Maybach Car

Maybach Car. Want to be among the first to lease a 2011 Smart Electric Drive? You’re probably too late, as the brand only plans to make 1,500 of them available globally. There's definitely a story in the numbers. Even of those 250 cars sent to the U.S., smart USA has decided to place 80 percent of these vehicles with corporate partners and about 20 percent with individual lessees.

Additionally, a handful of vehicles will go to Daimler's Car2Go car-sharing operation based in Austin. And from all the vehicles, unless the owners opt out, charging and range data will be shared with Daimler.

That leaves less than fifty measly vehicles for private lessees, split among those pilot cities. Of these initial Smart Eds, there will be roughly ten privately leased vehicles per region, along with a few dozen being used by industry, green energy companies, municipalities, and educational institutions. So to most Americans, the chances of seeing an electric Smart will be about the same as spotting some of the most exclusive exotics.