2009 smart Fortwo officially greenest
January 17, 2009 by David Twomey
Well according to the Australian Government the smart Fortwo micro-hybrid-rive is officially our greenest car.
The Fortwo mhd has been judged by the federal government’s Green Vehicle Guide as having the lowest greenhouse and air pollution emissions in Australia.
The micro two-seater earned a total score of 17 out of a possible 20 points for both its air pollution and greenhouse ratings.
It was also awarded a full five stars and the coveted first position in this important consumer guide, outperforming a variety of hybrid-powered models and a number of the smallest cars from Australia’s ‘Light’ vehicle category.
A delighted Horst von Sanden, managing director of Mercedes-Benz Cars in Australia, said the result was another confirmation of the little Fortwo’s strong environmental credentials.
“For a consumer searching for the most environmentally sound car in Australia, there is no better choice than the smart Fortwo mhd,” said Mr von Sanden.
“With our smallest car at the top of the government’s Green Vehicle Guide we have another important tool to highlight to car buyers how environmentally compatible the smart Fortwo really is.
“The goal of sustainable mobility lies at the heart of the smart concept, and it’s this very car, along with new developments such as the electric smart ed, that have made some of the biggest steps towards the ultimate goal of emission-free motoring,” said Mr von Sanden.
Released in Australia last December, the 52kW smart Fortwo micro hybrid drive boasts a combined cycle fuel consumption rate of only 4.4-litres per 100km (according to ADR 81/02), and an impressively low extra-urban consumption rate of only 3.9l/100km.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) output of the two-seater is also very low – only 105 grams per km driven.
The smart mhd uses simple but very effective start-stop technology when driven in traffic, switching the engine off when stationary and seamlessly restarting when the driver goes to move off again.
The Green Vehicle Guide provides information about the environmental performance of new light vehicles sold in Australia, and is intended to assist consumers choose a cleaner car.
The vehicle ratings displayed in the Green Vehicle Guide are based on the results of testing conducted in accordance with the Australian Design Rules for emissions and fuel consumption labelling in Australia. Testing is conducted on all light vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes made available locally.
Vehicles tested are given an overall star rating, which is comprised of two scores: one assessing air pollution, which includes exhaust emission contents such as criteria pollutants and air toxics, and one assessing CO2 emissions, known as a greenhouse rating. Both ratings are out of a score of ten, and the combined out-of-20 score determines each car’s overall star rating. A combined score of 16 or greater returns a five-star rating.
More information about the Green Vehicle Guide can be found by visiting http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au
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*****PRIMO!****** [Is back, and rightly so!]
This is a poor excuse for a “car”
Tiny and wayyyyyyy overpriced, reminds me of a petrol powered shopping-trolley! lol
Mid $20’s for this POS, do they think we are that silly?
Might as well buy a SUPERIOR and 1/10th the price MOPED
Cheers
F-0
Shame the price equation is similar to a Prius.
It’s just too dear!
Too dear and it doesn’t inspire me with regards to safety. Even a moderate crash could result in serious injury.
A Citroen C3 HDi would be a better bet surely. Still 4.4L/100kms on the combined cycle, only around $23-24K on the road, and you might even survive if you hit/get hit by something.
I know what I would prefer.
I don’t care how green this pathetic excuse for a car is I hate it.I hate it with a perfect hatred!!!
Mercedes Benz,you should be ashamed of yourselves a trained snail could probably accelerate then that abomination.
The Fifth Gear program tested this POS and from memory, they suggested that a small diesel would be better buy.
Green car turns blood red after minor collission.
Still one advantage you could take it through the supermarket checkout instead of parking outside.
Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. The most useless, impractical, frustrating-to-drive, horrendous-to-crash vehicle out there ready to separate bearded greenies from their money has been identified as the officially greenest car.
And it’s about 3% easier on the environment than totally practical 5-seaters in the Getz/Jazz/Colt class.
Who gets off on this sort of junk, and who takes any notice of such misleading Government propaganda?
The car is totally impractical in AU, but in congested european cities where driver courtesy remains, these are very practical.
Over there they would not suffer so badly from a relatively high price. Over there I think (happy to be corrected) governments give concessions for these sort of “small footprint” vehicles, since their economies do not rely solely on being able to fleece car drivers.
I once passed one of these POS towing, Yes Towing! a small camping trailer that would normally be towed behind a touring type motorcycle, WTF?
