451 smart fortwo

Ptero incurs the wrath of GM, yuppie hypermilers and makes the Most Wanted list!

2011-12-22T04:37:13.923Z

Renewable energy-powered Trabant - no history of garage fires
Where's the rest of the car? Go here [url]http://youtu.be/W2VBH9KRbYA[/url]

Chevy Volt Costing Taxpayers Up to $250K Per Vehicle
Analyst: 'This might be the most government-supported car since the Trabant'
By TOM GANTERT Dec. 21, 2011
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/16192

Each Chevy Volt sold thus far may have as much as $250,000 in state and federal dollars in incentives behind it – a total of $3 billion altogether, according to an analysis by James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Hohman looked at total state and federal assistance offered for the development and production of the Chevy Volt, General Motors’ plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. His analysis included 18 government deals that included loans, rebates, grants and tax credits. The amount of government assistance does not include the fact that General Motors is currently 26 percent owned by the federal government.

The Volt subsidies flow through multiple companies involed in production. The analysis includes adding up the amount of government subsidies via tax credits and direct funding for not only General Motors, but other companies supplying parts for the vehicle. For example, the Department of Energy awarded a $105.9 million grant to the GM Brownstown plant that assembles the batteries. The company was also awarded approximately $106 million for its Hamtramck assembly plant in state credits to retain jobs. The company that supplies the Volt’s batteries, Compact Power, was awarded up to $100 million in refundable battery credits (combination tax breaks and cash subsidies). These are among many of the subsidies and tax credits for the vehicle.

It’s unlikely that all the companies involved in Volt production will ever receive all the $3 billion in incentives, Hohman said, because many of them are linked to meeting various employment and other milestones. But the analysis looks at the total value that has been offered to the Volt in different aspects of production – from the assembly line to the dealerships to the battery manufacturers. Some tax credits and subsidies are offered for periods up to 20 years, though most have a much shorter time frame.

GM has estimated they’ve sold 6,000 Volts so far. That would mean each of the 6,000 Volts sold would be subsidized between $50,000 and $250,000, depending on how many government subsidy milestones are realized.

If battery manufacturers awarded incentives to produce batteries the Volt may use are included in the analysis, the potential government subsidy per Volt increases to $256,824. For example, A123 Systems has received extensive state and federal support, and bid to be a supplier to the Volt, but the deal instead went to Compact Power. The $256,824 figure includes adding up the subsidies to both companies.

The $3 billion total subsidy figure includes $690.4 million offered by the state of Michigan and $2.3 billion in federal money. That’s enough to purchase 75,222 Volts with a sticker price of $39,828.

Additional state and local support provided to Volt suppliers was not included in the analysis, Hohman said, and could increase the level of government aid. For instance, the Volt is being assembled at the Poletown plant in Detroit/Hamtramck, which was built on land acquired by General Motors through eminent domain.

“It just goes to show there are certain folks that will spend anything to get their vision of what people should do,” said State Representative Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills. “It’s a glaring example of the failure of central planning trying to force citizens to purchase something they may not want. … They should let the free market make those decisions.”

“This might be the most government-supported car since the Trabant,” said Hohman, referring to the car produced by the former Communist state of East Germany.

According to GM CEO Dan Akerson, the average Volt owner makes $170,000 per year.
__________________________________________________

Revision of my previous post based on the above analysis

It is ludicrous to suggest that the Chevy Volt, which cost over $250,000 in taxpayer investment plus $41,000 retail, a total of $291.000, saves owners money over similar gas vehicles which are priced about one-seventeenth as much.

Saving gas with a Volt

Instead of buying a Chevy Volt, I paid about $14,000 for my Smart Car.
That means I saved more than $277,000 over buying a Volt.
What will my odometer read when I spend as much money on the Smart Car as I would have spent on the Volt?

$277,000 / $4 gal = 69,250 gallons

Let's see, I get 50 miles per gallon - but let's go with the EPA 41 mpg

69,250 gal x 41 = 2,839,250 miles
[B]This is how many miles I can drive my Smart Car before I have spent as much money as it cost to deliver a new Chevy Volt with zero miles on it.[/B]

Yeah. I can save a lot of money on gas with a Volt. Right.

Then there's this. I drive about 15,000 miles per year. But let's call it 20,000.

