[ref http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-CAD35k-funky-2seat-17-6kWh-EV-2019-Smart-Cabrio-L2-3kW-only-r-epa-101km-63mi-tp4692008p4692015.html ]
[This post is long. Old-timers note: I'm repeating myself (see previous posts below) for the newer EV owners.] As an old-oldtimer I have personal (I was there) experience following the developmewnt of the Swatchmobile > Smart car. % EVhistory: Way-way back (1990s) when I started finding EV items in paper magazines (all media outlets were paper back then). I would find EV items in the automotive magazines at hp's automotive dept. at the (now gone/defunct) Sunnyvale-CA PTP site. Back then hp flat bed scanners were new and their OCR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition software would convert 95% of the scanned image of text into ascii text (I would manually fix the last 5%). Then I woul;d post them to the evdl listserv (sorry, more than 60% of all my free EV work since 1990 has been lost/ no longer on the evdl archive). What paper auto magazine items that caught my attention were their interest in the moose test of the then Swatchmobile(car) which later was name-changed to the Smart car. Back then, paper media had a tremendious grip on companies. Bad story items would stay in print for years with no way to correct or counter them (vs today, say something wrong and social media will immediately correct you with a slam, hurting media outlets). So, back then auto comapnies were very gun-shy of bad-press. Smart was orginally trialed outside the U.S. as an EV. But was pulled when European media outlets dissed the Smart EV with bad press. Later, Smart car was re-trialed as an ice-version. It wasn't until later when the Smart ice was well established that a Smart EV was tried again (see below for Smart car items): % [dated] http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980375,00.html A Car, a Watch? Swatchmobile! Mar. 28, 1994 ... Make way for the Swatchmobile, a sassy... ... https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/16/business/swatchmobile-in-us.html Swatchmobile in U.S. March 16, 1995 ... Mercedes-Benz A.G. plans to sell its compact Swatchmobile in the United States. Mercedes has said the tiny two-seat car, to be produced jointly with the Swiss fashion watch maker SMH, will be built in France starting in 1997. "We will bring it to North America," said Michael Bassermann, president of Mercedes-Benz North America Inc., in an interview with Automotive News at the International Motor Show in Geneva ... ... https://adage.com/article/news/swatchmobile-named-smart/15867/ Swatchmobile is named Smart May 17, 1995 The minicar that will be jointly produced by German automaker Mercedes-Benz and the maker of Swatch watches will be called Smart. The two-seater, informally known as the Swatchmobile, will go into production in October 1997 in France and will be marketed and sold through a new network of franchises separate from Mercedes dealers. Mercedes holds 51% of the venture, with 49% held by the Swiss Corporation for Electronics-and-Watchmaking Industries Ltd., the originator of the Swatch line of fashion watches. The car will sell for about $10,300 to $13,800 ... https://www.economist.com/business/1998/05/07/a-new-kind-of-car-company A new kind of car company - The Economist https://www.economist.com/business/1998/05/07/a-new-kind-of-car-company May 7, 1998 - The merger between Daimler and Chrysler, which was announced on May 7th, ... in a “moose test”, and the upcoming wacky Smart car, which is small enough to ... https://www.automobilemag.com/news/smart-forfour/ 2005 Smart ForFour - Road Test & Review Dec 29, 2004 - All Smarts are small to American eyes, but whereas the original Smart ForTwo looks freakishly small even in Europe, the ForFour is a standard ... https://st.automobilemag.com/uploads/sites/11/2004/12/0502_Forfourpl_Smart_Forfour-2005_Smart_ForFour-Passenger_Side_Front_View.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&fit=around%7C765%3A510 Smart car inventor Nicolas Hayek dies | Autoweek https://autoweek.com/article/car-news/smart-car-inventor-nicolas-hayek-dies Jun 29, 2010 - Nicolas Hayek, the engineer and industrialist who founded the Swiss watch company Swatch and brought the world the Smart car, died on ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Toronto-Hydro-seeking-volunteers-for-4yr-Smart-EV-drive-lease-tp3073046.html Toronto Hydro seeking volunteers for 4yr Smart-EV drive-lease Dec 05, 2010 ... 2-seat Mercedes-Benz “Smart fortwo” car ... If cars are charged up overnight ... they’ll be using power from ... power stations, which have spare capacity ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Smart-EVs-tp3258145p3766133.html EVLN: Smart Introduces Smart EV gen3 Aug 24, 2011 ... Smart, which first started producing its iconic city cars in 1998 and has built a strong following in congested cities around the world ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-EUR19k-Daimler-Smart-electric-starts-production-tp4655654.html EVLN: EUR19k Daimler Smart electric starts production Jun 14, 2012 ... Smart plant in Hambach was inaugurated in 1997 and has produced the Smart fortwo since 1998 – in its second generation since 2007 ... Smart Centres across the country are already taking orders, and the first cars will be delivered in Spring 2013 ... https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/900-pound-elk-smashes-into-tiny-smart-car-driver-survives-1.2992326 900-pound elk smashes into tiny Smart car, driver survives Jul 18, 2016 - A B.C. [ .ca ] man says he has his Smart car to thank for saving his life after hitting an elk ... Smart car has a customer for life," he said ... Markevich's damaged Smart car is seen at a towing company in Campbell River ... https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2992344.1468892452!