I do not want to see it again either, possibly the owner has been committed to an institution or is stuck in his car inside a truck air filter.
5 stars for green but only 4 stars for safety. You could go the Fiat 500 and get 5 stars in both.
People may call this a poor excuse for a car but you know what? Sydney’s a poor excuse for a city and that brings me to say that the reason none of you understand this car is because Australia doesn’t need it. Sydney is the biggest city in Australia but I was just fine in a rented Falcon. There aren’t any tiny back streets like there are in Europe so you are all right (for once), there is no excuse for this car to be on sale in Australia.
People talking about safety are, quite simply, idiots. It gets a four star crash rating and in the city, where it’s intended to be driven, you will not even get injured in this car because you’ll never be going fast enough (and nobody make any stupid jokes about because it can’t go fast enough).
Finally, $20,000 is way too much. In Europe, it is an alternative to things like, yes, the Citroen C3 and the 207, Yaris, 2, Micra etc. but it’s about 1,000 pounds cheaper than all of those and it is easier to find a park in a place like London or Paris in a Smart so it does actually make a lot of sense, but only in Europe.
Since most if not all of you are in fact Australian and not European, not to mention that I bet that most if not all of you have not even driven one, you are in no place to comment on what the point of them is or how good they are.
Well Alex I guess we should all be quiet and move on. Any topics that have your approval for comment from idiots who mention safety?
Sydney’s a poor excuse for a city Alex?
You have forgotten your medication. Poor excuse for a Bridge, Opera House, Harbour, NYE Fireworks etc etc etc, maybe you should go visit Sydney one day in your ‘Smart’ Car.
Andrew, don’t you understand? It’s not about the fact that people are mentioning safety, it’s about the fact that people are talking about them being unsafe and Mark even suggests that you would be killed in the event of a crash when the fact is that it gets a four star crash rating. In fact, the Citroen C3 that Mark brings up actually gets exactly the same crash test numbers for front and side as the Smart so why would you be alright in the C3 but you’d die in the Smart? Four stars are four stars wether they be for an SUV or a Smart. Nobody ever says the the BMW X3 is unsafe and that actually gets one less point for frontal impact than the Smart and only one more point for side impact. People are just stereotyping it because of it’s size.
To CityOfSydney, so it’s a great city because it has the Opera House, the harbour bridge and New Years Eve fireworks? Sydney is so hyped up over seas and you get there and you see the Harbour, the bridge and the Opera House an then it’s so boring. You’ve got some good art galleries and the Harbour is pretty but after that, theres not much else. All the people I know that have been to Australia (and that is at least thirty people) agree. Probably because we come from a city that’s so much better. However, that’s not really on topic so moving on…
Alex,
Care to nominate which City you’re from? :-)
I’m Australian & live in Brisbane.
I’m no Big Fan of Sydney either, but not down on it the way you seem to be.
I agree the Smart Car is overpriced, & not more suitable here than say, a C3.
I’m assuming you’re from London?
Never been there, but also no real interest in going there.
I’ve seen old buildings & traffic before.
We have speed cameras here too. :-)
I’ve seen 5th gear crash one of these into a wall at over 100km/h- and then open and close the passenger door. The only trouble is the physical deceleration forces on your body would kill you- the car would still keep you in one piece.
I thought the car struggled to find its place in Australia, until I saw a middle aged guy in a black turtleneck load his new Apple iMac into the back of one. That’s the niche right there.
No thanks if I had to have an ” ecky car” it would be the new Mini E .
Sydney’s a poor excuse for a city says Alex.
Then bugger of back to where you came from you Pommy git.
Frontal crash “stars” can only be compared within the same weight class. The BMW X3 with one less star is much safer than a Fortwo.
I’d Consider this an alternative to a Motorbike, not a car. You can drive it comfortably in the rain and in summer you dont have to wear kevlar and melt away in the sun while staying cool with the aircon. And its safer, if you fall over you wont get hurt. And it will fit in the tray of a Ute… perfect! But then the price just makes it ridiculous.
Does it have aircon, oh yeah take off the roof. Just get a motorbike or a push bike!
2009 smart Fortwo is nice hybrid car.The feature is also good.
I have a real problem with the government’s “greenvehicleguide” website and their ratings system.
More stringent limits are placed on diesel vehicles than are applied to petrol. This is because The Euro 6 HC and NOX emission limits for diesel vehicles are more stringent than Euro 5, even though they’re the same for petrol.
