2011 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive
Recently, the EPA quietly announced the estimated mileage of the 2011 Smart fortwo Electric Drive (ED).
EPA estimates also suggest the newest Smart car delivers a remarkably small carbon footprint. Estimates suggest that the average electric Smart car driver will consume only 0.4 barrels of petroleum each year.
Despite being incredibly efficient, the Smart fortwo isn't for everybody. For one, the vehicle boasts the same size constraints as the current Smart car. The electric Smart car offers an estimated range of 63 miles. Though Smart promises the fortwo ED delivers highway speeds, previous experiences with Smart cars suggest that most driving is best left to city streets.
The 2011 crop of electric Smart cars is fairly minuscule.
The Smart Fortwo electric drive is not going to be a geopolitical game changer. As a diminutive city car (more than three feet shorter than the Mini Cooper), the Fortwo makes sense as a candidate for electric conversion. The electric motor, the single-speed transmission, and the Tesla-developed battery pack all sit below the rear cargo compartment in the space the 1.0-liter inline-three used to inhabit. Charging occurs through a 3.3-kW onboard charger and the recently adopted SAE J1772 standardized charging socket. Inside, the Fortwo ED (Cialis jokes expected) is identical to other Fortwos. The former fuel gauge in the center cluster shows battery level as well.
End Transmission
Starting up the electric Fortwo is a nonevent. Our biggest gripe about the gas-powered car is its accursed five-speed automated manual. The electric Fortwo has none of that fuss. The rest of the driving experience is much like that of a normal car, or at least like a normal Fortwo. The first reason is that the gas pedal (yup, we’re still going to call it the gas pedal) works in typical fashion: Take your foot off, and the Fortwo ED coasts with minimal drag. The brakes, too, feel like old-fashioned hydraulics. This is because they are old-fashioned hydraulics, identical to those of the gas Fortwo. The only difference is that the first half-inch or so of pedal travel activates a higher level of regeneration in the electric motor to slow the car. Push the pedal farther, and you engage the hydraulic brakes. Other peculiarities of the Smart remain unchanged in its electric form. That Smarts
If you haven’t already guessed, the Fortwo ED will cost much more. The convertible version is a no-charge option.
Based on the size of the Fortwo’s battery pack, it should get the full amount. Fortwo distribution in Detroit, Austin, and Los Angeles will occur shortly after launch.
The full-production Smart Fortwo ED will come with a new battery pack promising greater range and a higher top speed—two inevitable benefits of continued battery development.
Price aside, the Fortwo ED gives a good picture of the near-term future for electric cars. It will probably be used as a second car or for people in urban areas who want to take advantage of specific incentives (electric cars are exempt from London’s £8-a-day congestion charge, for instance) or the Fortwo’s size.
After making its first (official) North American splash in 2008, Mercedes-Benz’s diminutive Smart (or lowercase smart, as they prefer) unit is prepared to get green and urban-oriented. Enter the 2011 smart fortwo electric drive, which we had a chance to take for a quick spin through the new york, er, New York, borough of Brooklyn.
Battery charge is sufficient for up to 84 miles per the new European driving cycles.
Starting in 2012, the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive will be available to anyone in Smart’s 40 worldwide markets with the right amount of scratch to make the payments. In the meantime, though, if your taste runs to Smart, you’ll probably be cruising in the petrol-burning Smart Fortwo, which has never been our idea of fun. Electile dysfunction
Our turn in the Fortwo Electric Drive was a case of apples and oranges, night and day, black and white. Electric power steering helps spin the fortwo on a dime and an iPhone app by Daimler helps keep track of power and charge levels and other vehicle issues. By the way, costs are considerably lower than on a Smart gas car because the battery, motor and other components on the Electric Drive are virtually maintenance-free.
Ouch. The Smart Fortwo Electric Drive is so good that it makes you wonder why they even bother with the gas-engined model anyway.
