Detroit 2012: Smart For-us Concept: Comments

[William Maley]

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Smart has been teasing us with many a concept to make us pay attention to the brand and their concept for Detroit seems to continue that trend.

Smart has released some design pics of the For-Us concept. The For-Us concept is a pickup truck for the urban market. Based on the Smart ForTwo convertible, the For-Us is three feet longer and six inches taller than the regular ForTwo. With the extra space, Smart has added a truck bed that provides 35.4 inches of load space. The tailgate is controlled electronically to either be raised or lower.

Power comes from 55-kW (74-hp) electric motor spins the rear wheels, and is powered by a 17.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack from the ForTwo Electric Drive. Smart says the car can reach a top speed of 75 MPH but doesn’t give a range.

Press Release is on Page 2

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smart for-us: world premiere at the Detroit Motor Show

The Rule-Breaker

Stuttgart. smart is turning the automotive world upside down once again and challenging ideas about what an urban pickup should look like. In a tongue-in-cheek manner the for-us signals that this is the right car for the young and young-at-heart with active lives who attach importance to low emissions and taking up minimum road space. The smart for-us translates the practical loading concept of a pickup to the reality of 21^st century urban traffic for the first time.

With its exterior dimensions (length/width/height: 3547/1506/1701mm) it could almost go unnoticed on the loading area of a typical pickup, and it also anything but ordinary under the body. Thanks to the state-of-the-art electric drive with a 55 kW magneto-electric motor the zero-emission smart for-us is agile and lively to drive. It will celebrate its world premiere at the North American International Auto Show in

Detroit (14 - 22 January 2012).

smart CEO Dr. Annette Winkler says "We at smart love pick-ups – 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!”

Like car2go, the globally successful car sharing initiative from smart for more flexibility in city traffic, the smart for-us is a mobility concept. It has plenty of room for two people and space for two smart ebikes behind them. Thanks to the docking station on the cargo area of the smart for-us their batteries are always charged, and smart for-us drivers can also reach destinations that are out of bounds for cars – for example traffic-calmed zones in the city or isolated park trails.

The design: sassy and robust with extremely short overhangs

Compared with the series-produced fortwo the smart for-us makes a powerful statement and its appearance plays with the martial image of conventional mega-pickups. Nevertheless, it greets the viewer with a friendly yet assertive face. It features convex and sensuously shaped body surfaces. The large brand emblem is proudly sported on the grille, and the front has a pronounced three-dimensional design with an underride guard finishing off the lower part of the front end.

The longer wheelbase (2480 mm/plus 613 mm) and the track that has been widened by 50 mm on each side also emphasise the robust look of the study. At the same time the extremely short overhangs at the front and rear make it exceedingly compact.

The tailboard at the rear of the smart for-us is electrically driven. When it opens first of all the cargo floor including tailboard retracts by 280 mm, then the tailgate slides down in a parallel position. The cargo on the 900 mm cargo area is then extremely easy to access.

Sleek, taut surfaces in mother-of-pearl white combined with precisely designed technical functional elements in brushed aluminium – the interior is characterised by contrasts. Like in the smart forvision, the whole cockpit boasts aerodynamic styling for interior ventilation. In place of a conventional rear-view mirror the smart for-us features a smartphone accommodated in a holder on top of the instrument panel support. The driver can see what is happening on the road behind with the help of an integrated video camera.

Stylish, uncomplicated, highly functional and easy to individualise – the two seats in the concept car are typically smart. The seat shells, which are open in the middle, are covered with a soft yellow fabric throw giving them a hammock-like seating feel.

Electric drive – zero-local-emission driving fun

The electric drive of the smart for-us is based on the innovative drive concept of the smart fortwo electric drive, which will be launched in the spring of 2012. Thanks to the 55 kW magneto-electric motor the smart for-us is agile and lively to drive. With 130 Newton metres of torque it boasts powerful, lag-free acceleration and it can overtake other vehicles with the greatest of ease. The maximum speed exceeds 120 km/h. The lithium-ion battery has capacity of 17.6 kWh.

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[balthazar]

a 75- MPH, 35" bed pick-up?? What is mercedes smoking?

[regfootball]

meh

[Turbojett]

wow. the deathtrap now comes with a completely useless pickup bed.

[ocnblu]

Electric? Two thumbs down.

[Robert Hall]

Cool...a true minipickup. I'm surprised Mini hasn't done one yet.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cool...a true minipickup. I'm surprised Mini hasn't done one yet.

Chicago is the truck show.....

[Intrepidation]

wow. the deathtrap now comes with a completely useless pickup bed.

It's not a death trap, the ForeTwo is actually a very safe appliance.

[CanadianBacon94]

...as long as you go very slow df, it has no crumple zones to absorb big impacts

[Intrepidation]

...as long as you go very slow df, it has no crumple zones to absorb big impacts

*Sigh*

Yes, it does have crumple zones. It makes U-bodies look like the tin foil deathtraps they are.

[balthazar]

^ I would be curious to see dummy impact/ brain sloshing data on that...

Edited December 10, 2011 by balthazar

[Intrepidation]

Like the video said, probably a low chance of survival, but then no matter the size of a vehicle, as they also said, decelerating that quickly from that speed is very likely to be fatal. Squishy human bodies can't cope well with that amount of force.

I don't like the smart. It's horribly inefficient for such a small car (with its gas engines anyway). But from a safety standpoint it is very well engineered.

[SAmadei]

Like the video said, probably a low chance of survival, but then no matter the size of a vehicle, as they also said, decelerating that quickly from that speed is very likely to be fatal. Squishy human bodies can't cope well with that amount of force.

I don't like the smart. It's horribly inefficient for such a small car (with its gas engines anyway). But from a safety standpoint it is very well engineered.

DF basically summed it up... the car itself is well engineered for space efficiency and survivability at that threshold of size. A few years ago, I was quite impressed by the stripped down frame at NYIAS... I've been surprised by the space inside... as I find if one of the easiest cars on the market to get in and out of. However, Daimler really dropped the ball with the drivetrain... the engine is low power and the CVT programming is horrid... and in the end, is not very fuel economical... which is a surprise, as people in Europe have a drivetrain that has proven popular.