After looking at what Smart copies or clones were out there (see bottom [dated] searches & enjoy all the pics I found), I searched for what was being sold in the UK.
There are Chinese brands being sold in the UK: Noble, Zotye,& Wheego that make Smart knock-offs. While the media may have taken the brand Smart as fact, we know that burnt frame just might not be a real Smart EV, but a Smart clone/knock-off. See the very last part below to know that because of a court judgement, those Chinese automakers are legally allowed to sell their Smart clones. ============== https://www.google.com/search?q=Smart+fortwo+electric+Essex+uk Smart fortwo Essex uk www.noblecars.com/ Noble Cars The Noble M600 is a car produced not in competition to the current super car ... The cabin features a traditional bespoke British hand built finish, with your choice ... [video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAilCgd6Y34&feature=youtu.be Zotye 100 EV (cloud) Electromobiile360 Nov 2, 2015 ] http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/chinese-copycat-cars-2017-shanghai-motor-24433 Zotye E200 – Smart Fortwo http://www.autocarpro.in/IMG/248/54248/image-uploaded-from-ios-137.jpg The Zotye E200 is an all-electric city car which holds a striking resemblance to the Smart Fortwo model. A Zotye spokesman said it has a 124-mile range when fully charged - a 25% increase on that offered by the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - and has "performance like Smart". He said the model, which is sold in China and also exported to the US, is typically bought by women and younger buyers. Costing around ¥100,000 (Rs 10.18 lakh), it is more expensive than its premium saloon sibling, the Z700. However, China offers both central and local government incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), which is likely to bring this price down. Evidently, the issues of EV pricing are a worldwide problem. http://www.renugen.co.uk/wheego-whip-life-electric-vehicle/?setCurrencyId=2 Wheego Whip LiFe Electric Vehicle https://www.facebook.com/wheego/ ============== http://driving.ca/lexus/auto-news/entertainment/top-10-chinese-rip-off-cars-vs-their-original-designs Chinese Knockoff: Shuanghuan Auto Noble Original Design: Smart ForTwo [images http://wpmedia.driving.ca/2015/04/noble-nano-01.jpg?quality=70&strip=all&w=475 Knockoff The Shuanghuan Auto Noble takes comes "inspiration" from the Smart fortwo. http://wpmedia.driving.ca/2015/04/p1870003.jpg?quality=70&strip=all&w=1024 Original Handout, Smart ] If you’re not happy with the all-new, third-generation Smart ForTwo parent Mercedes-Benz is launching in Western markets this year, just head over to China, where last-generation ForTwo design rip-offs are plentiful. This example is the Shuanghuan Auto Noble. But the ForTwo clone is also sold as the Shuanghuan Bubble, Martin Motors Noble and Martin Motors Bubble. And unlike the original, two-passenger, rear-wheel-drive Smart, the Noble/Bubble offers seats for four and is based on a front-wheel-drive Suzuki Alto chassis ... [© 2017 Postmedia Network] https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/history-chinese-copycat-car-picture-gallery Shuanghuan Auto Noble – Smart Fortwo Don’t let the name fool you; this car is neither a copy of the Noble M600, nor are its design intentions noble. Despite its appearance and similarity to the two-seat Smart Fortwo, the Noble has seating for four – although how comfortably those four can be seated is unknown. https://images.cdn.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/gallery_slide/public/images/car-reviews/first-drives/legacy/shuanghuan_auto_noble.jpg?itok=lCYAJ_1Q ... http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/87772/chinese-copycat-cars Copied: Smart ForTwo Smart ForTwo EV - front http://cdn2.autoexpress.co.uk/sites/autoexpressuk/files/styles/article_main_image/public/2016/11/16c916_001.jpg?itok=PvRZdQfn http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/chinese-copycat-cars-can-you-spot-the-western-inspiration-behind-these-designs-a7015966.html https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_medium/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/06/01/shuanghuan_auto_noble.jpg The copy: Shuanghuan Auto Noble https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_medium/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/06/01/smart_0.jpg The original: Smart Fortwo Unlike the Smart Fortwo, to which this car bears an uncanny resemblance, the Auto Noble is said to seat four people. Although it doesn’t say how big they can be. Based on some of the Toyota iQ in technology terms, this is an all-electric car ... https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-shanghai-auto-show/chinese-copycat-cars-2017-shanghai-motor-show https://images.cdn.