IEVS: Smart Pulls Plug On Electric Car Plans In U.S. & Canada

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GRA

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https://insideevs.com/news/347140/smart-pulls-plug-on-electric-car-plans-in-us-canada/

Only 1,246 models were sold last year.

Say goodbye to the Smart city car in the United States and Canada. The little two-seater runabout firm owned by Daimler will depart the U.S. / Canadian markets at the end of this year, according to a report from TechCrunch. The article cites two unnamed sources in the know about the decision, which TechCrunch then alleges was confirmed by a Daimler AG spokesperson through an email statement. Motor1.com has contacted Smart for confirmation of the report. . . .
 
And just before the 30Kwh battery and CCS upgrade. Bah. We don’t care. We love our little puddle jumper convertible. We’ll be trading it off next year on an Eplus but only because we need another 4 seat hatchback. The car has been bullet proof on every level.
 
My personal feeling is that something like the Smart, but with more range, should be the normal AV urban car-sharing vehicle given the typical occupancy of cars regardless of their size, especially during commutes. If congestion charges become widespread and are high enough (or energy prices get really high) then you might actually see bigger cars with most of their seats occupied, but it's not likely until then.

See https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicle...vehicle-occupancy-remains-unchanged-2009-2017

Commute averages are even lower.
 
This was one reason we did a lease versus purchase of our '18 smart brabus passion ED coupe -- had a feeling it would indeed be our last smart (wife still loves them -- she has a very short 7-mile R/T work commute -- lots of errands so the little smart works fine). We had one of the first smart's back in '08 when they officially brought them to the US; a 2nd one that was a cabrio and now this one. We opted for a single payment lease using the cabrio as a trade-in so have a little over 2 years left with it until MBZ gets it back -- in the summer (despite the EPA ratings) it gets upwards of 100 miles of range in suburban driving; pretty much parks anywhere and we run it almost for free (have a solar panel array at the house combined with a L2 charger we used for the LEAF). As always, many cars are suited for different types of needs -- I would wonder what will replace it once the lease has run its course; next 2 years will be quite interesting. That new Genesis Mint EV (if they actually make it) could be a possibility ...

https://jalopnik.com/the-genesis-mint-concept-is-something-very-different-fo-1834091892
 
GRA said:
My personal feeling is that something like the Smart, but with more range, should be the normal AV urban car-sharing vehicle given the typical occupancy of cars regardless of their size, especially during commutes.

The problem with the Smart here in the US is that unless you regularly park on the street in a crowded urban environment, it made no sense to buy one over a similar (or lower) priced 4 door sedan or hatchback, given the asking price. It makes sense in Europe's (and Asia's) more crowded cities, but not so much here in the US unless you live in Boston, NYC, Chicago, DC, or the central sections of Philadelphia or Baltimore.

It wasn't any more fuel efficient either, and with the included semi-automatic gearbox for the US market, drove TERRIBLY even compared to another econobox. The EV version drove MUCH better, but even though it was the only sub-$25k EV in the US, more EV buyers spent the extra $5k+ and got a Leaf instead.

Add to that Americans' natural aversion towards small cars for safety reasons (whether or not those concerns are valid) and I'm surprised it lasted in the US market as long as it did.
 
RonDawg said:
GRA said:
My personal feeling is that something like the Smart, but with more range, should be the normal AV urban car-sharing vehicle given the typical occupancy of cars regardless of their size, especially during commutes.

The problem with the Smart here in the US is that unless you regularly park on the street in a crowded urban environment, it made no sense to buy one over a similar (or lower) priced 4 door sedan or hatchback, given the asking price. It makes sense in Europe's (and Asia's) more crowded cities, but not so much here in the US unless you live in Boston, NYC, Chicago, DC, or the central sections of Philadelphia or Baltimore.

It wasn't any more fuel efficient either, and with the included semi-automatic gearbox for the US market, drove TERRIBLY even compared to another econobox. The EV version drove MUCH better, but even though it was the only sub-$25k EV in the US, more EV buyers spent the extra $5k+ and got a Leaf instead.

Add to that Americans' natural aversion towards small cars for safety reasons (whether or not those concerns are valid) and I'm surprised it lasted in the US market as long as it did.
The problem with the BEV Smart is that as you noted its greatest benefit is if you need to park on the street in an urban area, but street parking also requires curbside charging everywhere, and . . .

Car-shared AVs avoid that issue as they can be parked and charged at central points, making them much more viable, at least until all cities have curbside charging everywhere, and how likely is that?
 
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