| | Smart Car Takes Hit as 60-MPG Claim Runs Up Against EPA Roadblock
latimes.com
Excerpts:
OK, the Smart car isn't that smart.
Zap made a big publicity splash with its plans to sell the tiny two-seat coupe, promoting it as the most efficient gasoline-powered vehicle ever at 60 miles to the gallon and lining up thousands of orders.
But before the French-made ultra-mini could even think about hitting U.S. roads, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Santa Rosa, Calif., auto importer to scale back its fuel-efficiency claims.
The federal agency's fuel economy estimate for the Smart car isn't 60 miles per gallon — it's 37, sort of like a Honda Civic.
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At 37 mpg, the Smart would have the ninth-best rating in the EPA's rankings for 2005.
It would be in league with the much bigger Toyota Echo and certain models of the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic and behind the 50-mpg gas-electric hybrids sold by Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
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A Zap supplier, Santa Ana-based G&K Automotive Conversions, will adapt the Smarts so they will meet federal and California emission and safety standards. (Because the Smarts, built by DaimlerChrysler, are coming to the U.S. via a third company, they will have to be sold as previously owned models.)
It might be a while before the cars meet their owners. Only about 100 Smart cars have been imported and approved for sale so far, according to EPA spokesman John Millett.
Zap has applied for federal emission permits for 2004 and 2005 models, Schneider said, and is waiting to hear from the EPA.
He said Zap had also applied for California certification so the Smarts it imports could be sold in California and the four East Coast states that have adopted California's emission rules, which are stricter than federal rules. |
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