Smart are describing their latest model – the for-us – as a “rule breaker”.

Previously, I wasn’t aware of any rules obeyed by cars beyond those of time, space and physics. I naively allowed myself to get a little excited by the prospect of this being the first car to be able to trip the light fantastic and transcend the boring barriers of mundane reality.

But no. The “rules” in question are more like ideas – as in, the “ideas about what an urban pickup should look like”.

And might I add to that the rules about what you should call your car? For-us isn’t a very good name. It just isn’t.

But anyway, it’s designed with the young (and the young at heart) in mind. Those with “active lives who attach importance to low emissions and taking up minimum road space”.

Hey, that sounds like me! Does it come in metallic lime green?

Its dimensions alone (3547/1506/1701 mm) would make all the other pickups on the market laugh. But, if the cinema of the 1980s is anything to go by, truly it’s what’s inside that counts: A 55kW magneto-electric motor offering an electric zero-emission drive.

smart CEO Dr. Annette Winkler says: “We at smart love pickups – if they are small on the outside, large on the inside, very safe and extremely comfortable. With the smart for-us a petrol station is no longer required!”

I wouldn’t boast about that until the infrastructure’s caught up with the technology, Ms. Winkler.

The smart for-us will celebrate its world premier at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit (14-22 January 2012).

No news yet on when you might be able to drive your own.

Sorry.

The popular Smart ForTwo Coupe range has been updated with reductions of up to £38 a month on selected models and prices now starting from just £119.95 + VAT  a month.

Since its launch in 1998, the Smart ForTwo Coupe has grown to become one of the most iconic and desirable city cars on the market, thanks to its clever, compact design and fresh, unmistakable style. The latest generation model is jam packed with tons of clever features including a digital gear display, multi function trip computer and loads of quirky storage compartments, whilst its nippy 1.0 71bhp engine achieves 65.7 MPG on a combined cycle and CO2 emissions of just 97g/km. 

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts has updated the monthly leasing rates across the Smart ForTwo Coupe range with savings of up to £38 a month on selected models. Our cheapest deal is on the Smart ForTwo Coupe 1.0 mhd 71bhp Pulse with prices starting from £119.95 + VAT a month. Standard features on this model include electric front windows, front fog lights, automatic air conditioning, cloth/leather upholstery and 15″alloy wheels.

To view the full Smart ForTwo Coupe range and to get an instant quotation on any model, simply follow the above links or call Nationwide Vehicle Contracts on 0844 482 9595.

Prices based on a 4 year contract and excludes VAT, initial payment and processing fee. Limited Stock Available.  Terms & Conditions Apply.

The Internationale Automobile-Austellung has been displaying the best and brightest in the industry since the dawn of the motored vehicle. Split biennially between Frankfurt and Hanover, this year Frankfurt will be completely packed with car enthusiasts from all over the world. As manufactures get ready to official reveal their cars at the exhibition, some have presented teasers of their products, ultimately enticing individuals to learn more about them. The most recent of these has been the Smart car concept, providing audiences with something to look forward to in the weeks ahead.

Called the Smart Forvision, the vehicle is completely electric model armed with a truly shocking design. Teaming up with BASF, a chemical firm, the Smart is set to be a vehicle that will pave the way into the future, offering an incredible array of new additions that will certainly grab your interest.

The car sets itself apart from its competition through the special technologies integrated within its body. For example, the roof has solar cells woven into it, ultimately generating energy whilst still remaining transparent. It’s so successful in doing this that it can run much of the vehicles climate as well as multimedia functions solely from the suns power. This system works through special diodes beneath its cells, allowing for existence of a glass roof without extinguishing the lights powers.

Furthermore, the cars heating system has been replaced by e-textile covers on seats that will heat the passenger up directly, ultimately being much more efficient than the present day fan warming system. Those sceptics that would point out that this system will not work during the summer should not fret as the company has a solution for that as well. Rather than having a fan push cool cold air into the vehicle, the car is painted with infra-red paint that will deflect heat from entering the vehicle.

