includes the dealership, which is selling it from a LEED-certified building." She notes one drawback: the carbon footprint of shipping the car to the U.S. from France.

Her Passion Coupe is metallic blue with black exterior trim, red interior, and a WIZDOM vanity plate. She's driven her primary car about 1,600 miles thus far, at up to 38 mpg in the city. She also has a 14-year-old pickup truck, but the smart feels roomier to her. It handles well on snow and ice, and fits in parking spots half-filled with snow, she says.

Moreover, the social benefits of being the runt of the road are hardly miniscule. It helped her get a date – plus an unexpected burst of affection. A woman ran up and hugged the car when Feldt rolled into the drive-in section of Ann Arbor's Downtown Home and Garden store.

Curb appeal

Cortright says it's common to see the smart backed or pulled into a parallel parking spot; at just over eight feet, its length is similar to the width of many cars. And in 90 minutes, barely more time than it takes to change your hairstyle, the co-polymer body panels can be switched out for those of another color – a good disguise for hiding from the police.

According to Metromode's unscientific survey of the owners featured here, with 12 cubic feet of storage space, the cargo area holds everything from a gaggle of groceries to a 32-inch TV (with front seat folded flat) to a 65-pound dog. On the minus side, the car lacks a tilt wheel, armrest, cruise control, and spare tire (it comes with an air pump as a temporary fix). The plusses? All cited the interior roominess and the fun factor of ownership.

The brand has its own social networking website that serves as a hub for Michigan owners to trade tips and make play dates. At last year's Grand Prix on Belle Isle, 45 cars took a lap on the racetrack. And 80 vehicles rode in a caravan in the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Dream cruiser Mark Carlson (aka Mr. Incredible) has gotten up to 45 mpg in his Passion Coupe. It's been a heroic year for the engineer and wanna-be comedian from Bloomfield Hills. He's put 22,000 miles on his ride (including a trip to Florida); been photographed in caped costume; and completely made over his Incredible Mobile. He switched the body panels from white to red, black powder-coated the wheels, painted the brakes yellow, and added an Incredible logo and NCRDBLE license plate.

Carlson, who also owns a Jeep and two minivans, says that until 2007, his auto purchases had been strictly "pragmatic", but the smart car's entertainment value clinched the deal. While driving through Chrysler property recently, "I come to a stoplight and there are two geese by the side of the road. Their heads are following my car. Everybody looks at this car, even the geese." They didn't honk, but "they gandered."

Apparently, even the geese see that micro-compact fuel-sippers may really be overtaking our streets. Feldt hopes so, but also envisions a larger road map. "I'd like to see a combination of Zipcars, the co-ownership of larger vehicles, small cars for commuting, and access to vans and larger cars for families that need them... So a whole system that has greater mass transportation and co-using, sharing either commercially or privately, is the future. But certainly, small safe commuter cars are an essential component."
http://www.metromodemedia.com/features/smartcarsdetroit0113.aspx

Now on sale: The Tata Nano

Tata Motors has begun taking orders for its Nano minicar.

The Indian automaker on Thursday opened up its booking system for the high-profile Nano, which it has pitched as the "people's car"--a first automobile for families that, until now, have had to crowd onto a scooter. There are only approximately nine vehicles per 1,000 people in India, according to the Reuters news agency.

The deluxe version of the Tata Nano (photo from January 2008).

(Credit: Tata Motors)

Bookings will close in just more than two weeks, on April 25. The company had made application forms for bookings available at the beginning of the month and said the response has been "very encouraging."

Priced starting at about $2,000 for the standard version, the Tata Nano is a very modest machine. It's about 10 feet long, weighing in at about 1,300 pounds, and Tata says it can "comfortably" seat four adults. The top speed for the car, which has a two-cylinder, 624-cc, rear-mounted engine, is about 65 miles per hour. The gas mileage is said to be about 56 miles per gallon.

Prospective buyers seemed most attracted by the low price (only about three times that of a low-end scooter), according to a Reuters report.

"I have experienced other foreign small cars," Denis Quadros, 42, who owns a Maruti Wagon R, told Reuters. "They are expensive to maintain and consume a lot of fuel. But look at Nano's mileage, and we know Tata cars are cheaper on maintenance."

Tata plans to begin delivering the cars in July.

But even then, there could be a long wait for those who've booked a Nano order. At the end of June, Tata plans to announce the allotment of the first 100,000 cars, as determined by a computerized random selection. News agencies reported that it will likely take Tata more than a year to fill the 100,000 orders.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10216340-1.html

Segway and GM Unveil Two Wheel Electric “Car” of the Future

Is it a marketing exercise for a firm desperate to show it’s environmental and innovation credentials, or is it a clever and viable new city transport option that could be the way of the future? What are we talking about? Segway-GM’s PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Vehicle) – a two-wheeled, two-seat electric car designed to drive on its own and automatically avoid collisions.