This is why when you look through the website, brilliant cars such as the Citroen C4 HDi EGS (4.5L/100km) is down the list when it should be up the top. All diesels are discriminated against because they are being measured to a different standard
Of course, the website also doesn’t take into account the carbon cost of producing and recycling each vehicle. Makes me wonder if the money to build and maintain this website was provided by the Prius marketing dept.
I have a real problem with our country being one of the worst polluters in the world per capita… Most people have uninsulated homes, inefficient appliances and drive alone too large, aged, unserviced petrol guzzlers. Look at our freeways in the morning. One person in a commodore or equivalent is the most common view… So far the talk about climate change and doing something about it, is just – talk. Little Howard was ironically more in tune with the nation – pure denial…
I find amusing the hostility towards smart car showing in this blog. Did you actually bother to go for a test drive? Have you checked their website? For those who think there is no place for it in Australia – have you checked the enthusiast websites for smart owners in the US (that has similar oversized, inefficient, poorly designed cities as we do)?
Or are you just hostile towards the niche owners – geeks, gays, private enterpreneurs? Huh?
Now about our city: hardly any city in the world apart from Tokyo and New York can compare with London as far as cultural offer is concerned. So comparing Sydney with London is not only unfair but illogical. Sydney is a pathetic excuse for a city because it is not planned and managed as a city. It is rather a cluster of disconnected communities if you ask me. To have “a city” you need to have not as much beautiful surroundings and a few landmark buildings, as coherent planning, infrastructure that keeps the pace with city`s needs (good, reliable and priced in an encouraging way public transport – to connect the city`s tissue – vide Melbourne), a cultural policy accompanied by pecuniary effort and a real host who oversees timely implementation… All that unfortunately does not exist in Sydney at the moment… It`s in the state of chaos!
There is one thing that city of Sydney could learn from the smart car. I remember when I lived in Switzerland some 20 years ago, every bus was very quiet and it had a device that would cut off the engine at each stop automatically. The smart has the same device. If we are to keep this third world style public transit solution called bus, we should look at changing the fleet towards one that polutes less with sound and emissions. If we are to use cars for commuting and getting around we should look at the smart car and stop our engines idling away for several minutes each time at the loooong lasting red lights.
We could also have a look at the production cycle of the smart car (which seems quite eco friendly) and the amount of fully recyclable parts that it carries.
We may not desire the smart car, but there is certainly something that we can learn from it for our benefit, is there not?
I’m with you Sydneysider. I’m actually one of those pathetic individuals that owns a smart car. My wife and I both work in the city and live 6km away in suburbia. Our half-hour each way commute to work and back is filled with a lot of first and 2nd gear driving and a large amount of sitting stationery going nowhere. We find the smart very practical and its great for parking, easy on fuel and the service you receive at Mercedes is first rate. We also own a VW Golf, current model. I can tell you that we both lunge for the smart keys as we both prefer to drive the smart… and the Golf is viewed as a benchmark car in its sector. We have now driven 3km in the smart for every 1km in the Golf. 120-130kmh on the freeway and it hums along and actually feels quite solid at speed.
For a car that first arrived on the market (in Europe) ten years ago, there is some pretty impressive technology in there. Rear-engined, dual spark, 6-speed sequential manual gearbox (yes actual SMG, not this tiptronic stuff that is actually a tricked up auto), Tridion safety cell (designed around F1 construction – ie. solid cell with wheels et al. to absorb impacts and deform) ABS, ESP, EBD, EBA, Hill start Assist, Traction control. Polycarbonate roof (yes – same stuff as bullet proof glass). Now cast your mind back to a ten year old commodore or falcon. I believe they’d only moved on to four speed auto’s a couple of years before and abs was an option. I’d also like to see a ten year old commodore or falcon take up the fifth door test. 100kmh into a concrete barrier.
I suggest people go take one for a test drive and judge for yourself. If you don’t like it then, fair enough. I know which keys I’ll be grabbing when I’m heading out the door.
I have a forfour which travels about 140 kms a day, takes off quicker that most cars. I don’t really have to slow down much to go around bends and in the first two years i saved the eqivalent of a cheap car in petrol money. I love in Tasmania and i like to think that i am contributing to the clean air down here. Its very roomy and carries as much if not more stuff than my last hatch did. Great car and I have had it for nearly 4 years. The sports package is lovely and the options are neat.