Race to Be the First Beetle

Steven Heller
http://imprint.printmag.com/daily-heller/race-to-be-the-first-beetle

Do you think the Smart Car is so smart? Think again. It is one in a long line of minimalist vehicles. A new book, Voiture Minimum: Le Corbusier and the Automobile explores the famed “less is more” Modern architect’s involvement with the automobile, designing in 1936 “a minimalist vehicle for maximum functionality.” Take that Ferdinand Porche and your Nazi Beetle!!

Le Corbusier was not only an architect, he was a car enthusiast, who owned a Voisin which he used as a symbol of modernity. “In the Twenties and Thirties Le Corbusier was totally obsessed with automobiles,” says author Antonio Amado. “He knew all the new models perfectly, visited car exhibitions regularly, read car magazines and knew all the vanguard trends and revolutionary concepts being applied to cars, such as aerodynamics.”

In 1935, France’s Société des Ingénieurs de l’Automobile opened a major competition, calling for proposals for a practical and economical car to cost no more than 8,000 francs. Of course, it had to be small. Le Corbusier and his business partner Pierre Jeanneret submitted drawings for the Voiture Minimum. It was dismissed at the time as an architect’s dabbling. It has, writes Farah Alkhalisi in London’s The Telegraph, “since been hailed as the forgotten people’s car, a key influence on the Volkswagen Beetle, Citroën 2CV and suchlike.”

While the book could use a little better typography (someone had their finger on the type-shadow button), the images, particularly the sketches, are worth the price. And an introductory section on other architects who designed cars is of interest too.

Bolivia holds key to electric car future

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7707847.stm

Bolivia holds key to electric car future
By Damian Kahya
BBC News, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Bolivia's lithium reserves could bring wealth to the country

High in the Andes, in a remote corner of Bolivia, lies more than half the world's reserves of a mineral that could radically reduce our reliance on dwindling fossil fuels.

Lithium carries a great promise. It could help power the fuel efficient electric or petrol-electric hybrid vehicles of the future.

But, as is the case with fossil fuels, it is a limited resource.

Lithium carbonate is already in the batteries of laptop computers and mobile phones.

It is used because it allows more energy to be stored in a lighter, smaller space than most alternatives.

And as the auto industry rushes to produce new fuel efficient and electric cars, it too is turning to lithium batteries as its first choice to boost the power of their new models.

GM has one in its new hybrid Volt, Toyota is testing one in its next generation hybrid Prius. Mercedes is testing an electric version of its Smart, while BMW is doing the same with its Mini.

And Nissan-Renault, Mitsubishi and VW are all rushing to buy or produce enough of the batteries to power their future models.

The best of the pure electric cars can reach ranges of more than 150 kilometres per charge.

More is needed

But there is a problem.

Mitsubishi, which plans to release its own electric car soon, estimates that the demand for lithium will outstrip supply in less than 10 years unless new sources are found.

And they have ended up in Bolivia.

"The demand for lithium won't double but increase by five times," according to Eichi Maeyama Mitsubishi's general manager in La Paz.

"We will need more lithium sources - and 50% of the world's reserves of lithium exist in Bolivia, in the Salar de Uyuni," he adds, pointing out that without new production, the price of lithium will rise prohibitively.

Locals fear the benefits will not be passed on

But almost all the commercially exploitable reserves are found in the brine under salt flats.

The world's largest reserves lie in Bolivia at the Salar de Uyuni - in the remote southern Andean plane.

But Bolivia is not a country known to be friendly to foreign industry.

Its socialist president, Evo Morales, is keen to expand state control over its natural resources, a task carried out by Bolivia's minister for mining, Luis Alberto Echazu.

"We want to send a message to the industrialized countries and their companies," Mr Echazu says.

"We will not repeat the historical experience since the fifteenth century: raw materials exported for the industrialisation of the west that has left us poor."

Modest ambitions

Gold, silver, tin, oil and gas have all been found and exported from here whilst the country remains the poorest in the region.

For President Morales' supporters, that is reason enough not to allow in foreign mining companies to extract the lithium.

Across the flats, freelance miners work to break up the surface salt selling it to passing trucks for just a few dollars.

