Electric Smart Car by Mercedes/Daimler

The Smart car has plenty of room for two

You just plug it in like a vacuum cleaner
to charge it. 

In the next few years - Germany is going to flood the car market with electric cars. They are running away from the image they created by cheating on the diesel emissions test. 

One of my favorites is the electric Smart Car. They have bee making this tiny - 8 foot long Smart Car over here for 25 years. It is a tiny two seater - normally powered by a small gasoline engine. they now offer it with batteries and an electric motor. 

While at the music festival this weekend - they had some kind of driver challenge. Since I do not understand the language - I am guessing you were allowed to take it for a test drive for an hour. They had a row of them - on chargers - and people taking them for a drive. When it was my turn - I was turned down because I did not have something on it with my name and a local address. Lulu said I should have whipped out my Coal Cracker Web Card. I didn't. I got to sit inside one of these cars and it was pretty neat. 

First off - the best part - it is just 8 feet long. With that size - there is plenty of room for two big Americans - just not much else. The cabin was finished very nicely. It supposedly has an 80 mile range - I am guessing it is close. They are available all over Europe - and also for sale in California and Oregon. The sticker price is $25,000 - with a US Federal Tax Rebate - it is down to $17,500. 

My problem is - I already have a very nice 2012 Nissan Leaf with only 40,000 miles on it. The book says it is only worth $6000. It does have a full back seat and hatchback. It is our around Tallahassee car. It gets maybe 50 miles on a charge - we seldom go anywhere near that far with it. 

The Smart Car comes in hardtop - convertible - or sunroof. 

The electric has plenty of torque and a top speed of 90 MPH. The gasoline version costs less - but there is no federal income tax credit. 

At the music fair they had free test drives

Nice big seats - tiny shift lever

8 feet long - you can park it sideways.