For the further development of the smart fortwo electric drive the company was able to integrate extensive experience and customer feedback from various electric mobility projects. Ever since 1998 the smart has been revolutionising urban mobility like no vehicle before it. Compact, agile, environmentally friendly and stylish – it has evolved from a practical small car to a lifestyle product and has long become a familiar sight on the roads of cities around the world.
With the start of the first electrically driven test fleet in 2007 in London smart also took on a pioneering role in the area of electric mobility when 100 smart fortwo electric drives took to the roads of the British capital – with great success. Today the vehicle is a trendsetter and a synonym for forward-looking battery-electric-driven urban mobility of the future.
One of the largest electric fleets worldwide
With the introduction of the second generation in 2009 the smart fortwo electric drive was ready to take to the roads. The electrically driven avant-gardiste from Stuttgart was introduced in 18 markets. The objective of the second generation was to gather as much experience as possible about how customers use and charge electric vehicles. The huge demand exceeded all expectations. Instead of the planned 1000 vehicles more than 2000 smart fortwo electric drives were produced in Hambach. This means that smart has one of the largest fleets of electrically driven vehicles on the roads worldwide and a trove of customer experience and wishes that have been input in the third generation smart fortwo electric drive.
A higher top speed and better acceleration at speeds above 60 km/h were right at the top of the customers' list of priorities. However, contrary to prevailing opinion the range wasn't the crucial point from the perspective of the test customers. The vast majority of users confirmed the results of surveys which say that people drive approximately 30 to 40 kilometres per day on average in urban areas and they expressed great satisfaction with the range of their smart.
Even better in the third generation
From June the further developed smart fortwo electric drive will start winning wide-ranging buyers in more than 30 markets for its innovative and forward-looking drive concept.
The third generation smart fortwo electric drive is equipped with a 55 kW magneto-electric motor - the first product from the EM-motive joint venture founded together with Bosch - which ensures that it is as agile and lively as ever. With torque of 130 Newton metres it accelerates powerfully and immediately from 0 to 60 km/h in 5 seconds and thanks to better acceleration in the higher speed range it can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 13 seconds as it has much more tractive power than its predecessor. This makes for speedy driving and overtaking. The battery-electric two-seater smart fortwo now also has a higher top speed of more than 120 km/h, putting it on a par with the combustion-engined smart.
A battery supplied by the Daimler subsidiary Deutsche ACCUmotive is fitted in the new smart fortwo electric drive for the first time. With capacity of 17.6 kWh the lithium-ion battery from the joint venture with Evonik Industries provides for more than 140 kilometres of pollutant-free driving fun. In addition to the higher battery capacity clear improvements have been made to the efficiency of the drive system, resulting in a greater range. When completely empty it takes a maximum of eight hours to fully charge the battery at a household socket or charging station on the electricity systems of most countries i.e. overnight.
Quick charging in just one hour
For the greater freedom of quick charging it is possible to optionally equip the vehicle with a quick-charging function. The 22 kW on-board charger enables a completely empty battery to be fully charged in less than an hour. A power cable is needed for this which is used to connect the vehicle to a public quick-charging station or a wallbox at home or work.
smart will offer this in future in cooperation with SPX, one of the world's leading suppliers of technology solutions in the fields of energy and automotive as a global installation and service partner, and with KEBA, a specialist for innovative E-charging infrastructure and wallboxes. If a customer decides to install a wallbox at home or work the smart Sales department will contact SPX. SPX will examine the local conditions, make an offer, and after discussing the cost estimate, arrange for installation of the wallbox from KEBA. The wallbox is standardised and can of course also be used to charge of vehicles from other manufacturers, for example if there is a mixed fleet.
A comparison of the two smart fortwo electric drive generations
The smart fortwo electric drive makes the introduction to electric mobility very attractive with a new marketing concept. With the sale&care model customers can buy, lease or finance the vehicle at an attractive price and lease the battery for less than €60 per month plus VAT. This means that the monthly costs for electric driving are no higher than those for a comparable vehicle with diesel drive. The rental costs include regular maintenance and annual servicing of the battery and, if necessary, quick battery replacement. smart also has a solution for all those who want to buy the entire vehicle.
The price for the vehicle with the sale&care model is considerably less than €16,000 + VAT. In view of the low operating costs electric driving therefore represents a very attractive form of individual mobility. National promotion programmes in many countries and mobility benefits such as the use of special lanes or exemption from city congestion charges are further advantages of electric driving. With the attractive sale&care package and the significant technological progress for the third generation smart fortwo electric drive smart offers its customers affordable driving fun for daily use based on the environmentally friendly drive.