Indigenous and poor, they are core supporters of the president.

A grizzled old miner, giving his name only as Alfredo, says he does not believe that lithium will ever be extracted.

"We don't want to see foreign companies here," he says.

"It would be very bad, as the government says."

Alfredo's hopes for the future are modest.

"I just want to work until I die" he says, a smile across his face. It is not an uncommon sentiment here.

Sharing the benefits

In spite of the grinding poverty here, attempts in the 1980's and 1990's by foreign companies to extract the lithium met with resistance from the community.

They say the money would go elsewhere.

Francisco Quisbert is a local activist with President Morales' party who took part in the resistance.

Now he is working with the president to hammer out a new plan for a state-owned pilot plant on the flats.

"We don't want international involvement," he says.

"This plan has raised the hopes of the region.

"Before our grandparents lived on the salt. They arrived from the valleys in caravans of llamas, but the market forced them to leave.

"We want to return to live on the salar [and] improve our living conditions and to participate in the project."

To begin with the pilot plant will produce no more than 1.2 kilotonnes a year.

If an industrial plant is then built it may increase to around 30 kilotonnes by 2012, - thats just under a third of current production.

But most lithium now goes to small batteries for electronic goods.

Car batteries are far larger and Mitsubishi estimates the world will need 500 kilotonnes a year just to service a niche market. For electric cars to become the norm, it could need far more.

Mitsubishi predicts that there will be a supply shortage by 2015.

Pollution nevertheless

Analysts suspect that Bolivia's government can produce this much.

"Governments in South America have had a very successful history of mining," explains Charles Kernot, a mining analyst at Evolution Securities.

But the question is how fast.

"They probably don't have a lot of experience of doing this sort of thing themselves so they'll have to bring in expertise and technology," Mr Kernot adds.

"That whole process may take a lot longer than people are anticipating."

Consequently, he continues, "the car manufacturers will have to strike a balance between how quickly they manufacture with the supply of metal because they don't want to drive the price up to such an extent that the cars get priced out of the market".

Long-term, Bolivia's government is wary of the environmental damage mass extraction could cause.

The mining minister, Mr Eschazu, has a stark message for Western firms.

"The capitalist leaders have to change," he says.

"If all the world had consumers like North America, everyone with a car, it would grind to a halt.

"It is also going to generate pollution, not just from fossil fuels but also from lithium plants, which produce sulphur dioxide. This isn't a magic solution."

It is not a view likely to go down well in the offices of Toyota and General Motors.

Funky Cars You Love to Hate

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/629/funky-cars-you-love-to-hate/

Funky Cars You Love to Hate
By Lauren DeAngelis, U.S. News

You won't hate these cars because they're beautiful. Ugly ducklings like the discontinued Pontiac Azteck and Subaru Baja have given way to sleek shapes such as the Infiniti G37 and Cadillac CTS. But there are still a few duckies on lots waiting for their turn to become swans. Check out our picks for the oddest, wackiest and weirdest-looking autos in production today. And make sure to look closely, because behind those strange exteriors are often some of the most useful cargo areas and spacious cabins in the business. For some cars, beauty really is on the inside.

Chrysler's PT Cruiser has developed a cult following for its one-of-a-kind retro design. With looks reminiscent of 1930s and 40s hotrods, the wagon attracts praise despite its cartoonish feel. Motor Trend says it's the "hottest looking retro rod anyone can afford. No matter where you go, people stare at the PT like it's a Ferrari." It may look quirky to some, but the PT's exterior isn't just about looks. The tall roof provides tons of headroom for passengers and the wagon's cargo capacity rivals that of a minivan.

Chrysler may have thought they had the market cornered with the PT Cruiser, but since Chevrolet introduced the HHR in 2005 the retro-inspired crossover has given the PT a run for its money. Short for "Heritage High Roof," the HHR is inspired by the 1949 Suburban and looks part old delivery truck, part hearse. U.S. News reviewer Rick Newman describes it as "sorta cute, sorta homely, with a bit of gangster chic thrown in." The HHR's old-school exterior conceals a versatile interior -- virtually every seat folds flat and the cargo bay is especially deep.

