What do Smart USA, Tesla Motors Inc and Daimler AG have in common? They have collaborated to make a new smart car that is 95% recyclable and then have taken the further initiative in distributing it in key parts of the United States.
Smart USA is a company that puts cars made by Daimler AG on the market. That is where they correlate. Tesla Motors Inc. came into the picture when Smart USA and Daimler AG decided to run their cars using the Tesla 16.5 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery.
These cars as said above will have a limited market comprised of San Jose, California; Indianapolis, a piece of the I95 corridor, Portland, Oregon; and Orlando, Florida. Not only is it a limited market, they are also not opening the market for straight sales…just leasing options are available at the moment. There will not be an option to purchase these vehicles until 2012 at the earliest.
This is being done as a test to see how the cars will hold up under various weather conditions and various driving styles. It is basically a way for the companies to see how their vehicle will hold up under real world conditions instead of just the testing areas inside the plants.
