Racing Inspired

Today, Liz-Boeder custom designed racing stripes for one of our smart cars here at smart center of San Francisco. For anyone who doesn't know the infamous Liz Boeder (my mentor) she grew up with a racing history and you can pretty much ask her anything about Mercedes-Benz and she'll know it. She is also the one who has greatly inspired my test drives. For any of you who have been on one it will probably be your most memorable test drive you'll ever be on. There are few people who can top me and Liz Boeder is one of them. Beyond being a walking encyclopedia of Mercedes-Benz knowledge and history, she is also an artist. You can often view her work at her desk.

What makes Liz really special is she is also a smart car owner and enthusiast. She is an owner of the highly coveted Brabus edition. For those who are new to the smart world, the Brabus was only made in the US in 2008 and part of 2009. It is a beautifully designed car with a lot of great body kits and accessories in it. Her Brabus (named Natasha) is a silver convertible that she skillfully races around San Francisco. Soon you'll be able to recognize her because she is going to have Martini Racing inspired stripes on her car.

Liz's stripes inspired me to put so fun back into the smart car. Get our clients' creative juices flowing again and remember what smart is really all about, individuality. She was nice enough to custom make an original piece for us and for a future lucky client to have. You'll also have the joy of knowing that they were applied by hand by myself and Liz. A lot of love and care went into this car and it's new found uniqueness. Come on by and take a look at it and while you're at it take a test drive with us to.

From Left to Right: Liz Boeder (artist and creator of the racing stripes) Chanel Meanor (Brand Relations and Specialist)

So while on a test drive I had to really prove to all of the skeptics out there that the mini cooper is 3 feet longer than the smart car. Many times when I tell guest who walk into our homely showroom that the smart car is three feet longer. I was finally able to prove it to the client that didn't believe me and now can share with all of our fans and readers.

Please note that this is an older model mini and over the years the mini has only gotten bigger. Living in the biggest little city every foot makes all the difference.

Juice for all...at lease for our electric drivers

The San Mateo County Examiner just released an article about San Francisco's plans to install charging stations for all of our electric car drivers. These stations will be FREE OF CHARGE until 2013. Plans are to have 2,750 chargers of that 2,750 we will see 30 "fast chargers". These chargers can perform at fractions of the time it takes a regular station to juice up an electric car.

Where will you find these stations? Places such as SFO, city owned public parking garages, and General Hospital garages. Mayor Lee is set to make San Francisco a leader in supporting electric cars. This is fantastic news for all of our clients looking into getting into a new smart Electric Drive.

To learn more stop by our store to read the full article and pick our brains about the Electric Drive smart and our plans for the future.

The Daily Show

Exciting event went down today at smart Center of San Francisco. Members of the Jon Stewart Daily Show were here at the dealership and in San Francisco doing a piece San Francisco's recent decline from being the #1 Gay City in the United States to the 11th.

We lost our title purely because of the way it was calculated by per capita. Members of the Daily Show borrowed our Hello Kitty car and brought it to a near by park to shoot small clips of Jason (one of their "reporters") in the car. Over taken by Minneapolis even Cleveland, Ohio has beaten our progressive city.

No fear we are still known as the most gay lifestyle friendly city with the best Pride Parade in the Nation. Who knows, smart Center of San Francisco might make another debut there too.

New news

smart is officially going to be a complete daughter company of Mercedes-Benz.Projected to be completely absorbed in a couple of months smart will be manufactured, distributed, financed and maintained by them. Some have speculated it is to improve the overall fuel economy of their fleet. Great news is that warranty won't change and will possibly improve for the smart car because it will no longer be warrantied by Penske.

In other news we have the Electric Drive available to test drive and lease. Anyone interested in the E.D. should definitely come in a test drive. It is completely different in all the best ways. A little strange when you first drive it because it makes no noise. Flawless in the way it drives and handles. It's both fun to drive and economical.

Much More Than a smart Purchase

With tough times like we have seen over the past few years it also teaches us a lesson as well. We remember to be a little more conscious about our purchase decisions and look at the bigger picture of things. When shopping for a car more often we look at what it is going to cost us over time. When we look at those figures we're shocked when we thought something was a good buy but the cost for us to keep it was a different story.

I was doing some research on the smart fortwo today to look at the bigger picture numbers. I wanted to investigate for my customers beyond the ecological pricing we have for a commuter, first time buyer car, or a car that one just desires because the customability. I investigated is it the right decision for a long term purchase and how this amazing little car stands up to our competition. This is what I found.

