South Shore Walkabouts and Boston Walking Group joined early on a chilly weekend morning to test drive a SMART Electric Car near Arnold Arboretum, Boston.
Thanks goes to Mercedes-Benz of Boston and Smart Car Manager, Todd Whitelaw for providing the SMART Electric Car for our test drive. Todd explained how everything works. Nine states are teaming up to support electric car technology. They are California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
My impressions? Cute from the outside, felt like a regular car while driving, a little more sporty than cushy, amazingly spacious inside.
Impressed by:
1. Solid plastic body which doesn't dent easily, and, the color goes all the way through so in case of damage, parts could be replaced in minutes.
2. Battery and weight in the back with rear wheel drive but as agile as front wheel.
3. 100 mile travel distance before needing a recharge.
4. Cost? With rebates, the price was not much more than a regular car. Yearly energy costs were half the price of gas.
5. Familiar, solid feel while driving. Though I had to get used to it being silent.
6. Spacious feel inside. With the passenger seat folded down, I could transport some things from Ikea without renting a truck.
Only negative: I didn't like the huge dials showing the battery charge level that sat on the dashboard. Obviously these are critical but they distract from the clean lines of the interior.
You can sign up to see event listing, free walks hosted by South Shore Walkabouts at bigtent.com/groups/sswalkers