Petite Doesn't Mean Pretty

The tiny Smart Fortwo definitely made a splash when it arrived on U.S. shores earlier this year -- but not just because of its diminutive size. The little car's unique, almost-disproportionate styling is one of its most distinctive traits. About.com aptly sums up, "It's still hard to look at it and think of it as a car. I'd look at all the vehicles parked on my street and think 'Car, car, car, Smart, car, car.'" And speaking of parking, the Fortwo's short, clownish shape translates into park-anywhere capabilities.

In a class full of sporty, streamlined sedans, another small car, the Volkswagen GTI, sticks out like a sore thumb. Its hatchback design means it's taller and quirkier than its other upscale rivals. MSN notes that the GTI "has an especially ungainly appearance, with an overly aggressive-looking front end and chunky shape." However, the GTI isn't funny-looking for nothing. The hatchback configuration provides much more cargo space than its top competitors from Audi and Acura, giving it a rare shot of practicality for its class.

The Cubism Movement

When it hit dealerships in 2003, the Scion xB made quite a style statement -- and not necessarily in a good way. Its boxy, toaster-like appearance went against the emerging trend of increasingly sleek, rounded vehicles. But while some people hated the statement, others embraced the ugly yet functional look. Why? Because the cabin is downright cavernous. MSN calls headroom "astounding," while Cars.com says "there's more room in the xB's backseat than in some midsize cars."

If the Scion xB is boxy, the Honda Element (introduced the year before the Scion) takes cubism to a whole new level. Its utilitarian shape and reverse-hinged rear doors set it apart from your typical SUV. While the xB is often compared to a toaster, Car and Driver bills the Element as a "rolling breadbox." If that's the case, the Element can hold a heck of a lot of bread. Those unusual rear doors make loading cargo easy with an opening that's larger than most minivans. And the Element's height allows plenty of room for even the tallest passengers.

Teenage Mutant Ninja...Trucks?

With large cabins and small truck beds, Sport Utility Trucks (SUTs) look strange no matter what. The Honda Ridgeline boasts one of the most controversial exteriors of all. "The Ridgeline reminds me of the old Rodney Dangerfield joke about how he was so ugly as a kid his parents had to tie a pork chop bone around his neck so the dog would play with him," criticizes the Detroit News. But despite an exterior ranking at the bottom of its class, the Ridgeline has plenty to offer. Its cargo bed may be short, but that means it fits easily into most garages. It also features an in-bed trunk complete with drain plugs for converting into a cooler. The Hummer H2 SUT looks just like a Hummer -- only with the two rear windows chopped off and a teeny-tiny truck bed in their place. Sound pretty? Well, not exactly, but it is pretty muscular and imposing for a pick-up. U.S. News reviewer Rick Newman calls the styling "military chic." Plus, the combat-inspired SUT is the ultimate truck for hauling versatility. Its rear midgate allows drivers to convert it from a five-passenger SUV with a small truck bed into a two-person truck with a six-foot bed.

2008 Smart Fortwo Test Drive

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4232419.html

November 19, 2007
2008 Smart Fortwo Test Drive: A Slow but Solid American Start

Smart already has the kind of hipster, enviro-concious image other car companies spend millions to cultivate. These small-on-the-outside, large-on-the-inside rides, designed by Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), have been a hit in Europe for almost 10 years and will start rolling onto United States streets in January. The Smart Fortwo (as in for two passengers) will create a new, sub “B” car class in the U.S. market. It’s a vehicle specifically designed to comfortably and efficiently transport its occupants through the worst areas of urban congestion. The micro-size dimensions make it over 2 ft. shorter than a Mini Cooper. And at just over 5 ft. across, the Fortwo sits as wide as it does tall. You can park this Smart widthwise across a conventional parking space. So, yes, it’s quite petite. We recently got a chance to take the Fortwo on a two-day spin around California’s Bay Area, from Silicon Valley to San Francisco. Here’s what we learned.

