I've been wanting this car for over 8 years, first saw it in europe then friend has one in Canada.
I'm looking for a "green car", but with the US version requiring premium gasoline......now I'm having second thought.
Friends have them with diesel version in europe and canada, and happy with them.
I need some convincing, if this is really a "green car".
I've been wanting this car for over 8 years, first saw it in europe then friend has one in Canada.
I'm looking for a "green car", but with the US version requiring premium gasoline......now I'm having second thought.
Friends have them with diesel version in europe and canada, and happy with them.
I need some convincing, if this is really a "green car".
At least in our area, Diesel costs 40 cents/gal more than Premium. Premium means higher price, not more emissions.
Yannou, do the math. Check gas prices in your area, then figure your current yearly gas costs using the price for regular gas times your yearly miles driven divided by your car's overall miles per gallon figure. Then do the same thing for a smart getting 45 miles per gallon (unless you have a heavy foot!) using the price for premium gas. Unless you drive a motor scooter year-round you will almost certainly find that your costs will be significantly lower for the smart.
In addition, the smart is an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle, or ULEV, is nearly 100% recyclable, and is made in what many consider to be the "greenest" auto factory in the world. Some day soon we may be able to get a fully a hybrid or fully electric smart, but until that day you'll be hard pressed to find a "greener" car than a smart!
Convinced? I am!
And don't treat those mileage numbers as gospel, either, Yannou. Driving habits/style can have a big negative or big positive effect on it. In a recent post provided link, a journalist drove a Smart from San Franscisco to San Jose and back and reported his experiences fairly accurately in the article he wrote about it. On the trip he also (by mistake I think) did a back to back gas mileage test in comparing his driving habits (which yielded him 43 city, 56 hiway) to his journalist companion, Kelly, and his bad driving habits were reflected in his mileage very noticeably. (35 city, 45 Highway).
If you really like the overall *WOW* factor of the car and its features, push yourself over the edge and just buy it and don't try to over-analyze it's pros and cons. I have used this method many times in making a decision to buy or not to buy something when I found myself playing devil's advocate with myself too much.
I don't believe you will go wrong buying a Smart. It is a very well built car.
I need some convincing, if this is really a "green car".
Yannou, green does not just refer to gas mileage. It's how the car is produced (embedded energy, raw materials, etc.) and percentage of recyclable and truly usable parts at the end of the car's life. Smart seems to be built according to "cradle to cradle" standards--or at least more than any other car being produced. I am going from Prius to smart such is my belief in the greenness of this car.
Cheers!
Yannou, green does not just refer to gas mileage. It's how the car is produced (embedded energy, raw materials, etc.) and percentage of recyclable and truly usable parts at the end of the car's life. Smart seems to be built according to "cradle to cradle" standards--or at least more than any other car being produced. I am going from Prius to smart such is my belief in the greenness of this car.
Cheers!
Good for you. The batteries in the Prius are an environmental disaster waiting to happen (assuming millions of cars).
Yannou's question was not about fuel economy, but the car being "green."
Yes, Carnut, I know.....;) I was really responding to Sysyphus' post in the thread rather than to Yannou's original post. Envision the three of us standing facing each other in a circle talking about the essence of the thread----
Come on, Carnut! I know what green means....
For what it's worth, IF you use high octane, you are only spending an additional $1-2 dollars per fill up. I can live with that.
And if you use the fuel that the engine was designed for, you WILL get better mileage so that $1-$2 extra spent will most likely come back to you and maybe even more so. So I can live with that, too, as appropriately said by SmartBob.
People go nuts sometimes traveling to the gas station with the cheapest gas around not realizing that what they are spending in added traveling to the station, they are losing the savings obtained by buying the less expensive fuel. Sometimes doing the math FIRST will reveal your true costs.
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Driving habits/style can have a big negative or big positive effect on it. In a recent post provided link, a journalist drove a Smart from San Franscisco to San Jose and back and reported his experiences fairly accurately in the article he wrote about it. On the trip he also (by mistake I think) did a back to back gas mileage test in comparing his driving habits (which yielded him 43 city, 56 hiway) to his journalist companion, Kelly, and his bad driving habits were reflected in his mileage very noticeably. (35 city, 45 Highway). 
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