20,000 smart fortwos Arrive in U.S. & Electric Drive in 2010?
November 12, 2008 | 
Author Happy Post Election smart car fans,
Well, it’s been a full week since President Elect Obama won and there’s much hope our country can turn this thing around.
The smart car fortwo has been making its way on America’s streets and highways to help U.S. drivers ease the burden of high gas prices with amazing miles per gallon of 33/41 in the city/highway.
The 20,000 fortwo landed in Dallas by the end of October to keep the amazing pace of about 2,000 smart cars per month. This is a very strong indication that Americans are very serious about fuel efficiency and safety all in one vehicle.
Over in London and Berlin, smart is conducting urban testing of its new smart fortwo ED (electric drive) car. Yes, an all electric car is in the works, with a scheduled launch date of 2010. But when will it land here in the states? Smart has not made an official decision/announcement yet but at the Paris Auto show there was much buzz about the ED.
With the world finally becoming serious about tackling global warming, and renewable energy such as solar and wind becoming more and more mainstream, smart has a golden opportunity to introduce the fortwo ED to the world as the vehicle that saves the world!!
Just imagine where you plug-in your ED and your house roof has solar panels producing electricity so your fuel cost is zero and you have zero emissions!!
The smart fortwo ED could be the start of something very big that helps make the world a better place to live in.
More on the specs and details of the ED later,
Your “Smart Car Guy”,
P.s. check out this article on the ED:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/motors/phil_lanning/article1920106.ece
Posted in 
Tags:
I put down a deposit for a Smart Car on June 9, 2007.
I was informed that the car would be available in Dallas on October 23, 2008.
I was out of town on a business trip to Asia and was not returning until November 8. The local manager in Dallas, Zach Gilbert, decided to sell the car before I returned.
I called as soon as I returned but never heard from him. His assistant was kind enough to talk with me and eventually returned my deposit.
This is not the way to build a loyal customer base. I waited 16 months for the car and the local dealer could not wait 16 days for me?
Steve
I agree, Steve, that is not what I’d call good customer service. I think it’s another symptom of the demand being far higher than the supply. So smart and its dealers can treat customers with disregard, because they know there will always be more at the door. Sometime, that will come back to get them!