The first thing you notice about this car is exactly what you thought would be the Smart’s biggest drawback: its size. It’s actually big inside, with two fullsize adults driving comfortably for hours. Fortwo was designed with a minimalist mentality—no center console here, just a cup holder and gearshift dividing the driver and passenger seat. The entire dashboard design has an open, airy feeling thanks to that big bubble of a windshield. And there’s loads of legroom so you quickly forget that the rearend of the car’s frame is a mere 2 ft. behind you. It’s odd, but on the highway the Smart seems somewhat larger than its two closest competitors—the Mini Cooper and Honda Fit. And that’s probably because it towers over the Mini by 5 in.

Okay, that’s the good news. The bad news is that the relatively (and we mean relatively) tall design makes for an awkward and sometimes wobbly feel at higher freeway speeds. This probably isn’t the first car you’d choose for a trip across the country.

Speaking of speed, the 1800-pound Fortwo really doesn’t have a lot of it. Power comes solely from a rear-mounted, 70-hp 1.0-liter three-cylinder mated to a five-speed automatic that drives the rear wheels. Punch the throttle and hold it wide open for a while and the Smart will reach 90 mph—eventually. The trip from 0-60 mph takes an estimated 12.8 seconds. That, folks, is slow. Then again, in metropolitan areas, when does the speed limit ever exceed 55 or 60 mph? This is, after all, a basic commuter car. Once underway, we could easily thrust the little tyke into the 70-80 mph range. And the transmission’s auto-manual shifting ability makes it kind of fun—especially with the paddle shifters. But the shifts aren’t exactly butter-smooth in automatic mode. Unfortunately, like most cars, the fuel consumption is directly related to the pressure exerted by the right foot. And since the Smart revs relatively high at freeway speeds, economy appears to plummet in proportion to speed more quickly than on some small cars. But drive, ahem, smart, and you’ll get 40 mpg in the city and 45 on the highway. Although this car wasn’t built to challenge Porsche 911s or Corvettes, it’s a solid, economical ride.

From the beginning, Smart, as a company, has been environmentally conscious. During production, the entire bodywork is powder-coated rather than painted, which not only uses 40 percent less energy but also has zero solvent emissions and water consumption. Plus, Smart collects the powder overspray, because 98 percent of it is reusable.

Since the original was built for the European market and didn’t meet U.S. safety standards, Smart redesigned the Fortwo and achieved a four-star crash rating from NHTSA. The little automaker that could also opened up a bigger trunk for the U.S. model that fits a set of golf clubs. And for winter sports, the passenger seat folds flat, leaving enough room for a pair of skis. Plus, with an electronic stability program, traction control and anti-lock brakes, the Fortwo makes a descent foul-weather friend.

The Smart Fortwo will be offered in three models: Pure ($11,590), Passion Coupe ($13,590) and Passion Cabriolet ($16,590). And, of course, one of our favorite standard features is the aux input jack for external audio players (aka iPods). Hey, we need our tunes, man. The convertible is fun, especially once we learned the top could be lowered (or raised) at any speed. Sadly, even though the three-model fleet will hit dealerships in January, wait for a Smart car is looking like six months to a year—ouch. But it’s worth the wait when you consider constantly rising gas prices and overpopulated urban sprawls; the efficient Fortwo simply makes a lot of sense. —Brittany Marquis

The Smart car is coming

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/12/smart_car/

The Smart car is coming
Sure, the tiny autos are perfectly suited for the narrow lanes of Paris and Rome. But here in the land of freeways and monster SUVs, are we ready to downsize so far?
By Katharine Mieszkowski

Nov. 12, 2007 Everything's bigger in Texas, including, surprisingly, the interest in the itsy-bitsy car known as the Smart. In January, the miniature two-seat cars that dot the narrow lanes of Europe will make their way across the Atlantic and go on sale at 70 dealerships across America. For the past seven months, the Smart, which is made by Mercedes, has been embarked on a 50-city road show, offering test drives, photo ops and hype worthy of a monster-truck rally.

On a bright Saturday morning, a fleet of the tiny cars is on display at Mockingbird Station, one of Dallas' prefab entertainment and lifestyle complexes, thick with restaurants, movie theaters, stores and lofts. More than 100 Texans are waiting to test-drive the Smart model called Fortwo, whose price starts at $11,600. Many wannabe drivers are armed with cameras, as if they're here hoping to catch a glimpse of an exotic animal at the zoo.