2,839,000 / 20,000 = 142 years. How long is the warranty on that lithium battery pack?

They forced me to be an unwilling partner in financing a car that only a bunch of idiots would buy.

But if my father, God rest his soul, had read this, he would have had a heart attack to learn how the government had devalued his savings by printing money to foster their poorly-thought out pet projects.

If battery tech had had commercial potential, it would have been marketed by the private sector without government incentives long before now.

Think about this. Say your Volt gets 60 (EPA combined) MPG and you go 2,839,000 miles.

2,839,000 mi / 60 MPG = 47,317 gallons

$4 gal x 47317 gal = $189,267 in fuel cost

So in the end, the Volt, having traveled exactly as far as the Smart Car, cost $291,000 + $189,267 = $480,267
And the Smart Car cost $14,000 + (69,250 gal x $4) = $291,000

The per mile cost for the Volt would be $480,267 / 2,839,000 = 16.93 cents per mile
While the cost per mile for the Smart Car is $291,000 / 2,839,000 = 10.25 cents per mile

The philosophy of CleanMPG is to save money and fuel, right?
The Smart Car wins hands-down over the Chevy Volt in saving money.
But what about gas?
The Volt saved 69,250 - 47317 = 21,933 gallons over 142 years BUT AT NO MONETARY SAVINGS.

Then there is the rather serious question about well to wheels efficiency.
What did it cost in fuel to mine the lithium in South America, ship it to South Korea to make the batteries then ship them to Detroit?
What did it cost in fuel to mine the copper, rare earths and assemble the motor and management systems? And so on.
And, of course, how many times and how much more would it cost to replace the Volt's battery packs over 142 years? We forgot to factor that in. Duh...
The Smart Car incurred none of these costs. No taxpayer was forced to fork over a cent of hard-won money for me to drive my Smart Car.

And the most horrible truth is that I get my savings on the highway, going places. Your Phev has to stay near home to get its "spectacular" savings. Out on the open road, there's no way you can get better mileage than the Smart Car lugging a heavier vehicle with a useless battery pack around. So do I believe the numbers I just posted? Heck no. I think the Smart Car slaughters the Chevy Volt in the real world.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=328778#post328778

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42178

OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Running front tires on front AND rear

2011-09-30T01:51:54.389Z

I finally got two spares with new thin Contis so I'm taking off the stupid worn-out fat wheels they put on the back and mounting four of these high-mileage beauties for real performance. Now I can rotate my tires like a real car and maybe fabricate some wheel skirts for better aerodynamics. Don't tell me I'll roll it. It ain't a Corvair and I don't drive it like some of you nuts who think the worlds best economy car is supposed to be driven like a Corvette. Besides, it's got a built-in roll cage so I ain't scared.

5 door Smart Barge

2010-10-07T01:33:31.020Z

Smart barge coming to USA.

What a dumb idea.

Smart to sell Nissan-built small car in U.S. next year

[email protected]">Dave Versical
and [email protected]">James B. Treece
Automotive News -- October 6, 2010

Installing and Evaluating an Ultra-Gauge on a Smart Car

2010-09-19T14:53:03.430Z

Ultra-Gauge

Got the little gizmo today (Wednesday) after ordering it on Sunday. Nice package. Took one look at the windshield mounting thingie and pulled out my Leatherman. I hate suction cups. Hate 'em. I never stick crap to my windshield. Made a deep cut in the suction cup about half an inch from the center and cut a doughnut hole. Pulled out the doughnut and tossed it. So much for the warranty....

On the Smart Car, on the dash between the speedometer and the center A/C console, is a narrow area of fabric that is exactly the width of the domed area on the suction cup base. I slid the lips of the base under the edge of the speedo housing and the console and pulled it down to the lip of the dash. Then I locked down the little lever to make it tight. It worked pretty well. Pretty solid. Very nice appearance! Absolute perfect placement, at 2 o'clock, halfway between the wheel and the dash, just above the airflow of the left center vent, couldn't ask for a better location in three dimensions. Absolutely perfect! Same color, too, as Smart black plastic. And this is weird, the LEDs are the same color as the lights on the cheapo marine radio I got from West Marine! Gotta tuck that long cord somewhere, tho. I'll try to route it through the A/C cover into the interior of the dash but the plug may be too big.

