8 Microcars Transforming the American Road

The MINI is a fairly green car with a gas engine under its hood, but it's much more impressive as a battery-powered electric. The electric has a range of 156 miles, running on more than 5,000 lithium-ion cells (similar in concept to the Tesla Roadster). There is 204 horsepower on tap, yielding a zero-to-60 run of 8.5 seconds. A green pocket rocket, as it were. The only drawback is that only 500 are being made, available only through a one-year lease. Good luck in getting your hands on one, though we met one of the lucky few at a recent conference and she was ecstatic about the MINI E.

The 33/41 mpg Smart looks good on paper. Its one-liter engine is very fuel efficient, and the unusual design offers deceptively spacious accommodations for two (even if top hats are part of your attire). The 5.1 tons of CO₂ produced annually gives the Smart a low carbon footprint, and the body panels are recyclable, too. But the car requires premium fuel, and both the performance and fit-and-finish standards are pretty low. The car is noisy, and crosswinds upset the ultra-light body. For about the same price, you can buy a Honda Fit, with 28/35 mpg, room for four and a much better ownership experience. Europeans get an ungainly four-door version.

I love the ultra-compact iQ (only a foot longer than the Smart Fourtwo), and just wish we could buy this unique vehicle in the U.S. For now, it's restricted to Europe and Japan, but that could change if people start demanding it (hint, hint). Its novel seating is 3+1, meaning it accommodates three adults and a compliant child. With a one-liter, three-cylinder engine (there are also turbo-diesel and 1.4-liter four-cylinder options) it yields an out-of-the-park 65.6 mpg combined. It's shifted with either a six-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The car is much smaller than the Toyota Yaris, yet it has nine airbags and excellent crash protection overall.

Right now you have to go to Europe to see the excellent 500 on the road, though I saw Chrysler's Jim Press roll out in one at the New York Auto Show. If Chrysler merges with Fiat, they'll likely be sold here. The 500 is an update of a tiny Italian classic that never saw U.S. release for obvious reasons -- it makes the MINI look like a Cadillac. The new 500 is in the tradition of the second-gen Volkswagen Beetle as a tasteful and retro heritage car, and it has similar mass-market possibilities. "Irresistible, like an iPod on four wheels," says one critic. The 500 is shorter, narrower and taller than the MINI, and is mechanically similar to the downmarket Fiat Panda. It's very light and aerodynamic, so the 1.2-liter, 68-horsepower four-cylinder engine gives decent performance and 36 mpg overall in the European cycle.

Don't visit your VW dealer for this one just yet, though the new minicar is looking good for U.S. distribution (starting around 2012). The engine (anything from a tiny 600-cc turbo to a 1.3-cylinder three-cylinder and, of course, diesels) is up front in the Up! With the right set-up, it could yield 80 mpg. The really small Up! is complemented with a micro-van called the Space Up! (and we are likely to get that version). Production in India is possible, says Autobloggreen.

This is a really handsome comeback car for Ford, with global aim. Europe already has both three- and five-door versions of the Fiesta (a nameplate that only U.S. old-timers will remember) and a sedan with a trunk is coming here in early 2010. The European Fiesta, based on the same chassis as the non-U.S. Mazda2, has a 1.6-liter four with variable cam timing under the hood. There's a version called the ECOnetic that gets a whopping 65 mpg, but because it's a diesel we're unlikely to see it in the U.S. Cars for North America will be made in Mexico. Fuel economy for the U.S.-spec car is not yet available, but it should be very good.

I was all set to take a ride in the Peapod early in April, but the offer was abruptly rescinded. It "wasn't ready," although it supposedly went on sale for Earth Day, April 22. They didn't even show it off at the New York Auto Show (though the older GEM golf cart vehicle was on display). The Peapod is a tiny electric car, also known as a neighborhood electric vehicle, or NEV, and is limited to 35 mph roads. Recharging for 30-mile range is said to take less than eight hours. There's some resemblance to designs General Motors has for its Project PUMA -- kind of like a computer mouse set on end. More than this I cannot say, because the Peapod still seems to be in stealth mode.

This is one of my favorite new cars, and is especially dazzling as the Sport, a concept two-door fastback coupe (the one they won't actually build, of course). The four-door i-MIEV, with a 47-kilowatt motor and a 16 kilowatt-hour battery pack, can reach 81 mpg and has a 75-mile range on a charge. Three driving modes include Standard, Eco (which limits battery output to a third of peak power and makes it as poky as a slug) and "B," with more aggressive regenerative braking for faster recharges. The i-MIEV is on sale in Japan, but the only examples in the U.S. are in utility fleets. The car was to be imported for a special pilot program in Iceland, but that was before the meltdown. A North American release is seriously contemplated, however.