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test Moose test - The evasive manoeuvre test is performed to determine how well a certain vehicle evades a ... The test is repeated with an increased speed until the car skids, knocks down cones, or spins around ... https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/02/13/mercedes-stop-selling-gas-powered-smart-car-us/97873940/ Mercedes to stop selling gas-powered Smart car in U.S Feb 13, 2017 - In a sign of the times, the gas-powered version of the nation's smallest car is about to disappear from the U.S. motoring scene, Mercedes-Benz ... https://www.osv.ltd.uk/history-of-the-smart-car/ A Brief History Of The Smart Car: From The Swatchmobile To The Electric ForTwo 2017-03-07 [images https://www.osv.ltd.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Smart-fortwo.jpg History of the Smart Car https://www.osv.ltd.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/smartforfour3.jpg Smart Forfour side infront of wall https://www.osv.ltd.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Electric-Smart-ForTwo.jpg ] Ever wondered how the ultimate city car came to be? We take a look at the interesting history of the Smart car... A Brief History of the Smart Car The Smart Car. You either love it or loathe it, but you definitely have an opinion on it. The compact car has been dividing opinion for many years now, and whatever your opinion on the microcar, you can’t deny it’s been pretty successful. But, where did it all begin? In this article, we look at the history of the Smart car. When was the first Smart Car made? The Smart Car actually has a very interesting history, despite it being quite a young marque. The makers of Swatch (the brand of watches that were huge in the eighties and nineties), SMH, started developing an idea for a new car using the same type of personalisation that they used in their watches. The CEO, Nicolas Hayek, believed that the automotive industry had ignored the customers that wanted a small, stylish car. They soon called this idea the ‘Swatchmobile’, which thankfully, didn’t stick. Hayek, however, didn’t want to compete with the rest of the automotive industry by introducing the ‘Swatchmobile’ because he thought that other manufacturers would feel threatened. Probably not if they went ahead with the name ‘Swatchmobile’ but anyway, instead of competing, he wanted to cooperate. And so Hayek approached several manufacturers about his idea, final reaching an agreement with Volkswagen to share development of the new city car. Unfortunately for Swatch, Volkswagen had a new CEO in 1993 who wanted to terminate the project with SMH. Hayek had an inkling that this was going to happen, and so started looking for other partners. After being turned down by several manufacturers including Fiat and Renault, he reached an informal agreement with Daimler-Benz AG, the makers of Mercedes-Benz. The deal was announced in 1994 with the formation of Micro Compact Car AG. It would consist of two subsidiaries; MCC GmbH which would design the car and SMH Auto SA, which was owned by Hayek, who would design a hybrid electric drive system for the car. The first Smart car was launched in October 1998, but Hayek was disappointed with the final design. While he wanted it to be a hybrid, the first Smart car was instead a conventional fuel powered car. When did Swatchmobile become Smart? Before we go further we should probably tell you how the name Smart came to be. Hayek wanted ‘Swatch’ to be in the name somewhere, but Daimler-Benz wanted something more neutral. The final name was to be Smart, which stood for Swatch Mercedes Art and had actually been used internally for quite some time. The factory in which the Smart cars were built was affectionately given the nickname ‘Smartville’. When did Daimler-Benz fully own Smart? During the pre-production of the Smart car, MCC needed more capital. So, Daimler-Benz recapitalized and increased their share of ownership of the company to 81%. After the Smart car was launched, they increased this to 100%, owning Smart outright. This wasn’t long before Daimler-Benz became DaimlerChrysler. It was after this that the line of Smart cars were expanded to the Roadster and the Forfour. It was then that the original Smart car adopted the name Fortwo. Unfortunately, this didn’t increase sales as Daimler-Benz would have liked and in the years 2003-2006, Smart GmbH (which is what it was now named) lost nearly 4 billion euros. When was Smart liquidated? In 2005, Daimler decided against purchasing a share in a factory to produce the Smart ForFour, ultimately ending its production. They were also planning on producing a Smart SUV called the Formore, but this was abandoned at the last minute. This was also around the same time the Roadster was also discontinued. In 2006, Smart GmbH was liquidated and its operations were absorbed by DaimlerChrylser. It currently operates under Mercedes-Benz Car division. When did Smart release their