SMART fortwo EV set to electrify British Motor Show
SMART announced today that it will premiere a new SMART fortwo EV at next week's British Motor Show. Up to 200 of the electric microcars will be built and delivered to the UK, which will serve as the trial market for the "green" vehicle.
The fortwo EV has 30-kilowatts of power, which gives it more zip in normal everyday driving than its gasoline-powered sibling. 0-30 mph arrives in 6.5 seconds, and it tops out at 70 mph. Fully charged, it has a 70-mile operating range.
If the UK trial is a success, one has to believe that "green vehicle" aficionados here in the US will be clamoring for DaimlerChrysler to import the EV in addition to the conventionally-powered fortwo. Furthermore, because the SMART isn't a wildly bizarre-looking oddity like some of the other pure EVs available today, it's more likely that people who normally wouldn't consider an EV will take a second look at the SMART. This'll be interesting to watch.
(More info after the jump)
[Source:DaimlerChrysler]
Press Release:
smart goes electric
The iconic smart fortwo will be available as an electric version, it was announced today. The UK has been selected to run a market trial for the introduction of a fully electric version of the popular two-seater car.
The smart ev (electric vehicle) will make its UK debut at the British Motorshow at ExCeL on 18 July.
The car will be made available on a lease arrangement to selected UK corporate customers with deliveries starting in November.
The smart ev sets a new benchmark in the electric vehicle sector; it has 30kW output and a top speed of 70 mph. It offers even better in-town performance than its petrol powered stablemate, with 0-30 mph in 6.5 seconds. With a range of up to 72 miles, the smart ev is exempt from vehicle excise duty and congestion charge.
The drive train for the smart ev is produced in the UK by technology partner Zytek Group who undertake final assembly of the smart ev in Fradley, near Litchfield.
Dermot Kelly, Managing Director Mercedes Car Group, said: "A market trial of the smart ev is a significant step for the Mercedes Car Group as it is an important part of our commitment to sustainable mobility."
Kelly continued: "We expect to deliver up to 200 units in this market trial phase and will work with corporate partners, to find suitable applications for the ev, and with green energy suppliers to deliver zero emissions from well to wheel."
More than 40,000 smart fortwos have been sold in the UK since the car was launched here in 2000.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
distantbody 1:59AM (7/13/2006)
Come on..What batteries are they using? With some of todays battery technologies like Li-ion, Ni-Cad or NiMH, surely they could do better than a rather megre 70-mile range. Mayby they're skimping on the volume of batteries there putting in it...?
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Jay 2:49AM (7/13/2006)
A good idea and a step in the right direction, but even just as a city car, 70 miles is pretty pathetic. I've come close to driving that on a fun summer's day just driving from shop to restaurant to shop to theater to shop from one end of the city to the other, and I'm not sure I'd like to be that perilously close to running out of charge on the way home. And even just running to work and back, I'd have to charge it up every few days. And if charging it up takes a long time, that could get annoying. I think it'd need around a 120-150 mile range to be more feasible.
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Desiri 3:08AM (7/13/2006)
The batteries are sodium nickel chloride provided by MES-DEA.
The lease is around $700/mo, but congestion charge(~$320/mo) for London is waived and parking is free.
With petrol currently over $7/gal(US) potential leasees should be able to come out slightly ahead.
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SOhp101 3:50AM (7/13/2006)
Wow, I'd get that. Use that as my commuter car and then drive my regular one for everything else.
70 mi does seem a little low however.
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Howard Kerr 7:51AM (7/13/2006)
Let's see, a car that is slower, than the already slow (regular) smart, has a limited range, and which will no doubt cost MORE than the regular smart.....yeah, Americans will buy into a vehicle like that. The electric smart will probably sell to those folks who bought the first Priuses, so they could show the rest of us how enviromentally conscious they are. In other words...a VERY limited market.
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Gardiner Westbound 7:55AM (7/13/2006)
With reasonable pricing, durability and maintenance costs the Smart EV looks like a terrific city car for mild climates. Interior heating requirements in cold climates will probably kill the battery before it gets out of the driveway.
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Galley 8:23AM (7/13/2006)
I'd be all over that like stink on a bug! 70 miles would be one week's worth of commuting for me.
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Peter 9:01AM (7/13/2006)
"Let's see, a car that is slower, than the already slow (regular) smart"
Actually if you read the article, it said it accelerates faster than the regular smart.