A couple years ago, when I was at Honda, I often used the exact same tools my customers to help them with their decisions. Edmunds.com has built a fantastic tool to help us make the right choices. They built a tool that analyzes the True Cost to Own a vehicle. Great thing about this tool is you can look at any car, new or used, and it will estimate the cost for you to own it over a 5 year period. They calculate everything from fuel consumption, maintenance, purchase price, financing, miscellaneous things you might encounter beside basic servicing etc. So, I wanted to come up with a comparison of the total cost at the end of 5 years with my competitors I usually get shopped against. Below are my findings:

2010 Mini Cooper: $37,131
Cost per mile: $0.50

2010 Honda Fit: $32,493
Cost per mile: $0.43

2010 Toyota Yaris: $32,283
Cost per mile: 0.43

2010 smart Passion Coupe: $29,577
Cost per mile: $0.39

Edmunds.com TCO Side by Side Comparison

After seeing this I wanted to dig a little deeper. Another tool I use often is fueleconomy.gov. This website was built by the EPA to help consumers get a better sense of the actual fuel economy they will get based on their driving habits. The numbers I am going to report to you is based on 15,000 miles driven per year, 45% highway driving and 55% city driving.

2010 Mini Cooper:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.97
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.89 gal
Cost to Fill up: $39.56
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,783

2010 Honda Fit:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.49
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.81 gal
Cost to Fill up: $29.48
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,497

2010 Toyota Yaris:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.49
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.81 gal
Cost to Fill up: $30.87
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,497

2010 smart Passion Coupe:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.31
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.69 gal
Cost to Fill up: $26.07
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,389

fueleconomy.gov Side by Side Comparisons

One day soon we'll be able to see the full lifecycle of a car we purchase it's effects on the environment and the cost for it's entire lifetime.

Right around the corner

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls the much anticipated 2011 fully electric smart car is almost here. It will be here the last week of January. For it's debut I am thinking about putting together bit of an event for it. More details to come as we get closer. I'll leave you in suspense until we get closer.

Don't forget to stop by any time to learn more!

Put it to the test



Here are a couple of tests that you can do on your own to better understand why the smart car is so safe. All day long I can talk about the crash boxes, the ABS, Brake Assist, the Tridion Cell (interesting fact same material we use in many spaceships as well!), etc etc.

The Walnut Test:

Take two walnuts of different sizes, one larger one smaller, and put them in your hand and squeeze them. Which one breaks and cracks open first? You'll find the larger one will crack open before any damage is made to the smaller one.

The Pencil Test:

You'll need one brand new lead pencil. Use your fingers to snap it in half. How quickly does it snap? How much effort or energy did you use to snap it? Now, take another lead pencil half it's size and try to snap that one. How much energy did you exert to try and break that one, if you broke it at all?

This is the same physics behind the smart car. It's actually safer to be in this car in an accident than in a large SUV, sedan, truck, even small sedan. There are many reports of smarts getting into accidents and totaling the larger cars because the smart car is much denser than even a small sedan. Like the walnut the larger car will give before the smaller denser smart.

Smart Safety

An issue I address every single day of my time spent here in smart is safety. We have been bred and told the bigger the car the safer. We have seen horrific accidents where little cars have been pulverized by comparable sized and larger vehicles. This is not the case for the smart car. The smart car is specifically engineered and designed to be safe and protect it's passengers.

I was wandering through old notes of mine and previous co-workers and I came across a booklet with helpful sites. We have an entire site dedicated to explaining smart safety and customer's stories.

Real Life smart Safety Stories

Please note that the stories and pictures contained on this website are informative and also very graphic. I strongly suggest to go to it and check it out but with caution if you are shaken easily.

Size really doesn't matter

Think the smart car is too small for you? Think again.

Ash, owner of ZippGo, a green business that rents and delivers reusable moving boxes of various sizes is also a proud owner of a smart car. One day, Ash found out one day that all of his drivers were busy and he needed to deliver 10 large moving boxes to a customer. Thinking that he would have to make two trips, was pleasantly surprised when he found that he could deliver all 10 in one trip!

Readers please also note that Ash is 6'2 and his lovely wife is 5'10 and fit very comfortably in their smart car with their 75 pound Lab. Ash also told me a fantastic inside joke he and his wife share, they joke that they are VIP's at every restaurant because they always find the best parking in front of even the hottest restaurants!

