A very Smart car for Europe

THE CAR fairies come to visit me as I sleep in Stuttgart, not far from the birthplace of the automobile more than 125 years ago.

smart fortwo cars guide

THE CAR fairies come to visit me as I sleep in Stuttgart, not far from the birthplace of the automobile more than 125 years ago.

As I catch some shut-eye, they wave fairy dust over the Smart ForTwo I have parked in the hotel garage. Or so it seems.

I jump back into the tiny Smart, preparing to battle the commuter traffic on a run to Daimler central just outside of town, and glance at the fuel gauge. I'm briefly stunned to see it is magically back on the full mark. I don't recall a petrol station. But I remember this is no ordinary Smart and I had better disconnect its electrical umbilical cord before selecting Drive.

* VALUE

This car is a Smart ForTwo Electric Drive and it's part of an evaluation fleet of more than 1000 cars racking up kilometres and experience across Europe. The first of the fleet hit the road in London in 2007, to be followed by cars in cities in the Netherlands and home base in Germany.

The plug-in Smart is now in its second generation - with a third to come later this year - and Daimler says production has topped 2000 cars for destinations in 18 countries.

The first real-world electric car from the Daimler family is promised for Australia but the final details - on-sale date and the crucial price - are still unknown.

"It's under evaluation," says Mercedes-Benz spokesman David McCarthy. "We're looking to bring a small number in initially, to trial them in our driving conditions.

"The big stumbling point is the price at this point. It's probably going to be pretty close to $30,000. It will be at least a 50 per cent premium on the petrol car."

Unless owners have a solar array on the roof, the vast majority of these Smarts will run on coal-fired electricity and that's not so smart.

Still, Benz is advancing with a plan for potentially the third all-electric car in Australia, to join the tiny and tinny Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the impressive Nissan Leaf.

"Hopefully in the next month or so we'll have a decision. We've got a bit of interest but we deliberately haven't talked about it until we've driven the car in local conditions," McCarthy says.

* TECHNOLOGY

The ForTwo is an ideal subject for electrification. In fact, when the tiny city car was born in the 1980s - as the Swatchmobile, an idea from Swatch boss Nicolas Hayek - it was intended to be a plug-in battery car.

By the time it hit the road in 1998 it had gone petrol, and today's ForTwo is still propelled by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder 52kW engine in the tail with claimed economy of 4.7L/100km.

The switch to the latest Electric Drive package uses a lithium-ion power pack, from Tesla, and an electric motor good for 20kW in constant running, 30kW at peak.

Maximum speed is 100km/h, moving from rest to 60km/h takes 6.5 seconds and the claimed range is 100km.

But when ED3 arrives this year, a new battery and other changes will mean 35kW (and a petrol-rivalling 50kW at peak), a top speed of 120km/h, 0-60km/h in 5.0 seconds and a range of at least 135km.

* DESIGN

The SmartTwo is much as it's always been: short, stumpy and very different. That difference has not worked well in Australia, where parking space is not as precious as it is in Paris, London or Rome.

But some people like the idea of a two-seater city runabout and the Smart delivers with a look that is unique.

The Smart ED (Electric Drive) has alloy wheels and is nicely fitted out in the cabin, with two dash-top gauges - they stick up like a crab's eyes - for battery life and current power use.

The plug-in cable is deftly integrated into the lower half of the rear hatch, which splits with a glass upper for easy access, and the plug-in point is tucked into what would normally be the filler for the fuel tank.

* SAFETY

The latest Smart is a four-star car in Europe but that's not the ED. So it's hard to know exactly how it will go, despite Daimler's promises that it will be as good as the regular car.

It comes with ESP and ABS, as you'd expect, and safety has always been a priority. There were massive changes to everything from the suspension to the weight balance even before the first car was sold.

However, it's still a tiny car and you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end if someone in a Toyota LandCruiser made a mistake.

* DRIVING

I have driven a bunch of electric cars and the Smart ED is one of the sweetest and most relevant as a green city runner. It will never rival a Falcon at the lights, or match the Commodore for carrying capacity but it meets the needs of many people who are now even looking at scooters for inner-city chores and trips.

The Smart feels far more solid than the i-MiEV, while the price will easily undercut the Leaf.

But there are a bunch of "buts".

Any Smart car makes a lot of sense in Europe, where roads are crowded and parking is tight, and the electric car is even smarter because of its zero emissions when running. But even the worst of Sydney and Melbourne traffic is no match for Parisian peak times.

The Smart ED is also slow. Very slow. It gets away OK, is fine up to about 50km/h then it battles to add pace and tops out at a GPS-measured 101km/h.

It's about as tardy as my original 1959 Volkswagen Beetle, which means I have to be thinking all the time about maintaining momentum and keeping out of the way of quicker traffic. The Smart is all right on a highway but hills are a challenge and you really need to keep an eye on the mirrors.

Still, it's a fun car. And a very green car.

It also feels more substantial than I remember from earlier ForTwo runs, rides well and has good brakes and handling for its size and pace.

The electric systems are totally inconspicuous and cause almost zero fuss - although the plug-in cable could get dirty if you don't have an enclosed garage or charging spot.

My German car comes without onboard satnav, which should be standard to help with locating charge points.

And that's the only remaining question. It's extremely easy to plug the Smart ED into a regular socket, an overnight charge is no drama, yet there are still doubts about range.

The car easily lasts for 80km in Germany despite lots of full-throttle work, with the dial still showing half a charge on the 16 kiloWatt-hour battery, and the fairy visit means it's ready for more than another 80 the following morning.

It's tough to know until I get a Smart ED home but it's a car I like and - even at $32,000 - it could be a good thing for Australia.

* VERDICT It's a great way to get around in Europe with potential for solid support Down Under. 

-- AT A GLANCE

Smart Electric Drive

Three and a half stars

PRICE $35,000

ENGINE AC permanent magnet synchronous electric motor

TRANSMISSION Single-speed, RWD

BODY 2-door, 2-seat coupe

BODY 2.69m (L); 1.55m (W); 1.45m (H)

WEIGHT 975kg TBC/est?