electric car? Development of the electric Smart Fortwo started in 2006 and field testing began in 2007. The second generation of these electric Smart cars was launched in 2009 with 2,000 units produced. They were available in 18 markets around the world to either lease or through the carsharing service, Car2Go in San Deigo and Amsterdam. The lithium battery in the Smart Fortwos is provided by Tesla Motors. A more powerful electric Smart car was launched in 2013 after being unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011. It had a higher top speed and had the option for quick charging. The fourth generation was shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2016, ready to launch this year (2017). Smart claims that the battery will be a 17.6-kilowatt-hour lithium battery, quite the improvement from the first generations 14-kilo-watt. It is also expected to have a range of 99miles. And that pretty much brings us to the present day. You can now get Smart cars in 46 countries across the world and, as of early 2015, the Smart Fortwo surpassed 1.7 million units. Not bad for something that was going to be called the Swatchmobile. [© osv.ltd.uk] https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/The-smart-story-A-ten-year-success-story.xhtml?oid=9904739 The Smart story: A ten year success story It is a radical idea that starts to mature in the heads of the Mercedes-Benz developers in the early 1970s: as they see it, the "car of the future" must question all existing preconceptions of cars and put them to test. Sketches dating back to 1972 show a new, seminal approach. The concept for an ultra-compact car with a length of two and a half metres is subsequently developed by Mercedes-Benz. Johann Tomforde, studio engineer at Mercedes-Benz and development coordinator for the field of "future traffic systems", is responsible for the project. Although the idea is impressive, technical realisation is not possible at this time due to an inability to meet the company's strict safety standards. However, nine years later the Mercedes-Benz developers succeed in developing groundbreaking ideas for safety features that only need a small amount of space in a car. First designs using a "sandwich" principle with a raised vehicle floor are tested. But the technical realisation is still not possible on account of the strict Mercedes-Benz safety standards. In 1991 Mercedes-Benz Design starts the next attempt. The Eco Sprinter and Eco Speedster show cars are developed in cooperation between the Design Concept department in Sindelfingen and the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center in Irvine, California. When Johann Tomforde presents them to the Mercedes-Benz boards in 1993 the enthusiastic response leads to concrete plans for a new kind of vehicle and a new segment: the micro compact car. The concept, package and safety concept – later to become characteristic features of the Smart fortwo – are already clearly apparent in the first studies. Even then the safety concept was brilliantly simple: like a nut, the soft interior is protected from harm by a rigid shell. Joint venture with Swatch In 1989 Nicolas G. Hayek, the inventor of the Swatch watch, announced plans to launch a small city car on the market. The car of the future should appeal to people as a statement rather than a status symbol. Hayek then sought an experienced partner for the quick and successful realisation of the project. The combination of Mercedes-Benz's vast experience in building cars coupled with Swatch's creative powers brought together two ideal partners for this project. The cooperation results in a unique vehicle concept and a new automobile brand: smart. Shortly after initial negotiations between Mercedes-Benz and Nicolas Hayek, Micro Compact Car AG is founded. The company headquarters are in Biel, Switzerland. In the search for a production site more than 70 locations worldwide are evaluated. In 1994 Hambach in France is chosen. The first pan-European car brand is born: the company headquarters are in Switzerland, the development centre in Germany, and the car is produced in France. The car is set to conquer the cities of Europe! World premiere in 1997 at the Frankfurt Motor Show Following the start of development in 1994, in 1997 the Smart city coupé (later renamed Smart fortwo) celebrates its world premiere at the International Frankfurt Motor Show. Production begins in July 1998 in a new plant in Hambach, France. The following October sees the new car being sold for the first time in nine European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland). In the same year, Smart becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG (now Daimler AG). Further models and series In 1999 at the Frankfurt Motor Show the young brand surprises the world public with a whole host of new model studies. A cabrio version is presented that is based on the Smart city-coupé and that opens a whole new dimension to the "closed" micro car community – the roof! The Smart cabrio offers pure joie de vivre. From the spring of 2000 the world's smallest production cabriolets roll off the production line and onto European roads. Thanks to the innovative roof construction, the cabrio version of the Smart offers three open-top driving variants: the electrically-operated folding top can be opened to any desired position at the touch of a button. In addition, the electrically locked rear top is very simple to open. And finally, the side roof bars can also be removed and stowed in a compartment specially designed for this purpose on the inside of the boot lid. Smart with a cdi engine Whilst the world is talking about the introduction of the "three litre" car at the beginning of the new millennium, shortly after the presentation at the Frankfurt Motor Show at the end of 1999 Smart launches the cdi engine that consumes 3.4 litres of fuel over 100 kilometres. The most economical form of car transport is born and is a great success. More than 140,000 Smart cdis are sold up to the introduction of the successor model in 2007. 