Since the are both community golf carts, I would much rather they be electric.
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Hank 9:15AM (7/13/2006)
I doubt 70 miles/day is going to be too short a distance for the average London city dweller. You're not talking about people with the outrageous ave. US commute.
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Bob 9:22AM (7/13/2006)
Everyone seems put aside by the range, but aside from that, are these any better than a gas powered vehicle?
We would still burn coal/natural gas/nuclear to create the electricity, and there is the battery recycling to attend to as well. It seems like we are just picking a different evil (not necessarily the lesser of 2). At this range, I say ride your bike.
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Tush 11:00AM (7/13/2006)
Bob, you have a slight point. But there are other forms of generating power. Generating power from a central location with fossil fuels is much different than millions of automobiles bustling around the world consuming oil and spitting it out as pollution.
Also, it's easier to change these central locations to make them more and more effecient, or change with technology. It's a LOT harder to change the car industry because the sheer amount of vehicles out there. Hybrid and Electric cars are a good example right now. It will take the world a long time to change over to more effecient vehicles because the ICE (internal combustion engine) is so well-placed.
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Agent MOO 3:50PM (7/13/2006)
That car looks like it's powered purely by the driver's sense of superiority.
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Greg A. 4:25PM (7/13/2006)
If it will be leased only to corporate customers, why will there be a cabrio version of it?
#6 "Interior heating requirements in cold climates will probably kill the battery before it gets out of the driveway."
The TH!NK EV had a kerosene-burning heater, FWIW.
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Howard Kerr 5:34PM (7/13/2006)
"Accelerates faster than the petrol smart"...and yet no comparison of gas versus electric times are given. Why do you suppose that is Peter?
BTW, unless you get the Brabaus powered versions in Europe, the gas smart takes between 15 and 17 seconds to hit 60mph...so, the eletric might be a second or so faster to 30?
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Tom Design 7:14PM (7/13/2006)
It's a great step for economy, but a terrible step in performance. Can't imagine trying to hop on the highway for a one exit trip, merging into 18 wheelers with a 15-17 second clearance time. Why not just get a Pontiac Vibe or a Toyota Corolla and get 36-41mpg highway and be able to get up and go?
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Tom Design 10:37PM (7/13/2006)
Just re-read the posting and have to laugh at this sentence: "Furthermore, because the SMART isn't a wildly bizarre-looking oddity like some of the other pure EVs..." Maybe next to a clown's car with pink daisies on yellow background and a "chuggah" rubber horn on the fender, this doesn't look bizarre. This is one unique, style with a smashed in front/rear style that reads terribly top heavy. "Where are the other pieces to the car?" is the first reaction most people would have. I'm surprised its picture isn't found in Merriam-Webster next to the definition of bi·zarre:
"strikingly out of the ordinary: as a : odd, extravagant, or eccentric in style or mode..."
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rcshaw 8:13AM (7/16/2006)
Why hasn't someone come up with an electric vehicle with a small, low polluting, gasoline motor to run a on-board electric generator to charge the batteries as the need arises. It seems so obvious a solution.
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tio 1:10PM (7/16/2006)
looks like a great car for the gated communities. You can run down to the club house or the market a lot of times in 70 miles.
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John P. Hedin aka DrSmart 8:56PM (7/16/2006)
Zytek put together a proposal to Don Panoz's E-motion mobility in Atlanta for an electric smart forTwo a few years ago. I was told that the Swiss battery pack for that car cost $20,000. I had the experience of driving a ford Th!nk city in San Francisco-it is simply amazing how much juice is consumed climbing up steep hills- you'd be lucky to get 15% back on re-gen. An EV might be ok in ... (where??) Remember in Chicago in the winter you have to run a heater and wipers-and in Miami or Phoenix you just might need air conditioning. The other problems with electric cars concern power and heat management-with the amount of voltage required, these EV's generate a lot of heat and require sophisticated control and charging systems. A small Diesel hybrid city car that could get 100 MPG and will run on bio-fuels- 10'long like the original Mini - but tall-and which would seat at least THREE people, would be a world-wide winner. A 2 seat smart car EV is Not the answer.
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Diane 1:54PM (7/18/2006)
If you want a generator to charge the batteries, you are talking about serial hybrids. The car you should be looking at is the Cleanova by SVE.
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