I see this little blue electric smart car around campus near Nelson Hall all the time.

Does anybody know who drives that thing? Is it a professor on campus?

3/18/2008 3:32:37 PM

It uh...

Uses gas.

Hence the gas cap on the back right part of the car in the photo there.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM. Reason : Or it uses diesel. I forget. It burns fuel. ]

3/18/2008 4:02:08 PM

he/she is probably a little bitch

3/18/2008 4:03:26 PM

I think it was behind me on Avent Ferry. There were two pretty large folks in it.

3/18/2008 4:23:30 PM

That cap is where you fill ions, not gas. Duhhh.

3/18/2008 4:24:02 PM

you fart in it

3/18/2008 4:26:11 PM

it's where the plug goes

3/18/2008 4:26:13 PM

i saw a smart car with 30 day tags park on campus today. it's tiny. and unamerican

3/18/2008 4:30:09 PM

theres a yellow one at north hall i believe

3/18/2008 4:31:36 PM

I saw a red one today near Page Hall

I've also seen the yellow one

3/18/2008 4:38:50 PM

LOL, I love how the original poster assumes its electric b/c its small and green.

3/18/2008 4:40:02 PM

its actually small and blue.

3/18/2008 5:18:28 PM

what happened? everyone was so anticipating this and said they'll get one when it comes out

oh well if you dont like this, wait for the Chevy volt, its an awsome looking electric car

3/18/2008 5:23:40 PM

I still cant figure out how a car that

Is 6 feet long
uses a Mitsubishi engine
and only gets 30mpg

is in any way smart. I would go so far as to say its your worst option as far as economy cars go.

3/18/2008 5:29:57 PM

There are three of them. I know the drivers of the red one and the blue one; however I respect their privacy so I won't say more than that they do work for the university.

3/18/2008 5:30:03 PM

A professor drives the blue one, parks up in that restricted parking lot between the belltower and watauga/brooks hall.

3/18/2008 5:33:24 PM

^^^no kidding. turbo diesels have been doing better than that for years with all the comforts of a normal car.

3/18/2008 5:35:26 PM

yeah maybe someone can point out something i dont see , but from the outside glance

its small
it isn't safe
it has the last japanese company you want designing its engine
it doesn't get good gas mileage

where is the smart part?

3/18/2008 5:42:24 PM

i was always under the impression that it was illegal to drive these things in the states since they dont pass our standards of collision protection . ... but maybe these are different?

3/18/2008 5:43:23 PM

i think it should be a law that everyone should drive these,
that would be awsome.

3/18/2008 5:44:44 PM

standards of collision protection? pretty sure that as long as it has a seatbelt you're good to go.

3/18/2008 5:50:46 PM

they don't care if its steel metal death trap so long as it has seatbelts - its just its hard to get people to buy it when you essentially have to put a sticker that says in case of crash you will be decapitated 90% of the time.

3/18/2008 5:57:22 PM

Quote :

"what happened? everyone was so anticipating this and said they'll get one when it comes out"

I believe it ended up costing more to get than a toyota prius, is a lot smaller, slower, and doesn't have the same sort of popular pretentious fame that would make all of your eco-minded professor friends jealous.

In short, it sucks.

3/18/2008 6:00:26 PM

they require a lot more than just a seatbelt to meet crash ratings as a passenger car.

3/18/2008 6:07:18 PM

^^
you can get the "top of the line" model hear in the states for $17k. Hardly a Prius ...

3/18/2008 6:11:13 PM

im holding out for the chevy volt

3/18/2008 6:18:38 PM

ratings != requirements

sure it'll have a shitty rating, but i don't think it's required to get tags on a vehicle.

think about all the old cars people are driving around that don't have airbags and shit.

[Edited on March 18, 2008 at 6:19 PM. Reason : ^fugly]

3/18/2008 6:19:12 PM

^are you kidding, that car is every little boy's dream,
now its comming true

3/18/2008 6:26:55 PM

i like this too, if everyone rode a three wheel cycle that would be good

3/18/2008 6:28:46 PM

there was one that looked just like that and it was a mercedes smart car at east village the other day

3/18/2008 6:33:00 PM

Quote :

"that car is every little boy's dream"

pretty sure i just wanted a monster truck

3/18/2008 6:35:43 PM

Quote :

"^^ you can get the "top of the line" model hear in the states for $17k. Hardly a Prius ..."

Oh, okay, it said it was going to be more than that in a new article I read back when all the hype shit was stirring.

Every other vehicle in that price range is better though.

All of them.

3/18/2008 6:36:29 PM

Quote :

"sure it'll have a shitty rating, but i don't think it's required to get tags on a vehicle. "

quit thinking and start reading the NHTSA Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Passenger vehicles are required to meet side and rear crash ratings, rollover ratings, percentage of windshield to remain intact during a crash, etc.

3/18/2008 6:37:54 PM

Quote :

"and only gets 30mpg"

It gets more like 45-50 mpg.

And the diesel version gets 70 mpg.

But I agree, that car is not very smart.

************************************

However, I found these pics:

3/18/2008 7:02:34 PM

i wonder if i could fit in one

3/18/2008 7:13:16 PM

obligatory i wonder if evan could fit in one.

3/18/2008 7:53:28 PM

Quote :

"obligatory i wonder if evan could fit in one."

naw, hed stick one leg through the sun roof, the other leg through another smart car sun roof and skate around

3/18/2008 7:55:22 PM

seems like it would be easy for evan to lose some weight

3/18/2008 7:55:53 PM

those crash test pics look pretty good, I wonder what speed it was

the crumple zone is just so small, I wonder how the people don't get slammed around

3/19/2008 10:00:04 PM

i would love to drive my big obnoxious american suv into one of those, if money was no object.

3/19/2008 10:02:08 PM