2002: Smart crossblade for sheer open-air motoring A special vehicle variant launched on the market in 2002 provides maximum openness - the Smart crossblade. It has no doors, no roof and no windscreen. Its drivers can enjoy a truly unparalleled driving experience under open skies with the sun and wind in their face. All that affects sheer dynamic motoring is a narrow tinted wind deflector stretched across the cockpit area. Instead of conventional doors, the crossblade is equipped with steel safety bars at passenger shoulder height. These swing upwards with the help of a gas-operated strut. A year later Smart decides to produce a small series of this vehicle. When the Smart crossblade is launched in the spring of 2002, Smart partner Robbie Williams snaps up the chance to get his own personal model. Shortly afterwards, the model with the number 8 of 2 000 of the limited crossblade series finds a place in his garage. 2003: Smart roadster and roadster-coupé The Smart roadster and Smart roadster-coupé that are launched in April 2003 offer a particularly intensive and sporty motoring experience. These two vehicles continue the tradition of compact, purist roaders which had their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. At the end of 2005 production of the Smart roadster and roadster-coupé is discontinued. During the two years that these two versions are built on the platform of the Smart fortwo they emphatically demonstrate the dynamism of this vehicle concept. 2003: Smart fortwo model refinement A new, larger three cylinder engine gives the petrol versions of the Smart fortwo (previously the city coupé and cabrio) more power. Following the 2003 model refinement, the entry-level version has a 50 hp (37 kW) engine. The higher power Smart now delivers 61 hp (45 kW) from 698 cubic centimetres. The new generation of petrol engines complies with exhaust gas standard EU4. The successful 41 hp (30 kW) cdi diesel engine remains unchanged. Further new features make the vehicles even more comfortable, safe and dynamic. Smart offers technologies to customers as standard that otherwise only come as part of the standard spec in higher vehicle classes: the previous stability control system trust plus is replaced by the electronic stability programme esp® as a standard feature, which also works with selective brake intervention to stabilise the vehicle. In addition, esp® includes further functions which enhance the comfort and safety of the vehicle such as hill start assist, brake assist and acceleration skid control. In 2003 the Smart logo and vehicle names are also changed: the city-coupé and cabrio are renamed the fortwo coupé and fortwo cabrio. The car proudly displays its purpose in its name: fortwo – driving fun for two. From this point in time the front also bears the Smart ring as the new brand logo. 2003: Smart fortwo BRABUS In the same year the BRABUS versions developed by the joint venture smart-BRABUS GmbH are presented. As early as 2002 Smart and the tuning specialist Brabus from Bottropform a joint company. In 2004 smart-BRABUS GmbH opens a new company headquarters in Bottrop - an ultra-modern technology and competence centre costing 16 million euros. 2004: Smart forfour In 2004 Smart departs from the principle of two seats and a rear-mounted engine for the first time with the launch of the forfour. The sporty five-door car has unaccustomed dimensions for the brand and opens up a new, highly competitive market segment for smart. The Smart forfour is larger than all the brand's previous models. Production of the four-seater Smart ends in the summer of 2006 after the decision is made to concentrate solely on the fortwo. 2005: Smart crosstown The Smart crosstown show car presented at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show combines a petrol and an electric engine in a forward-looking hybrid drive. It shows the potential of the unique Smart fortwo vehicle concept and arouses curiosity in the reinterpretation of the Smart fortwo to be launched in the spring of 2007. However, there are no plans for series production of the open vehicle with a steeply-angled windscreen. At a technology forum in 2005 Smart presents further vehicle studies with alternative drives: in addition to a prototype of the Smart fortwo ev (electric vehicle), the company exhibits a Smart fortwo with natural gas drive, a mild hybrid and a cdi hybrid. 2006: Smart formore In 2006 Smart presents a concept for an off-road vehicle - the Smart formore. As a Smart utility vehicle (suv), this all-wheel-drive Smart shows the potential of the brand in the compact off-roader segment and conveys the core brand values of innovation, functionality and joie de vivre. 