FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) - Jul 07, 2010 - In October of this lovers of the cute little smart fortwo will have their dreams come true as Smart USA sets to launch a test fleet of 250 fortwo Electric Drive cars. The cars will be leased in Portland, OR, San Jose, CA, Orlando, FL and Washington, DC.

About 80 percent of these will be leased to big companies, the remainder offered to individuals. A four-year deal at $599 a month, after a $2,500 down payment at signing is pretty pricey. The Nissan Leaf is set to be $349 a month for a three-year lease, but if anyone can put a price on being cool, it looks like smart just has.

The new smart weighs in at 2100 lbs, or about 300 lbs more than the gasoline version. The added weight is easily handled by the standard ST42 Smart Trailer USA.

The fortwo electric drive has a 20 kW constant/30 kW motor driven through a single fixed-gear transmission and is powered by a 16.5 kWh lithium-Ion battery. A full battery recharge takes a little less than eight hours and an average user is expected to charge the car once or twice a week for typical commutes. Charging is based on 220 volts, though 110 volt charging is optional and will take about 14 hours for a full charge.

Smart says 0 to 37 mph takes 6.5 seconds, with a top speed of about 62.5 miles an hour. The range is estimated at 83 miles, or around four to five hours of traveling at what Smart calls "typical city speeds." For those who want to take their smart on longer trips, as do many motorhome owners, the Smart Trailer USA lets them take their toy wherever they want to go. And charging up is a breeze overnight at most RV parks.

Gone is the clunky auto manual transmission, now replaced with a smooth one gear motor that provides a quiet replacement for the current version.

The four year cost of about $31,000 makes the ED an expensive, though cute, little town car. The price is sure to come down when full production takes off in model year 2013.

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Smart Sales, LLC is the manufacturer of the Smart Trailer USA. The company was formed just after the smart fortwo was first offered in the US. Since then the Smart Trailer USA has become the standard for towing the smart fortwo. Long a favorite of motorhome owners, the company looks forward to the upswing in business that the Electric Drive smart fortwo is sure to bring. More information may be found at http://www.SmartTrailerUSA.com and http://www.SmartSalesStore.com.

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