Anyone interested can now register on www.smart.comwith no obligation and will receive all the latest news on the new electric smart. Customers in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK who would like to be among the first owners of the new third generation smart fortwo electric drive can already reserve a vehicle in advance online. The reservation programme will start successively in further markets.
Fill up on renewable energies
Electric vehicles cut down greenhouse gases on a sustained basis, especially when they are powered by renewably generated electricity. This is why the company is supplying as much additional energy generated by wind power to the German power network as is needed to run all third generation electric smarts sold in Germany – thus supporting the ambitious climate targets of the EU. Within the framework of this initiative Daimler is deliberately not taking up support measures from the Renewable Energy Act.
A fresh green and even more colours
With a larger radiator grille featuring the electric drive logo, stylish LED daytime driving lights below the headlamps, wider door sills and several modifications to the rear the new model is much more dynamic than its predecessor.
The new E-smart comes in all smart colours and colour combinations that are also available for the diesel and petrol models. The new colour fresh green is a particularly visible manifestation of electric driving fun. In addition to crystal white bodypanels the electric drive design package comprises white alloy rims, a green tridion cell, green mirror caps and numerous green accents in the interior, which form an attractive contrast to the black seats.
Perfectly equipped
As to be expected the new smart fortwo electric drive features extensive equipment. A highlight is the fully automatic air conditioning with pollen filter and pre-air conditioning. As with the second generation, when it is connected to the power network the vehicle can be pre-cooled or pre-heated as required for a programmed departure time. A new feature is the possibility to start the pre-air conditioning via the internet or a smartphone at any time. The standard equipment furthermore includes electric windows, leather steering wheel, leather gear knob, the entry line radio, power steering, 9-spoke alloy wheels and a luggage compartment cover. As with the predecessor model, in addition to the standard solid roof a glass roof and a cabrio version are available. The trip computer – also a standard feature in the electric smart – shows journey information including the remaining range. And like the predecessor model the two round instruments show the charge status of the battery and the energy used and recuperated. In addition, the smart fortwo electric drive can be equipped with a navigation system and a 3-spoke leather steering wheel.
Clever app for infotainment with smartphones
smart is the first car brand to develop its own drive app for the iPhone®. Together with the smart kit and cradle for the iPhone®the popular phone becomes a multimedia trip computer that is optimised for the smart fortwo in terms of function and design. The smart drive app for the iPhone®has all the important features needed whilst driving: phone calls via hands-free system, your own extensive music collection, internet radio and a clever navigation system with a special smart touch. There are also smart extras – for example the Car Finder that will guide you back to wherever you parked your car.
The new smart drive app for the iPhone®is simple to operate, for example thanks to extra-large buttons. The new app makes urban mobility even easier and more fun - the declared objective of the smart philosophy.
Two new elements developed by smart make the two-seater car and the iPhone®a perfect team:
- The smart cradle for the iPhone ® with control unit and microphone serves as a stylish and functional holder. It charges the iPhone ® and also functions as a hands-free system using the loudspeakers of the smart radio for sound output and automatically muting it when phone calls are made.
- The smart drive app for the iPhone ® is the world's first drive app on the market to be developed by a car brand. It combines all the features needed on the road in a single app. All the functions are extremely easy to use thanks to extra-large buttons and extra-large letters.
Always know how far you can go: connected services
The smart drive app for the iPhone®can be tuned with further functions tailored to the smart fortwo electric drive. However, the current charge status or the SmartCharging charge configuration can also be conveniently controlled and managed via a web portal from a home computer or with any modern smartphone.
The Vehicle Homepage offers every third generation smart fortwo electric drive customer a chance to visualise the range on an interactive map with 3D views. All the destinations that can be reached with the current battery charge are displayed. The public charging stations within reach can also be seen at a glance. If a desired destination is further away than the available range the Vehicle Homepage can be used to quickly check the additional battery charge needed. Among other things the depiction of the range considers the topography and the route profile. The intuitive graphic depiction that can be combined with 3D views and satellite images is an attractive feature. Furthermore, the vehicle itself can also become active. Information on the charge status and range can be sent by email or Twitter messages for example. The driver is notified as soon as the desired range can be reached with the current charge.
Intelligent charging
The smart fortwo electric drive can be connected to the internet at home via a standard powerline adapter (Homeplug AV) for SmartCharging. After entering the planned departure time in the vehicle or the web portal the vehicle will be fully charged in a battery-saving and economical way, and pre-air conditioned if required so that it is ready to start. The pre-air conditioning can also be conveniently activated online shortly before setting off. The third generation smart fortwo electric drive also makes charging at public stations easy. With Plug&Charge the vehicle identifies itself as soon as it is plugged into a compatible charging point and the charging process is settled automatically.
Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
