smart Goes Electric with fortwo ev

Electrifying smart ev Gets the Green Light

The smart fortwo, a truly iconic machine known around the world for its diminutive size, has slowly been changing the face of motoring. Its offered in most markets with two different engines, an inline three-cylinder gasoline turbo and a turbodiesel.� In practice the 799 cubic-centimeter turbodiesel, the only engine available in North America from a car company that only sells its wares in the quirky Canadian market, works very well; it makes the fortwo one of the most fuel efficient vehicles to roam the streets. But that hasnt stopped smart from pressing

smarts managed to make the already incredibly efficient fortwo even more efficient. (Photo: smart)

on with an even more efficient power source for its ever-important fortwo.

During December of last year, smarts parent company, DaimlerChrysler, rolled out five different alternative fuel smarts. These models include the Crosstown and Micro-Hybrid, both of which are gasoline-electric hybrids, plus a cdi hybrid which mates the existing diesel engine to a mild hybrid system, as

Out of the five different alternative fuel concepts, only the ev made the cut. (Photo: smart)

well as a cng-powered model capable of accepting natural gas or straight pump gasoline. And then there was the smart ev (ev standing for electric vehicle). At their introduction, DaimlerChrysler had little to say about these environmentally friendly bite-sized autos. That is, until now.

Starting later this year, smart announced that it would be doing a 200 unit trial run of the pure-electric smart ev. It is to Europe what the GM EV1 was to North America; a real, mass-market production electric automobile. The fortwo is a tiny vehicle by international

This cleverly disguised fuel filler plug-in is the only visual difference. (Photo: smart)

standards, as small as, and in some cases smaller than some current production electric vehicles on Europes roads. Measuring in at 98.4 in, which is about the same as the Riva G-Wiz, its shorter than the Canadian-built ZENN (Zero Emission No Noise) car.

Page: 1 2

ADD TO:

Digg

Del.icio.us

Google

Blink

Furl

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

Your Comments

Enter review title	Choose a star rating	Type in your review
Your Name (optional)	Your Email (optional)

Relatd Vehicle Listings

User Tools

	Discuss in our Forums

	Photos of smart

	Print this Auto News

	Email this Auto News

NEW smart PRICE QUOTE

Get a FREE, No-Obligation Internet Price Quote for smart !


Find smart Dealer \| Search Auto Listings for smart

Acura Audi Bentley BMW Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Daewoo Dodge Eagle Ferrari Ford Geo GMC Honda Hummer Hyundai Infiniti Isuzu Jaguar Jeep Kia Lamborghini Lexus Lincoln Lotus Maserati Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mercury MINI Mitsubishi Nissan Oldsmobile Plymouth Pontiac Porsche Saab Saturn Scion Subaru Suzuki Toyota Volkswagen Volvo