2007: the second generation Smart fortwo Almost ten years after the first pilot production smarts rolled off the production line the new Smart fortwo is launched on the market. The engineers have built on the strengths of this visionary classic and further developed its virtues. Concentration on the Smart fortwo Following the decision to stop production of the Smart roadster at the end of 2005 and the Smart forfour mid 2006, everything concentrates on the Smart fortwo and the successor model planned for 2007. Since 2007 Smart has been fully integrated in the organisation of the Daimler business division Mercedes-Benz Cars, which also comprises the Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and AMG brands. [© daimler.com] https://auto.howstuffworks.com/smart-car.htm Introduction to How the Smart Car Works The Swatch Company collaborated with Daimler-Benz (after a failed venture with Volkswagen) to create the first City Coupe under the company name Micro Compact Car (MCC). Development began in 1994, and the first car was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997 ... [OCR Daze] http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-2015-Kia-Soul-EV-will-be-sold-in-CA-OR-NY-NJ-MD-video-tp4669915p4669924.html Jun 11, 2014 ... Way back in the 1990's, the Smart was actually originally designed to be an EV. It was their management that caved-in when they were heckled by the European press, and pulled their EV from the European market. After that experience, their management decided to not offer their EV in N. America. They did successfully sell their ice-retrofit version of the Smart in Europe, and years later in N. America ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Smart-ED-becomes-first-nationwide-EV-But-not-as-big-as-Leaf-tp3311267p3311586.html ... Way-back-machine: Back around the beginning of 1990's when the Internet was developing and newswire subscription was just not made available to the public like today, I was physically flat-bed scanning and OCR 'ing automotive magazine pages to glean the text for posting on the evdl ... Smart was timid about everything. Almost all plans to produce any version of Smart (EV or not) was put on hold for a long time because at the time the Smart did not pass the Moose-Test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test (a swerve test, i.e: to miss hitting a moose). After all tests past, Smart did not sell or lease a vehicle until much later. Even then it was only the fuel version in very small quantities to the Euro market only. The Euro press chewed the Smart up bad, but the vehicle was so well designed and received it gained in public standing. The Euro press never admitted they were wrong, but did back off beating up the Smart. Note: Smart on U.S roads was an ICE long before the EV version was offered (albeit for lease-only) ... Feb 17, 2011 http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Thanks-evdl-nabble-archive-is-back-up-td4686476.html ... Compared to what I used to have (having to get and transpose EV items from paper magazine pages), we (the plugin community) are bathed in a wealth of interesting items (it is so much easier now). I doubt anyone today would even consider reading a news item I had found that ... I had OCR scanned from an Automotive magazine, and ported the text to a EVLN post. Those were much leaner times, and anything we could get to read about EVs were few and far between ... Apr 21, 2017 http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-BMW-ActiveE-Google-product-R-D-lab-in-Silicon-Valley-CA-tp4660295p4660297.html ... When I was supporting the three buildings at the Sunnyvale, CA hp site [now defuant], they had an Automotive division that was working with Maserati & Lotus using hp's digital<>analog computers to design a test station (this was long before PCs, and when vehicle test stations in garages weren't even heard of/the norm). It was cool to go by and see what they were doing. I was again impressed with hp's forward thinking (as if they could see the future). By working their hi-tech (of the time) to test a vehicle via a plugin harness, they could test all vehicle components. : Sweet/way-cool : This also gave me the beginnings of my sharing newswire pieces before there were [internet] newswires as we know them today. At that site hp's small Automotive sales team (aligned with the aforementioned R&D), had subscriptions to all the Automotive magazines. I secured permission to peruse them during off hours, and scan/OCR news worthy items out of their pages (back then all the news came in paper form only ...). After gleaning EV items out of the Automotive sales teams magazines for quite a while, one of the big [automotive dept.] sales types asked what I was doing. After explaining to him all my [free] hard work to provide that printed information in electronic form to the evdl, he smiled with a smirk, and walked off [in disbelief] ... Jan 01, 2013 [/ OCR] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_(marque) Smart ... is a German automotive marque and division of Daimler AG, based in Böblingen, Germany. It ranges in microcars and subcompacts, primarily the Fortwo and Forfour ... ... https://www.google.com/search?q=history+Smart+Daimler ... https://www.google.com/search?q=history+Smart+Mercedes-Benz For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ https://mail-archive.com/ev@lists.evdl.org/maillist.html {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
