[Wirecutter]

One of the problems we face in the US is that the infrastructure is not as friendly to small cars. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, because it's friendly to really large cars, smaller cars tend to be surrounded by giants. That makes me a little nervous about a really tiny car like the Smart ForTwo.

Having said that, I'd still seriously consider a Smart for my next car, electric or otherwise. It's quite safe for its size, and I'm somewhat fond of the size and look. I saw a couple of them parked "nose in" and sharing a single parallel parking space in downtown Taipei once. I could probably drive one in a circle inside my two-car garage, and I could park at least 6 of them in there.

The Smart took a while to get into the US, but it's been around a while. It has everything I need for 90% of my driving needs. Seats, freeway speeds, climate control, radio, reasonable comfort. I wish they hadn't discontinued the Smart Roadster - that was a neat car. Of course, you could probably drive one under a Hummer H1 without touching.

Now that I think about it... If I had more confidence in my continued steady employment and the economy in general, I could justify financing a Smart right now based on what I could save in fuel costs. For the time being, I'll just work toward my own EV conversion.

-Mark

[Alchemist]

Wirecutter,

I share your frustration with Altairnano and recently put up a post regarding "frustration with manufacturers".

I spoke with Phoenix Motorcars a couple of years ago. Each time I inquired about purchasing a vehicle they kept moving the year of release to the public later and later. I called in 2007, they said the cars would be available to the public in 2008 - I called in early 2008, they said available in 2009. I called near the end of 2008 and they said 2010?!?!?!?!?!

I informed them that I lived in northern california, near San Francisco and would like to purchase a vehicle from them. They responded that they would not sell me a vehicle unless I lived in Los Angeles!

[JRP3]

Altairnano batteries aren't actually that great for EV's since they have poor energy density and power density. They are pursuing military and power generation applications where their durability and operating characteristics are important and their density is not.
Phoenix Motorcars may be in bankruptcy at this point after their Korean glider supplier met the same fate.

[Alchemist]

JRP,

When I read this article regarding AltairNano's battery technology, I could not help but get excited at that time:

http://www.ecoworld.com/blog/2007/04...ion-batteries/

[JRP3]

Me too, I'm even a stock holder. I was hoping they could increase their density more over time, maybe they still can, but in the meantime A123 cells are better and cheaper for EV's, and of course large format lithiums are even cheaper, and are good enough for most EV's.

[evcars]

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