Five Months and 4000 Miles

Five Months and 4000 Miles

Okay, okay, so I didn't meet my original goal of 1000 miles per month.  Admittedly, I thought that I would be initially driving a demo car for Beshoff Motorcars, the local Mercedes-Benz / Smart Center.  As it turns out, I'm not as good at selling cars as I thought I was and the Manager of the Dealership read me like an open book.   But I have yet to stop writing about his little car and I expect to continue indefinitely.

What have I learned in five months?

For the first three months I definitely spent a great deal of time tracking at the ECO bar at the bottom of the status screen in the dash.  I've since come to realize that this is not for me.  My own natural style of driving is quite economical and that watching the bar actually caused my performance to decrease.

 During the seven years prior to owning a micro-car, I owned large trucks.  For the most part my personal driving habits have me slowing down early and accelerating slowly.  While constantly eyeing the ECO bar my performance stuck to about 3.4 mi / kWh (115 MPGe), but without my performance jumped to 3.75 mi / kWh (126 MPGe).  

I've also learned that I can go further than I had previously thought possible in a day.  Now that I have my EVSE installed, I don't worry so much about not having enough time to recharge if i burn the whole battery.  Recharging does still take a lot longer than most EVs, but I've come to accept that 12 miles I can get in an hour. The fact that I don't often travel more than 50 miles in a day, is quite practical and a peacemaker for my sanity. 

I still haven't gotten used to the incredible acceleration from stopped.  I find myself seeking the front of the line at a traffic signal, because I know that the 50 horses will be at the ready instantly.  I don't race people, but I have kept pace with some to see how much current I use and if I'm actually pushing it (usually not).   

I'm still not sure if people stare at the car in bewilderment or awe.  I get a great deal of strange looks, but usually once they see that it's electric, their eyes widen.  I've gotten a great deal of "that's a cool little car", and "wow, I love your car".  I think the size does still appear to many in the younger crowd.

Niche Market

I've come to accept that the Smart ED and Smart ForTwo Gas / Diesel is a niche.  It's not for everyone.  It's not even an elite club, either.  When a person buys a sports car, they have a purpose for it whether it be looks or speed (or both).  They have to acknowledge that it's low on seating and storage.  But with few exceptions, they probably don't think about how compact it is.  

The Smart ED is best suited for one person, with very little cargo, and a city range.   My wife and I don't have children or pets (that go in the car).  We are both working professionals who work in locations that are not convenient for carpooling.  The Smart ED can hold a full grocery cart-worth of items.  It can tote up to a 37" boxed LCD TV.  I've had multiple desktop computers and even a large enterprise-sized printer (in-box) in the car.  

I cannot however see a family of five purchasing this car for anything other than the oldest child. And even then, that child had better have only one good friend.  I doubt that two parents with a newborn would find this vehicle attractive.  But I can see retirees using it as a Towed or a daily golf-mobile. 

Conclusion

I sincerely appreciate the use I have garnered from the purchase of the Smart ED and still would not trade it for a Tesla S P85 (maybe the battery pack and on-board charger).  I like the form-factor of the Smart ED and the looks I get when people see a 2m-tall man climb from behind the steering-wheel.   I just hope that the battery pack does double before the end of the first 5 years of its lease.