As I write this, I am in Edson Alberta, preparing to head out Friday for familiar hypermiling territory in Saskatchewan.

I’ve brought my 2008 gasoline smart, also known as the 451 model. It’s rated for 4.9 L/100 km on the highway, but already this trip, I have achieved 3.9 L/100 km between Prince George, BC and McBride. I’ve not made any serious attempt to beat 4.0 with this car until now. I am looking to see what it is capable of, and am hoping to beat 75 mpg (imperial).

The car is stock, except I actually am running LARGER wheels and tires, 175 mm on the front and 105 mm on the rear, versus the 155/175 set-up as delivered. This should be costing me about 0.2 L/100km. Also note - I have a full compliment of camping gear in the car.

Friday, I’ll be passing through Edmonton and will be making a stop in Mont Nebo, SK, before finishing the day in Birch Hills, SK. Saturday will be the real test, as I head off for Wadena and possibly Yorkton, in search of the best mileage I think I will get. I took my first diesel smart here in 2005 and 2006, and achieved my best mileage record to date, surpassing 100 mpg US on the 2006 run.

Interestingly, I did not have the benefit of real-time feedback that the Scangauge II provides in either od those years. Although the gas smart won’t touch the numbers the diesel can reach, I’m fairly confident I can get a pretty respectable number. I’ve got a handful of Scangauges with me on this trip if anyone is interested in purchasing one. You can reach me at ’six oh four, six three six, twenty-one eighty’. I’ll be heading back to BC westbound, possibly through Calgary on Sunday.

More updates and photos will be posted as they are available.

For those with a smart car who live close to Vancouver BC, there is an official Mercedes-Benz Canada smart event this coming weekend.

You can register and get all the details here.

The registration begins at 9:30 AM at the North Vancouver smart centre, located at 1375 Marine Drive, North Vancouver BC

The scavenger hunt will officially kick-off at 10:30 am and last into the early afternoon

It would seem that original owners of smart cars were mailed an invite - I did receive one in the mail. But we’re not sure which model years were included in the mail out. I have purchased two cars brand new from smart, and received just one card.

Anyway, you don’t need the card… but please make sure you register so they can plan accordingly.

I know this is short notice, but it’s likely to be the biggest event in Vancouver for awhile.

Who says you can never be too smart! :-)

I owned two smarts for a short while. I picked up a 2006 pure cabriolet with a black tridion, metallic blue panels, softouch, floor mats, luggage cover and underseat storage…

I’ve had A LOT of calls and e-mails on the coupe as of recent. Word must be out that the diesels are gone. (more…)

Contact Keith by e-mail.

Note: It was a year ago this very day, that I began my own trip across Canada during the 100 MPG Challenge. It was a very emotional time going through downtown Victoria and arriving at Mile 0 tonight with 100 other cars. Garry Stearns is to be commended for ‘following his dream’.

At least 95 smart cars paraded through downtown Victoria this evening, with full police escort and traffic control. Motorcycle policemen rode furiously from one intersection to the next to guide the nearly 1/2 mile long convoy to Beacon Hill Park and Mile 0.

Club smart car President Mike Tippett was in the lead car, carrying the relay baton for the last of it’s 10,000 km journey, which began three weeks ago in Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Labrador. One of the goals of the relay was to raise funds for the Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society.

At Mile 0, where up to 106 smart cars and nearly 200 people were gathered, Garry Stearns took the baton from Mike, and went over to Clover Point for a ‘dipping’ into the Pacific Ocean.

Bruce Denniston’s daughter Krista joined celebrations afterwards at Three Point Motors, and again spoke of how her father was a catalyst for the 150 fold increase in potential bone marrow donors in Canada since 1988.

The cross-Canada relay is now complete.

Pictures from my own camera today:

At the Shell Station in Mill Bay:

Garry Stearns on the Malahat:

(more…)

You can contact 100mpg.ca by e-mail.

On Sunday, I decided at the last minute to head down to Kirkland WA for the public open house at The Green Car Company. With the arrival of 25 gasoline smart cars converted by G&K for Zap, I was wanting to get a test drive in, and see the response of those coming to see the cars for the first time.

I wasn’t let down! There were a variety of 2005 models on hand, and one older gem with scratch black panels. And the place was packed!
(more…)

A convoy of five gasoline smart cars are making their way from California to New York right now. You can check out the blog here.

Here’s part of what Jan Wagner of www.automatters.net had to say today: (more…)

The car made an appearance at a couple of schools recently to promote the Better Air School Contests in Abbotsford. (pdf link of press release). Thanks to John Vissers for filling in and driving the car for the day on short notice.

The car will be used until at least March 31 to promote the One-Tonne Challenge. After that date, it’s anyone’s guess what’ll happen. I am looking at additional opportunities to utilize the car for specific promotions.

I’ve been running B20 biodiesel which is now available in Delta, BC. (More details on this to follow.) Cruise control was added two weeks ago. It’s working brilliantly. Thanks to Steve at smartieparts.com for the unit at a great price. BTW, he has his car on eBay. Good luck Steve!

John and Helen Taylor are still driving around the world. They are in Thailand right now. Be sure to visit the website… They are averaging 4.26 L/100 km to date, which is awesome considering their start in Europe had a few hiccups, not to mention really cold weather.

I have been super busy at work the last three weeks, and therefore, some planned changes to the site have been delayed.

More soon…

On the morning of June 18th, an independent group of fifteen smart fortwo owners from Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops and Calgary met in Bellingham WA. The weather was a bit overcast and it had rained. But the group was destined for Seattle. This was a follow-up to the April ‘smartour’ during the autoshow. (more…)

Excerpt from the flyer for this event that yours truly helped to organize:

Join with other smart owners and enthusiasts on Sunday April 3 at the ‘Totem Poles’ parking lot on Stanley Park Drive in Vancouver. (more…)