Few cars can compare to the technological marvels that the Smart car is set to present. While it should not be forgotten that this is merely a concept and that its merely exhibiting the types of technology that are still in development, such vehicles will make their way onto our roads well within our lifetimes, ultimately offering a very green alternative to the present day energy dilemma. Let us hope that this concept turns into a working model soon, it looks like it will be quite a unique vehicle that should be popular with everyone.

Smart fans will be pleased to hear that Nationwide Vehicle Contracts has updated the monthly leasing rates across the Smart range with prices starting from just £148.95 + VAT a month.

Since its launch in 1998, the Smart ForTwo has become one of the most UK’s most popular city cars, famous for its quirky, compact design that allows you to park where other drivers wouldn’t even consider.

The economical Smart ForTwo is also an ideal choice for owners who are on a strict budget, thanks to its low running costs and low CO2 emissions. Who said good things don’t come in small packages?

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts has updated the monthly leasing rates across the popular Smart range with prices now starting from just £148.95 + VAT  a month for the Smart Fortwo Coupe 1.0 mhd 71bhp Pulse or just  £172.95 + VAT a month for the open-top Smart Fortwo Cabrio 1.0 mhd 71bhp Pulse.

To view the full Smart range and to get an instant quotation on any model in the Smart line-up, simply follow the above links or call Nationwide Vehicle Contracts on 0844 482 9595.

Above prices are based on a 4 year, 10000 miles per annum contract. Prices exclude vat, processing payment and initial payment. Terms and conditions apply.

LCV2011 is the UK’s leading low carbon vehicle event and will this year take place at Rockingham Race Circuit in Northamptonshire on 7-8 September. It’s hosted by Cenex (the Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell technologies) and is shaping up to be a humdinger of an event. Already it’s attracted many of the world’s major car, commercial vehicle and public service vehicle manufacturers who, alongside a record number of technology and infrastructure businesses, will be showcasing their latest developments in low carbon vehicle technology.

The event, which combines a business-to-business conference, exhibition and ride-and-drive experience, has already confirmed that brands including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Iveco and Mercedes-Benz will be exhibiting.

Alongside no small number of crucial talks, debates and exhibitions (including the publishing of the data from the first three months of world’s largest low carbon vehicle trial), delegates will be given the chance to experience first-hand the next-generation developments brought to the party by the numerous brands taking part. Vehicles featured will include the Ford ECOnetic Fiesta, the Vauxhall Ampera, the Nissan Leaf, the Mitsubishi iMiEV and Smart ForTwo.

Says Cenex Chairman Brendan Connor: “I’m greatly encouraged by the response of the industry to LCV2011. The breadth of technologies that will be on display at LCV2011 proves that the UK automotive industry is at the forefront of developing future mobility solutions.

“It is becoming increasingly apparent that the industry’s first challenge is to advance the technologies – and required infrastructures – to make low carbon vehicles more economic to manufacture and easier to sell. The second challenge is to educate buyers – private, public and commercial – about the range of options available now and in the future.”

He concludes: “LCV2011 is about increasing the momentum in overcoming these challenges and helping exhibitors and delegates – whether manufacturers, technology innovators or end users from the public and private sectors – to do business together.”

Here here!

LCV2011 will be Cenex’s fourth annual event and is set to be the biggest and most influential business-to-business low carbon vehicle event to have ever been staged in the UK.

It’s pretty exciting business, then. Ignore the number of bored-looking faces in the image above. That’s just museum fatigue.

Every day it seems the electric car revolution becomes more and more of a reality as it dawns on us that, whether we like it or not, fossil fuel-free motoring is the future. Although it may be some time before we the M25 full of whisper-quiet electric cars buzzing along like a scene out of the Jetsons, 2011 will go down in history as the start of the long process whereby internal combustion engine-powered cars were gradually phased out.

The Nissan Leaf can proudly proclaim itself as the first mass produced electric car to go on sale in Britain (see previous post), but other manufacturers don’t plan on getting left behind, most of the big names plan to release an electric model in the near future.