If you find yourself in a high crime area, it's easy to pop the Ultra-Gauge off its 4-fingered mount with your fingernail if you drink lotsa milk, then you can tuck it into the nook just below the mount. If you don't have a Smart Car, I don't know what you'll do. Something different. Stand in the bushes with a ballpeen hammer, maybe. Specially since the thing stays on for a while after you pull the key, announcing to the world in big blue letters, "Steal me, I'm a brain puzzle for crackheads." In fact, the Ultra-Gauge would make a great practical joke for these dimwits. "Hey, dude, I'll sell you dis GPS for 20 bucks." "Dat's not a GPS!" "Yeah 'tis." "No 'taint. Lookit dah plug. Wats dat?" "I dunno. Gimme ten." "I ain't givin' ya ten. Whaddafok's it?" "I dunno. Gimme five." "I ain't givin' ya five. Whaddafok's it?" "I dunno. Somekinda stoopid GPS thing."

The LOAD GAUGE (upper left) reads 41.2 at idle with the air conditioning on (red light, center console). The TEMP GAUGE (upper right) reads 134.6 F because the car is warming up and has been idiling for about three minutes. The INSTANTANEOUS GALLONS PER HOUR GAUGE (lower left) reads 0.3 with the a/c on. With the a/c off, it reads 0.2. The AVERAGE GPH GAUGE (lower right) reads 0,6, possibly reflecting more gas used during the cold start and a/c activation than at this stage. You can program three separate displays with four gauges each (of 49 available for the Smart Car), and page between them by either pushing a button on the back or activating the auto-paging feature. Note that I have just crashed into a residential hedgerow because I was fiddling around with the Ultra-Gauge rather than watching where I was going. Plastic cars are surprisingly resiliant!

I gently plugged it in to the watchyamacallit plug and the Ultra-Gauge lit up. Nice and bright. Really easy to read. Really a pleasant surprise. Then it gives me 49 friggin' gauges! Whaddam I gonna do with 49 friggin' gauges? It's a lot bigger than I expected. Everybody in giant gas hogs said it was smaller than they expected. I'm in a Smart Car. I do calisthenics to scratch my ass. The thing's gigantic. Glad I didn't get the Scangauge. My old eyes like the big old letters, way bigger than the letters on the speedo! Easy to read even on bumpy pavement. Easy to mess with with one hand. I think we're going to be friends.

Didn't find the rebate form as tiresome as some. Super effort went into their web site. Very classy, well laid out. The forum is a joke, tho. The one at Wayne's CleanMPG.com is a lot better. Lotsa geeky guys over here, too, who'll want to screw around with the damn thing and do rocket science on it. Same as here, most likely. My only problem was calibration. I'm trapped in a city with nowhere to go. Gotta find some highway markers. It said I was getting over 1000 MPG . Don't really give a damn about Instantaneous MPG anyway. Gave up on that for now. Much more interested in the LOAD GAUGE. Want to get down to the nuts and bolts of hypermiling. I looked at all those crazy gauges until my head was spinnin', then I stuck up the LOAD GAUGE, TEMP GAUGE, INSTANTANEOUS GPH and AVERAGE GPH. I'm gonna play with just them for a while.

DAY 2 LOAD GAUGE... what the heck is that?
First real drive with the Ultra-Gauge. Never used a Scangauge. Never liked the looks of them. 'Fraid it might talk to me in assembly language or something green. I hate green. Reminds me of that first generation of monotone computer monitors. Got a dual pyrometer on my Jag, tho, so there. Even an Ultra-Gauge ain't that sexy.

Didn't bother with the calibration. Too much trouble. Want to mess with the load gauge. It's 85 degrees out. Just let the car idle. Load gauge says 17 at idle. Turn on the air. Thirty friggin' four. Thought so. You people who think your gonna die without A/C are driving two cars. Man up. Roll down the windows. Take your shirts off. Girls, too. Get a trucker's tan. It'll peel off after a few days.

Give it the gas. Whoa! 50 comes easy on the load gauge. Looks like Ultra-Gauge has got something to teach my pillow foot. 50's where I want to start. 50 is like near MPG nirvana. Stochiometric mix. Maybe 48, maybe 52. Somewhere in there. Probably varies. Engine geeks'l know. First we'll play around with some 200 mile trips, trying to keep the load nailed on 50 . No A/C , of course. Hypermiling ain't for sissies.

