Well, calling it ecodriving is pushing the limit a little bit, but I did get to take the fortwo out for a serious spin around the block. I test drove the U.S. version of the car, and not any of the cooler, European options, so that certainly needs to be taken into account. On that note, I was very happy with my drive, aside from a few caveats.

Despite the fortwo’s reputation as a cheap ride, it felt very solid and well constructed. The seats were comfortable and the cabin well designed, with the open top a welcome way to avoid the claustrophobia you might feel in a vehicle with such little overall interior volume. The gauge cluster was well laid out, and the analog clock on the dash added a nice touch, though it might make reading the clock more time intensive than safe when on the road.

As far as the actual drive is concerned, the car felt very solid and had plenty of pep. Compared to the i MiEV electric car, it wasn’t as fast, but it till avoided the age old “too slow to get out of it’s own way” stereotype that still plagues the subcompact section of cars. I was actually following the i MiEV during my test drive and found myself easily able to keep up with its lead-footed driver in most circumstances.

However, that brings me to my two main criticisms of the car. The first is that the transmission available in the United States is very unsatisfying. The shifting is much rougher than it needs to be, and makes the overall experience of the car seem rather unrefined, especially for a product from Mercedes. I am under the impression that this isn’t the case with many of the European models, but that doesn’t erase the fact that U.S. options still have major flaws.

The second complaint from me is that Smart really needs to add some sort of fuel economy gauge to the car. Sure, this may be a little expensive, but I think most drivers would welcome the information, especially since many of them are certainly buying the vehicle for its impressive fuel economy. I hope smart will jump on the bandwagon with this in the next few years.

That said, I can’t tell you what fuel economy I delivered with the car, but if you live in the city and are looking for something small and fuel efficient, the fortwo is a worthy choice.

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving Mitsubishi’s new i MiEV electric car, based on a Japanese kei car. The car, while not in its final stages of production yet are currently being field tested around the world for a rollout in Japan in 2009. Next summer Mitsubishi plans to sell 2,000 units of the car at 4 million yen (~$41,000), with production to increase sharply in 2010 and 2011.

Right now the cars are pretty much hand-built. The chassis, of course, is common for Mitsubishi, but the electric drive train and the batteries especially are still handbuilt. As I was told by the Mitsubishi representative that rode shotgun, the costs of production will go down significantly when Mitsubishi’s battery production company gets up to full steam and becomes automated.

i MiEV Test Drive

I’ve been in quite a few small, fuel efficient cars in my time (including other Japanese Kei cars), and I can honestly say this is faster than any of those. In fact, I drove a smart fortwo immediately afterwards and was shocked at the difference in pulling power. Even though the i MiEV is a small electric car, one of the characteristics of electric cars is that they deliver full torque all the way from 0 rpm.

Of course, Mitsubishi has designed the car not to do exactly that to prevent accidental burn outs, but they didn’t cripple the car’s acceleration at all. Even in ECO mode, a range extending mode that tunes down the performance of the car a small amount, the i MiEV was faster than the gasoline-powered fortwo. Besides the normal and ECO modes, there was also a regenerative braking mode that could be easily accessed to provide greater recharge when your foot was off the pedal.

Taking the car around turns was also a pleasure. Mitsubishi obviously beefed up the suspension to hold the extra weight, and because the batteries were towards the bottom of the car the center of gravity is significantly lowered compared to its gasoline-powered cousin. And all of this came without any noticeable compromise to the interior space.

Overall, the test drive was great. The car can go between 80-100 miles on a 2-4 hour charge (depending on what kind of plug you use) and the only problem was that I kept turning on the wipers when I meant to signal.

Will you be buying one when it comes to your market?

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