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/gallery_slide/public/images/car-reviews/first-drives/legacy/image_uploaded_from_ios-137.jpg?itok=uOwrbQeV Zotye E200 – Smart Fortwo The Zotye E200 is an all-electric city car which holds a striking resemblance to the Smart Fortwo model. A Zotye spokesman said it has a 124-mile range when fully charged - a 25% increase on that offered by the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive - and has "performance like Smart". He said the model, which is sold in China and also exported to the US, is typically bought by women and younger buyers. Costing around ¥100,000 (£11,300), it is more expensive than its premium saloon sibling, the Z700. However, China offers both central and local government incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), which is likely to bring this price down. Evidently, the issues of EV pricing are a worldwide problem ... ... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/car-shows/the-chinese-copycat-cars-of-the-2017-shanghai-motor-show/ar-BBA30VD#page=3 Zotye E200 – Smart Fortwo https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBA2YoL.img?h=414&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f © Provided by Haymarket Media Group The Zotye E200 is an all-electric city car which holds a striking resemblance to the Smart Fortwo model. A Zotye spokesman said it has a 124mile range when fully charged - a 25% increase on that offered by the Fortwo electric - and has "performance like Smart". He said the model, which is sold in China and also exported to the US, is typically bought by women and younger buyers. Costing around 100,000 Chinese yuan (£11,300), it is priced at more than its premium saloon sibling the Z700. However, China offers both Central and local government incentives for electric vehicles which is likely to bring this price down. Evidently, the issues of electric vehicle pricing are a worldwide problem. He said the model, which is sold in China and also exported to the US, is typically bought by women and younger buyers. Costing around 100,000 Chinese yuan (£11,300), it is priced at more than its premium saloon sibling the Z700. However, China offers both Central and local government incentives for electric vehicles which is likely to bring this price down. Evidently, the issues of electric vehicle pricing are a worldwide problem. https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBA33px.img?h=414&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f © Autocar He said the model, which is sold in China and also exported to the US, is typically bought by women and younger buyers. Costing around 100,000 Chinese yuan (£11,300) ... http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f4/weego-car-copycat-115194/ WeeGo Car? Copycat? 04-12-2016 Honor Hey so while I was looking for a new car because my Smart is a little too small for me + I've put in over $2,000 just in 1 month on wheels/alternator/gearshift/etc (was scammed on Craigslist) . I saw a car that look similar to ours behind the car I was interested in. Called in and asked them about it, turns out it's neither a smart nor a Scion iq. They called it a WheeGo. lol I was dying of laughter thinking someone came up with that name + clearly tried to copy our beautiful Smarts. I'm just wondering if anyone has ever heard of this? http://u.cubeupload.com/Honor/wheeg.jpg Last edited by Honor; 04-12-2016 at 05:37 PM. Reason: Wheego not Weego (still a little funny) 04-12-2016 ElementalDragon Yes, I've been "fortunate" enough to have seen and driven one: http://i57.tinypic.com/2iqxq51.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/zl80gp.jpg 04-13-2016 BigWarpGuy's Wheego site.[http://wheego.net/nihao/] http://wheego.net/nihao/wp-content/gallery/life-2011/_5524832394.jpg 'Wheego Electric Cars Inc. was formed as a spin out from Rough and Tuff Electric Vehicles (RTEV), a manufacturer of battery-powered recreational electric vehicles, in June 2009 with Mike McQuary as CEO. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]' Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheego_Electric_Cars] 04-13-2016 Miss Mercedes http://i39.tinypic.com/1zcpdm1.jpg The Wheego (also known as the Martin Motors Bubble in Italy and the Shuanghuan Noble in its Chinese homeland) is the result of the kinda infamous suit where Daimler sued Shuanghuan for making a near direct copy of the 450. The exterior is maybe arguably different, but the interior is 95% stolen from a 450. http://electrifyingtimes.com/Wheego/Wheego_interior.jpg Unsurprisingly enough, Daimler LOST the court case, with the judge claiming “The impression the Noble makes on a third and informed party by its visual appearance is different to the one that is made to the same person by the Smart... It is commonly accepted that the decision over buying a new car cannot be based only on the exterior characteristics but many other technical specifications such as the power of the engine, fuel consumption, trim specification, retail price and dealers’ network.” After Daimler lost the case, Shuanghuan rubbed it in their face by making the car's motto: "Smarter than the rest!" Yet, this still opened the floodgates! There was this car by Shandong: http://www.autospies.com/images/users/BMW530i/smart_clone.jpg Who decided to quickly "facelift" the car after being threatened by Daimler: Then this "roadster" http://www.all-creatures.org/hope/gw/GD_Shandong-Huoyun_EV.jpg For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Re-Is-this-really-a-Smart-Fortwo-ED-EV-that-burnt-to-a-crisp-tp4687298p4687329.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