Think Smart, Think Green

A manufacturing first in the automotive industry, constructing a car looking at the bigger picture in it's affects on the planet. Mercedes-Benz really thought this one out when they built the plants for the smart car. They looked at the entire life cycle of the smart car to ensure that they maximized the reduction in it's footprint on the earth.

When choosing vendors we chose only ones that utilized returnable containers. When wasting is unavoidable we look at how it can be minimized. The entire process to build a smart car is only 8 hours, 3 of which is actual build time!

Materials in the smart fortwo are chosen because they will have a minimal effect on the environment. A majority of our parts are recyclable. They stem from renewable raw materials and 100% recycled plastics. Not to mention how great are the doors? When is the last time you owned a car that was virtually dent and ding free?

Instead conventional painting for our cars we use a powder-coat process which uses 40% less energy. You'll find that this process has zero solvent emissions involved and no water consumption (for the water we do use it is also recycled water as well). Any powder over spary, or excess, is collected to be used again.

Our technologically advanced 3-cylinder engine competes with even the Hybrids out there. With the best fuel economy out there for gasoline powered vehicles, we are looking to reduce everyone's carbon footprint. Here are some tips to maximize your already fuel efficent smart: Fuel Saving Tips

In January 2011 the United States will see the fully electric smart fortwo. 2012 we'll see this amazing little car in full swing production! Not too long after that we might even see the clean burning diesel that has been reported to get 84 mpg.

Our consciousness doesn't end there, because this is an ongoing thing we must keep revisiting and reevaluating how to reduce our carbon footprint. One day we'll see the day when we can manufacture cars with little to no impact to the earth and our future.

Through Rain, Sleet and Snow

I get a lot of questions from customers on how the smart car performs in extreme situations like heavy rain, snow, and wind. My answer has always been that it can do everything a normal car can do. Just recently I lucked out when I found out a smart car enthusiast took her car up to the snow.

She took a lot of photos and I've picked out my favorite to share with everyone. She also shows off her cool custom wrap on her car and how you can really personalize the smart car too. Check it out!

How cool is this? With just chains this little car zipped up through the storm. The customer also reported how easy it was to drive in the snow as well. She experienced very little slipping or sliding. Besides the short wheelbase she has to thank the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) in her car. Made and invented by Mercedes-Benz she has some of the most advance technology out there in her little car.

If you have any pictures of your smart car please send them in with your story. I'll show your smart car off as well on my blog!

Where did the name come from?

Besides the innovation of the design of the car with having the tridion steel safety shell showing on the outside of the car, one might wonder where did it get it's name from. This my friends we will have to dive a little deeper into smart car's history.

Before Mercedes-Benz took on this neo-urban revolutionary car the makers of Swatch decided to revolutionize the car industry. They noticed the want drivers have to make their cars one of a kind. They started toying with various ideas until what they came up with to close to what we see the smart car today. The makers of Swatch started to approach various makers with their idea. On sort of a hail Mary type of move they decided to approach Diamler AG (the maker of Mercedes-Benz) who saw it potential and took them on.

The name smart came from the combination of Swatch and Art. The smart car is now available in 96 different colors and you can have full and partials wraps. A car that never ceases to change and be customized at a much more efficient costs. Not to mention all of our panels are made from recyclable plastics that have come from other smart cars or various other plastics.

What does it mean?

There are symbols that surround us every day that we instantly recognize but what do they mean? Mercedes-Benz has the three pointed star that adorns every hood and trunk lid. The three points mean Air, Land and Water. You show a child the golden arches and they'll tell you with McDonalds. What about smart? What does our symbol mean?

Very simple, this is the beauty of it. The silver "c" simply stands for coupe. The yellow arrow is symbolic for forward thinking. Together, I believe, they stand for reducing our carbon footprint but keeping what our passion for high quality and fun to drive.

Take the current model smart car, the fourtwo. The panels are made out of recycled plastics, we use recycled water at all of our plants, and our emissions compete with the highly regarded hybrids of the world. Look at the bigger picture and our future electric car (debuting in January 2011) is going to be even more efficient and earth friendly because we're not using the traditional nickel plated hybrid battery. We are using a lithium-ion battery which Mercedes-Benz first introduced in their S-class.

Our forward thinking does not stop there and I think we will soon discover that smart will be a leader in the small automotive industry, a part of the automotive industry that has been neglected. With the rapid growth and expansion of metropolitans I am seeing a higher demand for these efficient vehicles. One day we are going to find the smart symbol as easily recognizable as Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and many of the other major brands.