2013 Smart Fortwo Electric on 2040-cars

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The future of urban travel, according to Mercedes-Benz

The Smart vision EQ fortwo is Daimler AG's take on the future of mobility. This electric concept has no pedals or steering wheel and considers a future with autonomous car sharing.

Smart will show a crossover concept this September

Although the company left the U.S. a couple years ago, the Smart car brand is still rolling along as an all-electric brand in Europe. And it may be expanding in the near future. This September, the company will show a concept for a little crossover, and it released the above teaser images ahead of time. The concept is a bit of a departure from the Smart styling we know. It's very much a two-box design with a long front end compared to the one-box Fortwo and Forfour models currently on sale. And instead of big, rounded headlights, those on the concept are sleek and slender. It does look just as soft and organic as the model's current cars, though. The car will make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. We would guess it will be a bit larger than the Smart Forfour, a subcompact four-door hatchback. We would expect something sized a bit like a four-door Mini Hardtop or possibly a Fiat 500X. It will of course be all electric in keeping with the automaker. Though a production model would likely be marketable in the U.S., we have no expectations of it coming to America since the brand abandoned the market. Related Video: New Smart Electric Drive | Autoblog First Drive | Autoblog

Top horsepower-per-dollar cars in 2017

Bang for the buck. That quasi-scientific statistic is bandied about by motor heads everywhere from classrooms to barrooms, though the truth of the matter is that it's exceedingly complex to measure. A fair performance-per-dollar index would include something like cross-referencing MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) with point-to-point times on a track or driving route, which is obviously hard to do comprehensively. But, for the sheer joy of talking about cars and playing with a big spreadsheet, there's always the horsepower-per-dollar index, which is more straightforward, albeit hilariously flawed. There are vagaries even with this simple formula, of course: MSRP for vehicles can change at a moment's notice, to say nothing of the bottom-line shifting that happens with local deals or showroom negotiation. For this list we're running with the straight MSRP wherever possible, and as recently reported as we can get it. All the vehicles on this list are 2017 models, and all trims are reported where the lowest price and differing power levels intersect. Some choices were made for personal preference and some for sanity, avoiding things like all 48 trim levels of the Ford Transit, all with the same horsepower). If this list were a simple top ten, or even a top fifty, you'd be bored to tears with all the red, white and blue that is represented. Following perfectly with conventional wisdom, American cars really do lead the world where hp/$ is concerned. So, for the sake of variety (and the sheer joy of seeing a minivan 'win' one round of this thing) I've sorted out some top five and bottom five lists for broad power categories. Let's dive in. Less Than 100 Horsepower Okay, okay, this is hardly a category we'll grant you. But we've often tried to click off all the sub-100-hp cars on sale in the US, and making this list gave us an excuse. It also illustrates that none of these smallish vehicles bring cheap horsepower to the table - for that you'll need a motorcycle. The segment-leading Chevy Spark (above) asks just over $139 for each hp, and that Smart Fortwo Electric Drive has hp on sale for about the same price as its very distant family cousin, the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG (insert your favorite Smart joke here... we know you want to).