To stimulate sales of electric vehicles, the government has proposed a £5,000 grant to anyone planning to buy one, offering an incentive for those who are on the fence. Yesterday, the list of cars which will be eligible for this grant was revealed, they are as follows;

Mitsubishi i-MiEV (January 2011)

Smart FourTwo Electric Drive (January 2011)

Peugeot iOn (January 2011)

Nissan Leaf (March 2011)

Tata Vista (March 2011)

Citroen C-Zero (March 2011)

Vauxhall Ampera (2012)

Toyota Prius Plugin (2012)

Chevrolet Volt (2012)

Most of these vehicles will cost between £23,000 and £30,000, meaning that even with the government grant, electric motoring is not cheap, though they all at some point be available on contract hire deals. Of course the benefit is that owners of these fine machines will never again be hampered with extortionate fuel prices, making electric a sound investment. For all you speed demons that don’t fancy any of these on the list, don’t worry, Ferrari will one day make an electric model! Besides, there’s always the Telsa Roadster, the first ever electric supercar, though needless to say, this does not qualify for the grant!

The Smart 2011 calendar is not, as you might have hoped, filled with twelve images of scantily clad automobiles in various erotic poses. Rather, its filled with “evocative and seasonal images” as submitted by the brand’s ever-growing social community; the twelve finest of which were selected by judges from the Smart UK production team.

And it’s all for a good cause! Costing just £5, all profits will be donated to the Breast Cancer Campaign. You might remember the Smart Fortwo Pink Passion edition launched in September with similar philanthropic intentions. Needless to say, said model features in this calendar, alongside a variety of Smarts from the Fortwo, Roadster and Special Edition ranges.

Says Martine Edgell, Community Manager of the company’s website: “The competition generated some really fantastic images, which really symbolise the fun and colour associated with the smart brand. If people are deliberating what to buy the smart enthusiast in their life for Christmas, the calendar could be the ideal stocking filler. What’s more, we hope that profits from the calendar will generate much needed funds for the Breast Cancer Campaign, a charity that we are already supporting with a donation of £10,000 from total sales of the recently-launched smart fortwo pink passion model.”

The 2011 calendar can stand on a desk or hang from a wall. It costs just £5 and is for a good cause. It would, therefore, make for quite an enviable Christmas gift for those “so inclined”.

It’s a well-known fact that there are few forces greater than that summoned when celebrities unite under the banner of a single cause. It is, therefore, something of a Very Good Thing Indeed that so many famous faces have joined forces in order to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign. They’ve created a life-sized patchwork Smart Car to mark the launch of the limited edition Smart Fortwo Pink Passion.

This Patchwork Smart is made entirely of fabric donated by celebrities. It will soon be auctioned off with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Campaign. On top of this, Smart will donate £10,000 from the sales of their Smart Fortwo Pink Passion. Cynics might point out that this sum is less even than the price of one such model. However, it must be remembered that they’re not being forced to donate anything and, besides, every little helps, surely? And that is, undeniably, a big amount. So, well done, Smart. Well done.

There’s quite a few big names involved. Over twenty, no less, including Russell Brand, Ryan Giggs, Sara Cox, Elizabeth Hurley, Rachel Stevens, Twiggy Lawson, Joanna Lumley and Jane McDonald. They’ve all donated bits of pink fabric to help create this life-sized patchwork Smart Fortwo. The car will be on display in Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey throughout October before being put up for auction on eBay. So put your bidding hats on!

Each donated piece of fabric is coupled with a message of support:

Sarah Cox, Radio 1 DJ: “The squares were cut from my youngest daughter’s outgrown vests. I hope with all my heart that a cure for Breast Cancer will be discovered before she reaches womanhood.”

Trisha Goddard, chat show host and breast cancer survivor: “My piece of pink material is a bra because post breast cancer, I can no longer wear pretty underwired underwear like this…still, a small price to pay. Here’s to happiness and good luck with the auction.”

Ryan Giggs, footballer: “I’d like to donate a doll’s babygro chosen by my daughter. Here’s to raising lots of money for Breast Cancer Campaign.”

Says Franklin Jacoyange, Breast Cancer Campaign’s Corporate Partnership Executive: “We are delighted to have the support of smart and so many celebrities during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Money raised will help the charity fund vital research to help us beat breast cancer.”

For more information, click here.

For the latest in Nationwide’s Smart leasing deals, click here.