The Smart EQ Fortwo, formerly Smart Fortwo electric drive, ''smart ed'' or Smart Fortwo EV, is a

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...

variant of the

Smart Fortwo The Smart Fortwo (stylized as "smart fortwo") is a two-seater city car manufactured and marketed by the Smart (marque), Smart division of the Mercedes-Benz Group for model years 1998–2024, across three generations — each using a rear-engi ...

city car The A-segment is the first category in the passenger car classification system defined by the European Commission. It is used for city cars, the smallest category of passenger cars defined. A-segment sales represented approximately 4.2% of the ...

made by

Smart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

. Since 2020, Smart is only selling battery EVs. The Smart EQ Forfour was an electric variant of the long wheelbase four-door second generation

Smart Forfour The Smart Forfour (stylized as "smart forfour") is a city car (A-segment) marketed by Smart (marque), Smart over two generations. The first generation was marketed in Europe from 2004 to 2006 with a front-engine configuration, sharing its platform ...

city car Type 453 which shared approximately 70% of its parts with the third-generation Renault Twingo, both built by Renault in Slovenia. Field testing of the electric Smart Fortwo 450 began in London with 100 units in 2007, leasing only due to the cumbersome molten salt ZEBRA battery. With drive train and lithium-ion battery provided by a California startup named Tesla, the second-generation ED with the second-generation 451 chassis was introduced in 2009 and made available in 18 markets around the world for leasing, or through the

Car2Go Share Now GmbH was a German carsharing company, formed from the merger of Car2Go and DriveNow. Since 2022, it was an subsidiary of the Free2Move division of multinational automaker Stellantis providing carsharing services in urban areas in Europ ...

carsharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...

service in selected cities, with over 2,300 units delivered. A near production version of the third-generation Smart ED, using the face lift 451 body and drive train plus complete LiIon battery built by Daimler joint ventures, was unveiled at the September 2011

Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. I ...

started in 2012 to

mass-produce Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

the electric car for regular availability in up to 30 markets worldwide. Deliveries of the third-generation Smart ED began in the U.S. and Europe in May 2013. More than 8,800 units of the second and third generation Smart ED were sold in North America and Europe between 2009 and June 2014, of which, over 6,500 units are third generation variants. Since 2017, the fourth-generation Smart Electric Drive is being sold. As Daimler discontinued the electric joint ventures, it uses a Renault drive train, the fourth variant in as many electric generations. The body corresponds to the third-generation

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

-powered Smart 453; this mismatch in the numbering of generations arose because the Smart ED2 and the Smart ED3 were both based on the second-generation

-powered Smart 451.

First generation

The first Smart electric drive vehicles, still using the first generation type 450 body style, were modified by Zytek Electric Vehicles. They were powered by a rear-mounted motor driving the rear wheels. It ran on 13.2

kilowatt hour A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

s of sodium-nickel chloride Zebra batteries. These types of molten salt batteries operate at 245 °C (473 °F). It is typically kept molten and ready for use because if allowed to "freeze" it takes twelve hours to reheat and charge. Thus it is not very useful for private owners, but rather in fleets of taxis, police cars and other vehicles that are operated by multiple users. Field testing began in London with 100 vehicles in 2007 and was available only for lease to corporate clients for £375 per month.

Specifications

*Power: 30 kW (41 hp) *Economy: 12 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres (430 kJ/km or 190 W·h/mi) *Range: *Recharge time (80%): four hours *Recharge time (100%): eight hours *Top speed:

Second generation

The second generation, Smart ED2, was introduced in 2009 to 18 markets with the objective to gather experience about how customers use and charge electric vehicles. Daimler initially planned to build 1,000 vehicles, but as demand exceeded the company's expectations, more than 2,000 Smart Fortwo electric drive cars were produced. The electric cars were available for leasing or through the

service in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Production of the second-generation Smart Fortwo electric drive began in November 2009 in Smartville, Hambach, France. The Smart ED2s have a

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energ ...

provided by

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from h ...

and a powertrain provided by Zytek. The

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of a fully charged battery is up to under the

New European Driving Cycle The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) was a driving cycle, last updated in 1997, designed to assess the emission levels of car engines and fuel economy in passenger cars (which excludes light trucks and commercial vehicles). It is also refe ...

