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Comment by vladvasiliu | Hacker News Reader

I wonder why no one mentioned the Smart. Here in Europe they're quite popular in dense cities. One advantage is they can be parked sideways on most streets, which not only helps with finding a spot but is also easier.

According to Wikipedia[0], a Smart is actually shorter and it can also be electric.

This actually has quite a few shortcomings compared to a Smart:

* Cannot carry a passenger

* Requires a motorcycle license, which many people might not have

* Technically a motorcycle, so safety standards may not be up to par

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fortwo#Third_generation_...

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> One advantage is they can be parked sideways on most streets

They advertised this but in reality it's rarely possible. They are 2.5m long and most cars in Europe are <2m wide.

E.g. in the UK standard parking is 2.4m wide so a smart sticks out

Can't speak for the UK, but I often see Smarts parked sideways around Paris. The car is indeed longer than the spaces are large, but a factor that helps a lot is that regular cars are rarely parked nicely inside the lines. Which means that, in practice, the sideways Smart doesn't stick out from the other cars.

I see them parked sideways in London all the time.

Same in Prague.

never seen in Italy

> The car is indeed longer than the spaces are large

Assuming your native language is French, I think you mean “wide”, not “large”.

They have elongated. The first ones were shorter. The park sideways gimmick was part of the original marketing, now they are longer that aspect is not advertised as a feature.

Sideways parking would be a killer feature if it actually worked, but they're just a bit too long for that, and according to my memory, have always been.

"One advantage is they can be parked sideways on most streets"

Caveat lector. I know this to be technically illegal in some European countries, even when the entire vehicle is parked within the lines.

Only anecdotal, but I live in one of those countries. While word-for-word you're correct, it isn't usually practiced because parking that way doesn't conflict with the spirit of the law (I'm not sure if there's a better term for it in English, I hope you understand what I mean). The core idea behind the parking arrangement is you shouldn't be in the way of others and your car is small enough to not be — no one at the time of the writing could foresee a square car. Much in the same way, bikes are allowed to park which ever way they like as long as they don't take up unnecessary space, usually the measure is to fit two in one slot. Needless to say, don't call me when you do happen to get a ticket.

Spirit of the law works.

Tabletop gamers have a more precise words however: "rules as written" and "rules as intended". RAW and RAI for short.

The Smart cars have always looked as if they should be electric, but aren't.

Then there's the whole Kei car phenomenon..

Smart cars are electric. See car2go cars in Amsterdam https://www.car2go.com/NL/en/amsterdam/

The North American Smart was larger than that, wasn't classified as a motorcycle and as of last year has been entirely discontinued:

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a27310639/smart-fortwo-dis...

The main use of these cars was the Car2Go service, which was owned by Mercedes themselves, and that service has also shut down in North America.

They were cute cars, decent for a short trip certainly, but we never saw an all-electric model

and it can also be electric

I think they are all electric now, at least in the UK.

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