Weighing in at just 600 pounds and powered by lithium ion batteries, the PUMA can travel 35 miles on a single four hour charge costing about $.35-.50 cents (depending on whose details you believe). Like the Segway scooter, the vehicle balances on two wheels with the help of gyros and is cutting edge in many of the “fly by wire” controls and smart electronics used. And like the Segway scooter, early adopters are likely to be niche applications – university, government and tourist campuses, traffic free towns as found in middle European states and possibly more environmentally focused city states like Singapore. But we would like to see how the two wheeler copes with the ice and snow of a Chicago winter (not to mention the horrendous potholes!) before hailing this as the transport system of the future. However in the right environment we could see cities semi-pedestrianizing parts of the city centers for walking, cycling and vehicles of this type. Segway has produced and delivered some 60,000 electric scooters since inception in 2002, so they know a thing or two about lithium ion battery supply and management technologies. With GM’s backing, and a new administration keen to develop green initiatives one can forgive a little hype in their promotional material. The vehicle is a fully functioning prototype at the moment and not set to go on sale before 2012 when the cost is predicted to be 25-35% of the price of a small automobile.

http://agmetalminer.com/2009/04/09/segway-and-gm-unveil-two-wheel-electric-car-of-the-future/

Tata Nano test drive: why world's cheapest car should silence the cynics

You might not expect the world's cheapest car to be a looker, but the sight of a canary-yellow Nano pottering along India's streets turned plenty of heads this afternoon.

The admiring glances – from cheering schoolchildren, sleepy-looking bullock-cart drivers and gawping motorists – probably owed as much to the relentless hype that has surrounded the vehicle’s launch as to its snub-nosed aesthetics

But many people who have seen the car in the flesh do consider it “cute” – even saying that the styling compares favourably with many hot-hatches costing several times as much. If tiny, bumper car-esque motors are your thing, you’ll probably like it a lot.

It’s only when you climb into the cabin, however, that the Nano really comes into its own. The most pleasant surprise is the amount of space inside. The car is more than capable of accommodating four “healthy” six-footers, though at a cost – a serious lack of luggage space. The boot has a volume of 130 litres, enough for a couple of modest overnight bags. Also, it’s only accessible by folding down the rear seats and not from outside. The Nano, it turns out, isn’t a hatchback, and it isn’t built for touring.

With the engine weight being in the rear, the non-power steering is responsive enough (there’s supposed to be a bit of understeer, apparently, to suit inexperienced drivers). The four-speed gearbox does its job with a minimum of fuss. The turning circle – at eight metres – is a joy.

The ride quality isn’t bad either, even on India’s less-than-pristine roads, which is impressive when you consider that the Nano is travelling on a set of rather diminutive 12-inch wheels. At higher speeds there is a fair amount of vibration and the noise levels rise quickly. There’s also a bit of a roll on cornering (probably because the Nano is surprisingly tall) – but what did you expect for £1,400 plus taxes and extras?

The one serious drawback is the lack of pick-up from the 624cc two-cylinder engine. Tata says that the Nano wields enough clout (it puts out 35bhp) to keep pace with Indian traffic, and that was true on the congested streets of Pimpri, the town where the Nano testing centre is located. It has a top speed of 106kph and can reach 100kph in 29.7 seconds.

But I wouldn’t want to have to rely on it to keep me out of trouble on one of India’s highways (such as the one back from Pimpri to my home in Mumbai, which has been named “the death highway” after a string of serious accidents).

The first version of the Nano that The Times drove was the top-end LX model, which comes with front power windows, air-conditioner, central locking and sunvisors. The finishing of the trim on our pre-production model was OK – about right for the price, of about 180,000 rupees [£2,480] (the exact cost depends on where you live in India).

Later, we took the base model (the true Nano, if you like – the one that costs 100,000 rupees ex factory) for a quick spin. It really is a no-frills car. The lack of air conditioning was felt immediately as the temperature climbed into the 90s on the afternoon of our drive.

So was the absence of sunvisors, which came close to feeling like a cost cut too far, given India's climate.

So, would I buy one? Well, no – but I’m not the target market. The Nano is a good city car, but is not enough fun to drive (unless you really, really enjoy pulling very tight U-turns) to snap one up for the motoring experience. And though it is built solidly enough and marvellous for the price, I’ve some reservations about that tiny engine.

It is, however, most definitely a proper car – not the 600cc rollerskate that handles like a cardboard box that so many cynics had forecast and the fuel economy, at about 18 kilometres per litre, is excellent. The lower-specification models cost about three times as much as a good 100cc motorbike, which still makes it a steep trade-up for its target audience – aspiring middle-class families who are currently travelling on two wheels. But it’s hard to imagine them not wanting one.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6002338.ece

China Set to Corner Electric Car Market

Getting out of the economic recession is one thing. Staying out is another. A key factor in sustained economic health may well be the ability to lead in new, clean technologies -- and the wherewithal to unshackle economies from the burdens of expensive and volatile fossil fuels in so doing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that clean energy and efficiency will provide the economic engine to get us out of the recession and the stability to stay out.

With that in mind, here's another installment in my campaign against the "China Scapegoat Syndrome" when it comes to smart energy policy (you've heard the common refrain: "why should the US do anything about emissions if China and India keep burning coal and growing their populations? It's not fair!")

Well, I have little doubt that when China captures the market in clean energy technologies ahead of everybody else, the very same people might be saying the same thing: it's not fair!

So we might take heed when we see that China is positioned to become a leading producer of clean vehicles.
http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2009/04/03/china-set-to-corner-electric-car-market