(NEDC) cycle.

As part of a three-phase roll-out program, phase two began with field testing in Berlin in December 2009 with 100 units out of 300 that will be deployed in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. For phase two 1,500 cars were produced, and field tested in Hamburg, Paris, Rome, Milan, Pisa, London, the English Midlands, Madrid, Zurich, Portugal, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands during the first half of 2010. In October 2010, 250 units were made available for field testing in several cities in the United States. Testing also was conducted in Canada; and in 2011 in selected markets in Asia. Phase three of the program is

mass production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

, which was scheduled to begin with the 2012 model year. In the United States sales were scheduled to begin in 2012 with the 2013

model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...

. In July 2011 an agreement was reached between

Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-B ...

and

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...

to develop and produce innovative traction motors for electric vehicles. Based on this

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

, Daimler planned to use the improved traction motors with the third generation of Smart electric drive cars scheduled to go on sale in 2012.

Specifications

*Power: continuous; peak power output of for approximately 2 minutes *Torque: *Battery capacity: 16.5 kWh

*Economy: 12 kWh/100 km, also reported to be 200 W·h/mi *Range: on the (NEDC cycle) *Top speed: The lithium-ion battery pack took three hours to charge from 20 to 80 percent of its capacity with a standard 230 V outlet. It could also be charged using a common US household 120 V outlet. The car has a 3.3 kW on-board charger for this AC charging. Smart claims a time of 6.5 seconds, the same as for the gasoline version. It has a single fixed-gear ratio transmission and is about heavier than a gasoline-powered Fortwo.

Markets and sales

Over 2,300 units of the second generation models were leased between 2009 and October 2012 in 18 markets around the world. Of these, 1,721 units were registered in Europe through October 2012, and 527 units in the U.S. through December 2012.

United States

The trial program in the US began in January 2011 with the first customer delivery in Washington, D.C. A total of 250 units were made available for leasing at a price of US$599 per month for a period of 48 months and , plus $2,500 due at signing. This pricing is before taxes or any government tax credits or rebates available. The limited fleet of second-generation Smart Fortwo electric drive cars was introduced first in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, Orlando, Florida, Austin, Detroit, Indianapolis and the Interstate 95 corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, including New Jersey and New York. Smart ED charging WAS 2011 1124

In July 2011,

announced the deployment of a fleet of Smart EDs into

service in San Diego before the end of 2011. The company stated that the carsharing electric cars will have a range of , and, based on their experience with usage in other cities, they will most likely need to be recharged every two or three days. When reserving the electric car online, San Diego Car2Go members are able to see the battery's

state of charge State of charge (SOC) quantifies the remaining capacity available in a battery at a given time and in relation to a given state of ageing. It is usually expressed as percentage (0% = empty; 100% = full). An alternative form of the same measure i ...

, so if the customer wants to go for an extended drive, the option is available to find the right car for that trip. Smart ED Monroney sticker WAS 2011 1126

In November 2011 fleets of 300 Smart EDs each were deployed in

and

as part of the Car2Go service. , a total of 527 Smart EDs were registered in the US since January 2011, including 300 units deployed for Car2Go in San Diego. ''A total of 388 units were registered in 2011''. ''See the section: December 2012 Plug-in Electric Car Sales Numbers'' Considering an energy consumption of 39 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles (22 MJ/km) and a conversion factor of 33.7 kWh of electricity being the energy equivalent of a US gallon of gasoline ( megajoules to the litre), the

US Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

officially rated the Smart ED combined fuel economy at 87

miles per gallon gasoline equivalent Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...