Charlie Barnhardt, a big, bald man in snakeskin cowboy boots and a hunting cameo shirt with birds on it, drove an hour and a half from Greenville in his Jeep Grand Cherokee to see the Smart. Barnhardt, who runs a welding shop and hopes soon to retire, gives this verdict. "They're cute," he chuckles with a sweet smile. "I think it would go over good" in Texas.

Here in the land of the big pickup, the cuteness factor is turning a lot of heads for the smallest-horsepower vehicle offered by a major automaker. Irene Zeilan, a 40-something redhead, commutes five miles to her job at Texas Instruments in a 1988 Ford Bronco. But she recently bought a house in the burbs and will soon be making a 25-mile slog to work. So she's planning to shrink her ride and is thrilled by the microcars. "The time is right for this kind of car here," she says.

That's Mercedes' thinking, too. For years, the Smart car has roamed the roads of France, Italy and Germany, as well as Malaysia, South Africa and Canada -- 36 countries in all. Now the German automaker believes rising gas prices have propelled American drivers into recovery from their SUV binge. It believes we're finally ready to downsize -- way, way down.

But still there's something about the Smart car that seems to contradict the American way of life. We are a frontier country of wide-open spaces and eight-lane freeways. Want to go green? Sure, as long as it's with a 6,000-square-foot mansion with solar panels and a hybrid SUV. Besides, we're not Europeans. We don't drive cars that resemble toy poodles. We know all about the geopolitical crises of oil and the environmental fallout of all those carbon-dioxide emissions and exhaust fumes, but we demand a lot of metal and horsepower to keep us feeling safe and secure.

After all, the SUV craze was fueled in large part by the feeling that big cars were safer, and despite being mightly debunked, those sentiments die hard. An early Car and Driver review of the Smart Fortwo pronounced it "scary," while suggesting that only coastal snobs trying to navigate the narrow streets and limited parking of cities like Boston and San Francisco would settle for something this small. "Just how many urban fashionistas are there?" the reviewer sniffed.

"Cars have gotten incrementally smaller, but this is a quantum leap smaller," says Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. The two-seater measures just 8.8 feet long -- a whopping total of 106 inches. It's 5.1 feet tall and wide. The Smart's often compared to a golf cart, except with heated leather seats, a sunroof and a nice stereo. Yet it's truly diminutive size has inspired other admirers to liken it to a roller skate or a bowling shoe. "For two people there's room," says Brandon Dye, executive editor of AutomotiveTrends.com. "It's not a torture cell by a long shot. But Americans are used to our big cars."

Fears about the Smart's being like a cue ball in an accident on a typical American freeway are its biggest drawback. Because it weighs a mere 1,800 pounds, some drivers will never overcome the horrific vision of a collision between a Smart and, say, a Toyota Land Cruiser, which clocks in at 5,700 pounds. "I like big trucks," says Pedro Caballero, checking out the Smarts in Dallas. Caballero owns a P.T. Cruiser, the smallest thing he has ever driven. "You're up so high. You feel safe."

"Many consumers equate size with safety," says Sean Comey, spokesman for the American Automobile Association. "And ultimately, the most important job that any vehicle will ever be called upon to perform is to save your life, and prevent you from being injured." However, he adds, "some smaller cars are engineered in such a way that they are in fact safer than big ones in many respects." In recent decades, auto experts have shown that it's not how much a car weighs that keeps its passengers safe. More important are a car's design and inclusion of safety features like air bags and anti-lock brakes, not to mention driver responsibility and skill.

The Smart Fortwo meets all American safety standards. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet crash-tested it, but plans to do so in the first quarter of 2008. In the European Union, the crash testing body Euro NCAP gave the 2007 Smart Fortwo a four out of five stars safety rating. In fact, at 1,650 pounds, the European Smart Fortwo is somewhat lighter than the U.S. model.

Reed argues that the Smart's as safe as a small car can be. "The seats rise completely above your head, and they're made of extra-hard plastic," he says. "There are air bags everywhere." Passengers are also surrounded by what the company calls the "tridion safety cell," a kind of egg-shaped steel cage, designed to absorb the impact of bigger vehicles, which means practically every other car on the road.

