Smart News

The new Smart ForTwo is expected to be more rounded than the current model, which has always looked like a telephone box with wheels.

Late last year they wowed the 2010 Australian International Motor Show crowd with the Jaffa – a bright orange C63 AMG. This year they’ve rolled out the attention-getting livery again. On a Smart Fortwo. Christened the Jaffette – of course -- the juicy limited edition is being offered with a ‘night orange’ pack that includes sports steering wheel and gear shift know in black nappa leather, matt-finish and black accents and orange stitching and trim strips. The package has a total value of $4800 but adds only $2800 to the normal price $19,990 of the Fortwo mhd (micro-hybrid drive), making a RRP of $22,790. The little city car’s stop-start mhd system makes it one of the lowest emission petrol vehicles for sale in Australia with a C02 rating of 100g/km and a combined fuel consumption of 4.4L/100km). Mercedes-Benz sees the car as a close relation to Jaffa, and has ordered in a crate of 15. “ We got a fantastic response to our bright orange C63 AMG known as “Jaffa” last year at AIMS,” managing director Horst von Sanden says. “Whilst the ‘night orange’ smart fortwo has significantly less power than the “Jaffa” it has 100% of its street presence. It was a no-brainer for us to order 15 for Australia. It is truly a sibling of Jaffa.”

Then we head north in a Holden Cruze and Mitsubishi ASX, looking to see how far this pair can go on a single take of fuel.  Ed Ordynski is in the ASX and I have the Cruze, holding  the trip computer just over 6 litres/100km as Ordynski - expert driver - is below 5 litres/100km.The first stop is just outside Port Pirie after 250 kilometres and the figures are 5.3 and 4.2, as we battle wind and rain.  A lunch stop in Waikerie - about 530km into the journey - and then a turn south to follow the Murray both cars maintain sub-6 readings - the ASX in the region of 4.5 and the Cruze 5.5 litres per 100km as we pass the 700km mark near Murray Bridge.The weather worsens as we follow the river south through 730km at Wellington."The ASX was more adversely affected by that, it was 0.3 litres/100km worse off - we did what you need to do into a headwind and that was reduce the speed a little," Ordynski says.Running down through the southern foothills to complete our 1000km journey we return the tanks to full. There are still 15 litres in the Mitsubishi's 60-litre tank, but my Cruze is almost on fumes.  But after thirteen hours of "real-world" driving we have hit our 1000-kilometre target."I would drive like that with people on board and not be embarrassed," Ordynski says.  "You win on fuel use and emissions as well, with 2kg of CO2 for every litre of fuel, you win on maintenance and longevity of the vehicle by driving it kindly as well, it's hard to see a downside."Ed Ordynski’s Fuel TipsLevel 1. Overall factors1. Plan when you need to use your car to avoid unnecessary journeys.2. Plan your journey to avoid peak hour and congested roads.3. Measure your fuel consumption and take pride in reducing it.4. Choose an energy efficient vehicle.Level 2. Anyone can try1. Concentrate on driving smoothly and anticipate traffic flow to conserve momentum.2. Keep tyre pressures at maximum recommended.3. Avoid any excess weight in the vehicle and remove accessories which affect the aerodynamics (e.g. roof racks).4. Choose a manual transmission and learn to drive it properly for optimum fuel efficiency.Level 3. Hard-core methods1. Avoid use of airconditioning and keep windows closed.2. Do not use cruise control but do focus on keeping a constant speed and conserving momentum.3. Drive at low speed - most cars are at their most efficient at around 75km/h in top gear.4. Drive off as soon as the engine is started, especially from a cold start.GREEN STARSMake-model weight price combined fuel con1. Mitsubishi -MiEV 980kg $leased 02. Toyota Prius 1370kg $39,990 3.93. Smart Fortwo 750kg $19,9904.44. Honda Insight 1205kg $29,9904.65. Suzuki Alto 880kg $11,790 4.8GREEN DUDS1. Ferrari 599 1690kg $677,250 21.32. Ferrari 612 1849kg $698,000 20.73. Nissan Patrol 4.8 2440kg $75,690 17.24. Maserati GT S Coupe 1880kg $345,900 16.65. Mercedes ML 500 2148kg $132,400 16.5