(mpg-e) (2.7 L gasoline equivalent/100 km; 104 mpg-imp gasoline equivalent), city and highway. ''Select Model Year 2011 and Electric Vehicles, then click on any of the two trims for smart for two electric drive.'' EPA's official

all-electric range All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of a Battery electric vehicle (BEV), it means the maximum range per rech ...

is , but in favorable conditions in an urban environment at warm temperatures the carmaker claims the Smart Fortwo ED can reach up to . According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy ranked the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive the "greenest" car for 2014.

France

A total of 152 Smart EDs were registered in France since 2010 through December 2012. ''See "Répartition des ventes de voitures électriques par modèle sur 2012/2011" ''

Third generation

The third-generation Smart electric drive, Smart ED3, was unveiled at the September 2011

. Key differences with the second-generation model include a more powerful electric motor with improved acceleration and top speed; a new

pack, which increased the range to with a quick-charge option; other new features include an enlarged grille opening, LED daytime running lights, wider door sills, some minor modifications to the rear, fully automatic air conditioning with pollen filter and pre-air conditioning. Several features are controlled remotely through a smart drive application for the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

. In Germany the Smart ED was available for (around ) plus a monthly fee of () for the battery rental. Online reservations were scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter 2011. In the US pricing started at and for the Soft Top Cabriolet before any applicable government incentives. Canadian pricing for the Electric Drive starts at and the cabriolet version started at . The third-generation Smart electric drive was released in the US in May 2013 with 60 units delivered that month. Sales in Europe also began in May 2013.

planned to

the electric car with availability in 30 markets worldwide. In February 2014, Smart announced it would be offering the 2014 model year nationwide; the 2013 model was only available in CARB states.

Markets and sales

Global sales of the third generation model reached 4,130 units during 2013. The Smart ED 3 was the top selling plug-in electric car in Germany in 2013, with 2,146 units registered through December 2013, representing 32% of the 6,711 Smarts sold in the country. After the German market, European sales were led by France, with 478 units registered through December 2013. ''See "Ventes de voitures électriques en 2010/2011/2012/2013/2014."'' U.S. sales totaled 923 units through December 2013. Global cumulative sales of the third generation variant reached 6,514 units up to June 2014, ''A total of 2,384 Smart EDs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2014''. while combined sales of second and third generation reached 8,814 units . , combined sales of both generations reached 3,959 units in Germany, ''A total of 106 Smart EVs were registered in Germany in 2010.'' ''A total of 328 Smart EVs were registered in Germany in 2011.'' ''A total of 734 Smart EDs were registered in Germany in 2011.'' ''A total of 645 Smart EDs were sold in Germany in the first half of 2014.'' 2,542 units in the U.S. ''A total of 1,092 Smart EDs were sold in the U.S. during the first half of 2014. See section: "U.S. Battery Electric sales for June 2014" '' and 865 units in France.

Smart ForJeremy variation

The Smart ForJeremy is a version of Smart ForTwo electric drive designed by

Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott (born August 8, 1975) is an American fashion designer. He is the sole owner of his namesake label, and from October 2013 to March 2023 was the creative director of the fashion house Moschino. Since launching his brand in Paris in 19 ...

. It included bright white body colour, chrome-plated tridion cell, a wing made of transparent fibreglass and decorated with rocket-shaped elements that light up red, wider rear tyres and wider rear wheel arches, wheel rims are shaped like aeroplane propellers, bright chromium-plated "eyebrows" above its front headlights, chromium-plated top half of the mirror caps and the frame around the radiator grille, fine white nappa leather upholstery at instrument panel, seats and door trim; diamond stitching at seat insert areas and the centre panels in the doors, bright chromium-plated side air inlets. The vehicle was unveiled on the eve of the LA Auto Show at Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles, with music provided by the artist M.I.A. Production version was planned in 2013 in limited quantities.

Specifications

*Power: peak power output of , Permanent Magnet AC

Synchronous motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC electric motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation period is exactly equal to an integer number of AC cycles. Sync ...

(PMSM) *Torque: *Top speed of * 0 to 100 km/h (

0 to 60 mph The time it takes a vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h or 27 m/s), often said as just "zero to sixty" or "nought to sixty", is a commonly used performance measure for automotive acceleration in the United ...