Denise McCluggage, a columnist for AutoWeek magazine, who is a former race-car driver, says that size is also the car's advantage when you're behind the wheel. Not only does it slip into parking spaces that midsize sedans can only dream of, it allows you to maneuver through cars in clogged traffic. "It's almost like a motorcycle in that way," says McCluggage, who drove the Smart at the Frankfurt Auto Show this year. "You can really find places that no one else can go. It makes you feel so smug because that can mean the difference of half a block, so that means you make a light or don't. Over time, you just get through traffic faster." She hopes that crowded cities will designate places for Smart car parking, the way that they do bicycle parking, to encourage the cars' use to save space, money and fuel.

Throughout the U.S., small cars are indeed making a comeback, thanks to oil topping $96 a barrel and gas prices staying high, at least by American standards. In 2006, small cars made up about 15 percent of new cars sold, while in 2002 that figure was just 13.8 percent, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. As of September 2007, 16 percent of cars sold were small, including the likes of the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Chevrolet Aveo and Mini Cooper.

For some, the appeal of the Smart is owning a vehicle that doesn't seem wasteful. In Dallas, Sondra Dickson, taking photos of the Smart Fortwo using a huge black camera with a zoom lens, says: "They say Texas isn't going to like little cars, but we have a Mini and it's too big for us!" Although the Smart's official gas mileage hasn't been published, the company says the two-seater is designed to achieve an average of 40 miles per gallon. That's not so great for such a tiny car, but it's more than 10 miles per gallon better than the average American car.

Many auto industry observers expect the Smart to sell well in the U.S., especially at first when it has newness going for it. Over time, whether it's built well, reliable and performs consistently over time will make the difference in ongoing sales. In any case, environmentalists and patriots who want to break Americans' dependence on foreign oil shouldn't get too excited about the nation's fleet of mammoth gas guzzlers being replaced in a wave of zippy, little, fuel-efficient cuteness.

The typical American household simply owns more vehicles now, with drivers holding on to old vehicles instead of trading them in when they get new ones. "The trend is toward more vehicles per household, and has been for more than a decade," says Paul Taylor, chief economist for the NADA. The average is currently more than two cars per household, even though more and more households are headed by a single person.

"We're seeing an increasing tendency for families to have more cars than drivers," says Comey of the AAA. He believes that this phenomenon may skew some of the stats about the increase in smaller vehicle ownership, because buying a smaller car doesn't necessarily equal taking a bigger car off the road. As cars and trucks have gotten more reliable, their dependable life span has increased. Even paint has gotten tougher. So whether it's out of dismay for how little that old beater is worth when you try to trade it in or emotional attachment to a faithful four wheels, Americans are keeping their older cars around longer. "It's like having your own family fleet. You might have one car that gets better gas mileage," says Comey.

While observers expect the Smart to sell to empty-nesters who don't need a back seat, and recent grads, who don't have kids and really can't afford a bigger car, they also imagine that many initial buyers will get a Smart as a little something extra. Some suggest that with its relatively low prices, the Smart Fortwo will be a convenient addition to the family fleet -- the third car, the weekend car, the fun car rather than a true substitute for another vehicle.

"It's priced low enough that it can be a novelty," says Reed from Edmunds. "You could already own two cars, and buy it as a novelty to run around town in, which is perhaps one of the best uses for it, in addition to -- I hate to say it -- a real car." After all, driving a big SUV or a minivan to the store for a gallon of milk can be frustrating, especially when you pull into a parking lot that is crowded with a lot of other big cars and trucks smooshed into conventional-size spaces. Why not just solve the problem the conventional American way by buying something new -- in this case another car for those trips around town?

At least one American automotive legend is sold on the Smart. That's Roger Penske, the famed race-car driver turned billionaire businessman, whose Penske Automotive Group will be distributing the cars in the United States. They'll be sold mainly at Mercedes dealerships, as well as at free-standing Smart USA dealerships. So far it appears America is ready to get Smart. More than 35,000 people have paid $99 for a refundable "reservation" to buy a Smart Fortwo.

With reporting by Andrea Grimes in Texas.