Daimler to Pull Smart Cars from Canada and U.S.
Maybe there’s a lesson here. People don’t want environmentally friendly solutions that suck.
The Smart Car has done terribly in comparison to other high MGP cars, and is going away. It’s priced the same as the Nissan Sentra — a perfectly fine car with room for five people. It gets about 80% the gas mileage of a Prius, and forces the driver and passenger into a dangerous and uncomfortably cramped space.
We send people to cramped prison cells for punishment. Looks like car owners don’t freely elect to be punished as part of the driving experience. Who would have known?
Sure, this is a snide remark. But it’s important to know that environmental solutions that people despise are not really solutions at all.
Craig,
Once again it’s a delight to be in agreement!
For years people (especially pundits) have extolled the idea of small, low range commuter EV’s. Despite all the survey’s and polls coupled with stentorian demands for Automakers to produce such vehicles, when they arrived, almost no one bought one !
Remember the Kewet Buddy ? Mitsubishi iMEV, TH!NK City,ZAP Xebra, REVAi or G-Wiz, etc. Who could forget the amazingly hopeful, but completely delusional team of people behind the wildly impractical, bizarre Aptera ? (California madness?).
How about the immensely unsuccessful Aston Martin Cygnet ? Or bonkers little Renault Twizzy ? (although it has sold 21,000 in 7 years).