) in 11.5 seconds and 0 to 60 km/h (0 to 37 mph) in 5 seconds *Battery capacity: 17.6 kWh

by Deutsche ACCUmotive *Range: *Miles per gallon equivalent: 122

MPGe Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...

city, 93 MPGe highway, 107 MPGe combined * Artificial warning sounds for pedestrians automatically activated in the U.S. and Japan, and manually activated in Europe.

Fourth generation

The fourth-generation model, based on the C453, was made available for sale in the US on 9 August 2017, as a 2017 model; European sales started earlier the same year. The gasoline model was no longer for sale in Canada and the US after the 2017 model year. With the new body and the Renault/Mercedes Edison Platform, it is available with electric drive and a 17.6 kWh battery. It has an EPA Certified range of . The charge rate is 7.2 kW. Also available as a cabriolet, it is the only current production electric convertible in the world. The model was later renamed as Smart EQ Fortwo in 2018 as Daimler started to use EQ brand for electric car lineup. A facelifted model was unveiled in 2019, for the 2020 model year.

Smart EQ Forfour

Starting from this generation, the electric Smart is also available as a 5-door hatchback. The Smart EQ Forfour is a battery electric variant of the

, powered by a 60 kW motor. Just like its

counterpart, it shares its platform with the

Renault Twingo The Renault Twingo is a city car made by the French company Renault from 1992 to 2024 across three generations. The name is a portmanteau of ''twist'', ''swing'', and ''tango''. The first-generation Twingo (two door, front engine) debuted at t ...

and is manufactured in

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; ; also known by #Name, alternative names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, seventh-largest city of Slovenia. It is the economic and cultural centre of the traditional region of Lower Carniola (southeastern Slovenia) and ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The battery capacity is 17.6 kWh, out of which 16.7 kWh is usable. Its electricity consumption is 13.1 kWh/100 km, therefore equating to a range of 127.48 km.

Essential importance for Tesla Motors

Although

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from hom ...

was not directly involved in the development of the final Smart ED3 purchase model, the Daimler partnership concerning the Smart ED2 was essential for Tesla.

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

said at the 2016 Tesla shareholder meeting: ''"If we hadn’t done that he Daimler cooperation Tesla would have died because the Daimler partnership gave us credibility, that a major OEM was willing to work with us, and they also paid us for the mart ED2development program which is really helpful from a revenue standpoint".'' ''"Without that investment, Tesla would have been game over".''

Gallery

File:Smart Electric Drive.jpg, Smart Electric Drive at the

Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show was hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon was organised b ...

, 2009 File:2013 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive -- 2012 NYIAS.JPG, 2013 Smart Fortwo electric drive File:Smart ed brabus.jpg,

Brabus Brabus GmbH ( stylized in uppercase) is a German automotive aftermarket high-performance tuning company founded in 1977 in Bottrop (Ruhr area). Brabus specialises mainly in Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart vehicles. They have also modified othe ...

-tuned Smart Fortwo ED concept at the Geneva Motor Show File:Smart ED Antrieb.JPG, Electric Drive File:Messe i-Mobility 2012-by-RaBoe-111.jpg, Smart Fortwo electric drive

edition File:Smart fortwo Cabrio electric, IAA 2017, Frankfurt (1Y7A1891).jpg, fortwo Electric Drive Cabrio at IAA 2017 File:Smart EQ Genf 2019 1Y7A5176.jpg, EQ Forfour (left) and EQ Fortwo convertible (right) in Geneva, 2019

References

External links

smart (Official UK Community Site)

smart.com – the smart ed

Zytek Group's Smart EV project page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart Ed EV Electric city cars Production electric cars Cars introduced in 2007

First generation

Specifications

Second generation

Specifications

Markets and sales

United States

France

Third generation

Markets and sales

Smart ForJeremy variation

Specifications

Fourth generation

Smart EQ Forfour

Essential importance for Tesla Motors

Gallery

See also

References

External links