Two new Smart cars are on the boil as Daimler of Germany leverages a new tie-up with Nissan-Renault. There will be two cars for two continents but only one is likely to make it to Australia. "There is a tie-up with Nissan to build a car for the USA and another with Renault for Europe," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia. He is short on detail because the future models are still on the secret list, but admits there are rumours that the American car will be a four-seater twinned with the new Nissan Micra and the European model will share with the next Renault Twingo. "We really have nothing to say yet," says McCarthy. But it's unlikely that Smart will ever grow to the multi-car lineup originally planned for the brand. At one time there were ForTwo, ForFour and Roadster models in showrooms with a compact SUV also in the planning. Prices were too high and sales were too low - although the Brabus ForFour which sold at $40,000 still brings $30,000 for secondhand sales - to sustain a stand-alone brand. Instead, Benz cut the Smart line right back to the ForTwo and decided it would be used as an entry to the Mercedes-Benz lineup. As well as a way of spreading development costs and bringing an emissions credit from the baby cars to benefit the whole Daimler lineup. While the ForTwo is certain for Australia there is also the possibility of electric scooters under the Smart brand, following a two-wheeled preview at the Paris Motor Show last month. "It gives a clue. We've got to find someone to build it," says McCarthy. While the future cars are some way away, the existing Smart ForTwo is heading for a major makeover including smoother bodywork and daytime running lamps. It will arrive in Australia early next year following a preview last month in Germany. "We will have the ForTwo in the first quarter. It should be February," says McCarthy. But, as Smart is being renewed, Mercedes-Benz has axed the baby A-Class in Australia. "It's no longer part of the catalogue. But there will be another A- Class and it will return," says McCarthy. "We decided to concentrate on the B-Class and our decision has been vindicated by the sales. Last month it actually led its class in the small segment, with 237 sales against the Audi A3 at 137, and we've outsold the Mini and 1 BMW Series year-to-date. B-class sales are significantly higher today than A and B were together."

Hybrid cars and plans are popping up everywhere, from Porsche and Ferrari at the top end in Europe to the dozens of enthusiastic new carmakers led by Geely and BYD - the name means Build Your Dreams - in China.  We are also seeing far more efficiency in everyday petrol-powered cars, with a range of new technologies to boost economy and cut emissions.A growing number of new cars are now arriving with engine-stop systems for traffic-light efficiency, as well as driver-advisor systems to help pick the right gear. There is an Audi A4 in the Carsguide garage this week which does both and, even with a turbocharged petrol engine, is running fuel economy in the 7 litres/100km range.There is much more to come on the petrol-power front and the Toyota Prius, perhaps surprisingly since it's a hybrid, shows the way. Its 1.8-litre petrol engine is the first in the world without any sort of power-sapping drive belt for the parasitic add-ons, with electrically operated power steering and airconditioning, an on-demand alternator and an electric water pump.Expect all this, and soon, on cars for you.  Diesel engine development is going ahead very rapidly with most European brands - Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz among them - touting some sort of Blue technology. So blue is the new green for diesels.The best new diesels are much quieter than in the past and, thanks to the massive advantages of turbocharging, they have huge pulling power. Torque rules in the real world, where you need punch for overtaking and stoplight drags, and that makes diesels the surprising performance choice for a growing range of vehicles.It's easy to go on and on about the engine changes, from Benz's switch from superchargers to turbochargers and BMWs impressive efficiency developments to the small-capacity winners from brands such as Nissan, but the long-term green path is into electric cars.  Australia has yet to see its first commercial electric car but the race is really on now, with Mitsubishi and Tesla expected to both have plug-in cars on the road before the end of the year.An electric Smart will arrive sometime in 2011 and Subaru is keen to have a battery car in Australia as soon as possible, with other brands also working on plans.  But the green machine will run off the rails if governments do not act - and act soon - to give them support. Electric cars need plug-in points, but that's the obvious and easy stuff being pushed today by the Better Place organisation and many others.The real key to sales of electric cars is some sort of Federal incentive, like the ones in Europe and the USA. Nobody by a full-on greenie is going to pay around $70,000 for a Mitsubishi iMiEV when a petrol-powered Colt, which is a similar size and does a similar job, starts from $15,740.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