So with the A/C on, I get up to speed between lights, then pull my foot all the way off the gas for the upcoming red light. Load gauge falls off to 5. Cool. Decelleration is running the A/C and the fuel is shut off. Instantaneous gph says 0.2. I pull to a stop in neutral. 0.3 gph with the AC blasting, probably a high 0.3 because 0.4 ticks up nopw and again. I pop the A/C off, 0.2 again. Gotta remember that I can get free A/C on the mountain downhills for my next Hypermiling desert trip. Use it to resuscitate my gasping sissy passenger. (Actually, no one will ride with me. That's okay, they're all too heavy, want the windows up, take extra gas.)

Speaking of weight in a Smart Car, the dang thing is so light that there are downhill stretches where I actually get better mileage with more weight. It's because of wind drag. I'll have to do a comparison one of these days. Spooky!

DAY 3 Cruising around town with the LOAD GAUGE
Driving around the busy city streets with the LOAD GAUGE really shows how a dedicated hypermiler is forced to waste gas by a buncha idiots in a mindless hurry. If I go with the flow, the LOAD GAUGE is up against 80 or 90 most of the time. You don't want to be antisocial and slow down the flow of traffic, but these people are racing to red lights and all lanes are Indy 500. On weekends or in the dead of night, its pretty obvious that I could get to the same places in about the same amount of time at half the load. And I mean I could do it easily.

People think, "Oh, that silly little car is slowing everybody down!" when I'm timing the lights. I often blow by everyone who slammed to a stop when I can find an open lane. But open lanes are hard to find. These idiots have no social consciousness about traffic sense. They'll race ahead, swerving through all lanes to be first, and frequently end up stopping in the right lane, preventing people from proceeding with right turns at the red light. You'll often see ten or 15 cars who want to turn right on the red light backed up behind some guy who changed lanes and slammed to a stop into the right lane to be first across the intersection when the light turns green. Worse, instead of stopping closer to the left edge so little cars can get by and make the turn, he'll hog the whole lane and I can't get around him. And when the light turns green, everybody'll sit there with their heads up their butts while the cars ahead pull away, then accelerate agressively to make up for their delay, throwing off any attempt at smoothness by those behind them and forcing everyone in line to waste gas with unnecessary acceleration.

So anyway, I love this gauge already. I don't care how accurately your gauge is, if you can't use it with constant (second by second) reference in traffic, it can't really be effective. This read-out on the Ultra-Gauge is more than adequate. It's enormous. It's in your face. I mean, the way it's mounted, I see every change instantly out of the corner of my eye when I am focused on idiots trying to kill me in their daily destruction derby. There were wrecks everywhere today. I love this car. It can swerve like a jackrabbit!

The TEMP GAUGE is really sensitive. I never realized what I was missing with analog gauges (not that the Smart Car has one). The temperature readout is changing all the time. You can use it in concert with the LOAD GAUGE to get an idea of how hard your engine is working, keeping in mind that you are heating that water up with gasoline. Of course, you want to achieve and maintain an ideal temperature, probably the middle 190s for a highly-efficient car (or even hotter if you're into Carnot theory), but I was surprised that the temperature didn't hold steady like I expected. Real surprised. So when I learn new stuff like that, I've gotta integrate it into my technique. Like, what am I doing to make the temperature jump around? Isn't it better to drive in a manner that keeps the temperature changing slowly rather than quickly? Stuff like that.

Potential available gauges include:

% Engine Load
Engine Coolant Temperature (ºF)
Short Term Fuel Trim Bank 1
Long Term Fuel Trim Bank 1
Short Term Fuel Trim Bank 2
Long Term Fuel Trim Bank 2
Fuel Pressure (PSI)
Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure (PSI)
RPM
MPH
Timing Advance
Intake Air Temperature (ºF)
Mass Air Flow Sensor 1 (g/s)
Absolute Throttle Position 1 %
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 1 Voltage
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 2 Voltage
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 3 Voltage
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 4 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 1 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 2 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 3 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 4 Voltage
Run time since last Start (hours:mins)
Distance traveled with Check Engine Light On.
Fuel Pressure (Diesel)
Bank 1 Wide 0xygen Sensor 1 Lambda
Bank 1 Wide 0xygen Sensor 2 Lambda
Bank 1 Wide 0xygen Sensor 3 Lambda
Bank 1 Wide 0xygen Sensor 4 Lambda
Bank 2 Wide 0xygen Sensor 1 Lambda
Bank 2 Wide 0xygen Sensor 2 Lambda
Bank 2 Wide 0xygen Sensor 3 Lambda
Bank 2 Wide 0xygen Sensor 4 Lambda
EGR Flow %
EGR Flow % Error
Evaporative Purge %
Fuel Level % of full
Number of Warm-ups since Check Engine Light Cleared
Distance traveled since Check Engine Light Cleared
Evaporative System (PSI)
Barometric Pressure – Inches of Mercury (inHg)
Catalytic Converter Bank 1 Sensor 1 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 2 Sensor 1 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 1 Sensor 2 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 2 Sensor 2 Temperature (ºF)
Battery Voltage
Relative Throttle Position %
Outside Ambient Air Temperature (ºF)
Absolute Throttle Position 2 %
Accelerator Pedal Position 1 %
Accelerator Pedal Position 2 %
Command Throttle Position %
Engine Oil Temperature (ºF)
Mass Air Flow Sensor 2 – Calculated
Instantaneous MPG
Average MPG – General
Average MPH – General
Run Time – General
Distance – General (miles)
Fuel Used – General (Gallons)
Average Gallons/Hour - General
Fuel Level
Instantaneous Gallons/hour
Distance to Empty (miles)
Time to Empty
Volumetric Efficiency (MAP vehicles only)
Average MPH – Trip
Average MPG – Trip
Fuel Used – Trip (Gallons)
Gallons per Hour (GPH) – Trip (Gallons)
Run Time – Trip (Hours:Minutes)
Distance -Trip (miles)
Oil Change Distance (miles)
Service Distance (miles)
UltraGauge Internal Temperature (ºF)

*Actual available gauges is vehicle dependent.

Smart Introduces 10-litre / 10,000 cc / 610 cu in Engine!!!

2010-01-19T11:53:21.665Z

Finally, we can light 'em up!
------
MSNBC
The ultra-tiny ForTwo earns its fuel economy ratings the old fashioned way. It's extremely small and light. Seating just two, it's powered by a 10-liter 3-cylinder engine.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/autos/1001/gallery.greenest_cars/4.html

I moved my Mum with my Smart Car!

2010-01-18T00:49:46.709Z

New York Times Can't Fit a Shopping Cart of Groceries in a ForTwo -- Ha, Ha!!!

2008-08-23T21:37:22.964Z

65 MPG between Laramie, WY and Salt Lake City, UT

2008-08-04T03:03:38.969Z

Beat that!

S Cal to Phoenix AZ at 70 with a/c vs HYPERMILING from S Cal to Laramie WY at 50

2008-07-26T19:35:41.202Z

Got 43 mpg average with a/c on at 70 mph from Bakersfield to Phoenix and back with passenger and suitcases. But I drove both directions from Bakersfield to Laramie, gear crammed to the ceiling, using moderate hypermiling techniques. The distance was about 2380 miles. 228 miles were spent coasting in neutral between 50 and 75 mph, which represents about 10%. My best tank gave me 65 mpg (Laramie to Salt Lake City). No hybrid can give that kind of performance.

Tire pressure was at max sidewall rating. All acceleration was done shoeless, watching the needle barely move. No deceleration or braking unless necessary. Interstate speed was 65 mph in traffic, 50 - 55 otherwise. No a/c, windows down.

I do not use a Scangauge or tach. I use THE BIRD. Several types of BIRDS are available at gardening stores.
http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/487709.html

The spring loaded wings tell you a lot about drag and how to reduce it. THE BIRD must be mounted with the wings perfectly cutting the wind. If you are traveling against the wind, the wings will fold straight up. (Roll up the windward window!) If you are in a crosswind, the wings will lean toward the direction of the wind. If you are in a tailwind, the wings will fold out. If you are drafting, the wings will flap in the turbulent zone of decreased resistance. If you are seeking high mileage, don't drive so fast as to fold the wings up. If you can keep the wings out, you are encountering little wind resistance and will be rewarded with better mileage.

smart Wins Iditerod!!!

2008-07-11T21:57:04.003Z