They want Canberra to make a commitment similar to the ones in many other countries, including the recent 5000 pound ($8200) incentive provided by the British government to buyers of plug-in electric cars.The latest British commitment follows support deals in most European countries, from Spain-France-Italy to Sweden-Finland-Denmark. Converts to electric cars in the USA also get a tax break worth between $2500 and $7500 ($2765-8295), depending on the capacity of the battery."Pretty much everywhere else in the world is paying a subsidy. The government needs to look at a general subsidy. That is the only way you're going to get ordinary people into the cars," says David McCarthy of Mercedes-Benz Australia, which intends to have an electric Smart ForTwo in its lineup in 2011. "We'd like to think we can get the electric Smart next year, and Mercedes-Benz is also doing a test on an electric Vito van."Mitsubishi is also pushing hard on the electric front with its iMiEV, as Nissan works towards local sales of the Leaf and Subaru crunches numbers on its plug-in Stella and BMW Group considers both the Mini-E and a plug-in 1 Series.McCarthy says the Smart should be one of the first battery cars on Australian roads but Mercedes-Benz wants to see a commitment from government at all levels. "The running costs on these cars are low, but they are expensive to buy. We don't have an indication yet on the price of the Smart, but it isn't going to be cheap so people do need some encouragement," he says.Most of the planning electric cars will be in the $50,000-$60,000 range in Australia, even though most are tiny city runabouts and several contenders only have two seats. Mitsubishi is planning to join Mercedes in lobbying the Federal government, most likely through the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries."There is an electric vehicle working group in the FCAI, but I don't think the lobbying has started yet," McCarthy says.

While starting from a higher base of CO2 emissions, companies such as Ferrari have made the biggest improvements, according to automotive data and intelligence provider, JATO Dynamics.Ferrari leads the CO2 volume reduction race, with a 40.4g/km improvement in CO2 output so far this year. This is the greatest volume reduction of any brand on sale in Europe and represents a 9.5 per cent improvement. Ferrari's net reduction puts it well on its way to achieving its stated aim to reduce CO2 emissions from 400g/km per vehicle to 280-300g/km, by 2012.While Ferrari can claim the greatest CO2 volume reduction, when expressed as percentage improvement, it is Alpina that is the outright best performer, although on a small sales base.The next best in percentage improvement is Porsche with 10.6 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, 96 per cent of the top 25 brands of European new cars sold so far this year have reduced CO2 output by an average of 6.2g/km.New car sales for Smart, Fiat and MINI are already under the 130g/km CO2 average required under EU legislation by 2015. The outright biggest improvement of all mainstream marques over the past year belongs to Alfa Romeo, whose average new car CO2 output fell by 19.9g/km.The top spot is taken by Chevrolet, whose diesel Cruze model and three-cylinder, 0.8-litre, 119g/km Matiz helped its new car sales to a 15.2g/km average CO2 improvement. Second is Audi, whose 2.0-litre TDi engine helped it to an average of 163g/km. Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai and Mazda also recorded double-digit improvements. Ford was best of the biggest European volume sellers, improving average CO2 by 8g/km as its ECOnetic range.The cleanest of the range is the new 98 g/km Fiesta ECOnetic which is yet to be released here.However, Ford Australia is bringing the car out for next month's 3000km Global Green Challenge trial from Darwin to Adelaide. 

A $1 billion network of plug-in charge points will be built around the country under a plan developed by American environmental pioneer Shai Agassi and backed by AGL Energy and the Macquarie Capital finance group.More than 200,000 charging points will be installed at homes, offices and shopping centres in a local development of a program already underway in Israel and Norway. And there are also plans for quick-change sites where the next generation of electric cars can stop for a quick turnaround to a fully-charged battery pack.The move comes as Mitsubishi prepares for sales of Australia's first plug-in electric car, its baby I-Miev, from 2009 and Mercedes-Benz promises an electric Smart Fortwo in 2010 with a similar power pack in its A and B-Class cars just a year later.Israel has already signed an exclusive deal with the Renault-Nissan alliance, which is producing cars specifically for the country following Agassi's development through his Better Place organisation."Electric cars are going to be such a big part of the future of motoring," says David McCarthy, the spokesman for Daimler in Australia.Other carmakers are sure to follow, with BMW Group about to go public with its Mini E for the USA next month, although others are not convinced.Toyota is steering clear of pure electric vehicles in Australia because of its commitment to hybrids, including the upcoming petrol-electric Camry, and also because it is against the burning of coal to generate electricity.Honda, another fan of hybrids, says it does not have a plug-in electric car for Australia."So far as we know, there is nothing under development in Japan," says Lindsay Smalley, the top Australian at Honda Australia."Something could be happening, but for the moment we have no plan to bring electric cars to Australia."But the electric car grid is likely to accelerate the acceptance of battery-powered cars, particularly as the Mini E is promised with a 200-plus kilometre range which would satisfy almost all urban commuters.The early focus in Agassi's plan is Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with Adelaide and Perth to follow sometime after 2012."We call it a ubiquitous charging network across the cities. It's a massive infrastructure project ... and that means new jobs for Australians," Agassi says.Payment for the system would be similar to a mobile-phone contract, although some European cities are experimenting with a parking-meter style plan for their electric power points.The Better Place program will emphasise the use of renewable power, a link also being pushed by AGL.Full details of the plan are still being finalised, but it is backed by the Victorian government and the Federal government is assisting with a national agreement - similar to the Australia-wide rollout of fibre-optic cabling - on the system."The Victorian government supports any initiative that will have positive outcomes in reducing emissions in the transport sector and I welcome this innovative approach to help make broad adoption of electric vehicles in Australia possible,” says the Victorian Premier, John Brumby.

Smart ForTwo electric car, undergoing trials in UK it is a possibility for release early 2010.A plug-in Smart car will race a baby Mitsubishi to become the first all-electric showroom contender in Australia.The battery-powered Smart ForTwo is already undergoing trials in Britain and the worldwide head of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, says there is a very good chance it willcome to Australia.The timing could be in the back end of 2009 or early in 2010, which means the ForTwo will be fighting for first with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which Mitsubishi Motors Australia chief Rob McEniry is fast-tracking for Australia — and the worse-case scenario for its delivery is some time in 2012.Mercedes-Benz is making a strong electric push with the Smart, which will be followed by battery-powered A-Class and B-Class compacts.“This idea is not totally out of the possibilities. We have not made final decisions,” is the non-committal response from Zetsche on the electric Smart during a one-day visit to Australia.“We won't go to all countries. It is a reasonable possibility it could come to Australia.”But the plug-in Smart is more than just a possibility, as Mercedes-Benz pushes hard on electric cars. It is already leasing a trial fleet and is preparing for full-scale production.Zetsche says Benz will abandon the twin-floor chassis design it pioneered as a safety move on the original A-Class when the car is renewed in 2010, but left the way open for a similar approach for electric operation.He says there will be four different body styles, not just A and B hatches, but refuses to give any detail on the potential for a coupe, sedan or wagon.Zetsche is bullish about Smart, which has come back from a near-death expansion plan to a successful model built around the tiny ForTwo.“It is the CO2 champion. So I'm very glad with where we are today. In the US we don't know how to deal with the demand,” Zetsche says. “It's always a question of perspective. For now it is all and before it was nothing. We just built more andmore problems.“Today we are making money with Smart.”The electric trial will step up in the UK with theproduction of 1000 customer cars and these could open the door for a battery-powered ForTwo in Australia.“Towards the end of next year we will see another 1000. The earliest possibility would be one of that 1000,” Zetsche says.“If that is not the outcome, thelatest would be two or three years later whenwe see high production.” 

The all-new Smart Fortwo will arrive in Australia this month with a starting price tag of $19,990, offering two body styles and two more powerful engines. Both 52kW and 62kW versions of the coupe and cabrio will be available from later this month, powered by a 1.0-litre in-line three cylinder engine.The 62kW version features a turbocharger, increasing the torque to 120Nm, compared with the non-turbo's 92Nm.The new price for the two-seater is just a $90 increase over the existing model, but also offers additional equipment. Included as standard are four airbags instead of two, a rev counter and clock on the dash, steering wheel gearshift paddles and an automatic door lock function.While the 52kW coupe comes in at $19,990, the cabrio model sits at $22,990. The turbo 62kW version adds $2000 to both prices.The Smart Fortwo coupe consumes a claimed 4.7-litres per 100km, while the cabrio records 4.9-litres per 100km. Other standard equipment includes stability control, ABS and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution.