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DRIVEN: Electric Smart Shines In NYC Test Drive
Tiny two-seater actually improved for urban driving by all-electric drivetrain.
Bengt Halvorson  | http://thecarconnection.com  |  Posted June 11, 2010   Brooklyn, NY
In the urban environment, Smart Electric Drive proved competent and appropriate, with drivability that surpassed the gas version. (Photo: The Car Connection)
With a jolt of electricity, the Smart Fortwo can become relevant – and refreshingly different.

Further to the point, our surprising conclusion after a couple of hours behind the wheel of the new Smart Electric Drive is that as an electric vehicle, the Fortwo feels like a more appealing, fully realized package, more so than in its gasoline form.

Smart ED mixed in well with the taxis of Manhattan. (Photo: The Car Connection)
Putting electric drive in the little two-seat Fortwo seems like a no-brainer since it's well-suited for dense urban areas or low-speed commutes. After all, the gasoline Fortwo never has been much fun outside of those low-speed commute conditions.

Take it out on the highway and it turns into a noisy, pitchy driving experience. And the Fortwo's lane-squeezing maneuverability succumbs to vulnerability in the face of semis and Suburbans.

Then of course there's the gasoline Fortwo's powertrain. With the Mitsubishi three-banger thrumming just behind and below you, it's hardly a refined or responsive experience. The existing ForTwo's under-the-cargo-floor engine emits lots of vibration, its automated manual gearbox is unpredictable unless you call the shifts for yourself (and have the optional paddle shifters), and the ride is a bit harsh.

But climb into the Electric Drive, and it's like night and day. Turn on the power key and shift to drive, and there's the eerie silence that we've grown accustomed to with electric cars. Step on the gas, and it surges forward with only a gentle whine.

From a standing start, the ED feels very sprightly. With up to 89 pound-feet of torque delivered right off the bat, the Smart electric drive is quick from stoplights, with surrounding drivers (including the ever-pesky cargo-van drivers in urban Brooklyn streets) obviously surprised by the ED's quickness.

Though responsive at low speeds, ED was hampered by a top speed of just 62 mph. (Photo: The Car Connection)
Floor the throttle above 40 km/h (25 mph or so) and the response is still good, but by 60 km/h, a full throttle brings just a tepid response. Things really peter out above that, and the ED's top speed is about 62 mph.

The motor produces up to 20 kW in normal driving, but there's a 30-kW "kickdown mode" wherein the Smart gets a noticeable spurt of oomph.

The battery is just 16.5 kWh and is good for an official range of 83 miles. After one test car was driven aggressively for about 12 miles, we noticed range had dropped to about 80 percent. A 3.3-kW charger and J1772 charge connector are included with the package. With a clothes-dryer-type 220-volt outlet, it can be charged from 20 to 80 percent in three to four hours, or from completely dead to 100 percent in about eight hours.

With the help of an iPhone app specially designed by Mercedes-Benz and Daimler, owners will be able to keep tabs on the current state of charge of their vehicles, how much time is remaining until the battery is fully charged, and the location of the nearest charging station.

Electric power steering is optional on gasoline cars, but it comes standard on the electric model. Braking actually feels better on the ED than in the gasoline version; we found the brakes in the Fortwo hard to modulate in the base Fortwo, but somehow the tuning for regenerative braking smoothed it all out and made it more predictable in normal driving. The regen has several modes: a light regeneration is engaged when you take your foot off the gas, then two stronger regen modes are smoothly engaged with the brake pedal.

The electric Smart would be a good choice for an urban dwelller who does most of the driving close to home. (Photo: The Car Connection)
The surprising and delightful part about the ED is how well the whole package is integrated. The packaging is almost exactly the same as the gas version, with 308 pounds of extra weight for the electric version.

On the bumpy streets around Park Slope, Brooklyn, where we tested these Smarts, we noted that somehow, the Electric Drive rides more smoothly than the base Fortwo, with less of a tendency to tramline or get pulled aside by potholes. So maybe a little extra weight can be a good thing? And because the ED has rear-wheel drive, you don't get the torque steer at low speeds that front-wheel-drive electric vehicles are prone to.

About the only thing that we didn't like so much, at least given the constraints of this tight little package, was the noticeably loud whine when maintaining speed. There's a good deal more than we've experienced in the Mini E, which is probably the closest car to which we can compare the ED.

Plans for the Smart Electric Drive are quite limited initially. Beginning this October, Smart will
distribute 1,500 Electric Drives globally and just 250 to U.S. customers, and most of those cars will go to corporate, public and educational fleets. Mass production will ramp up beginning in 2012.

Overall, the Electric Drive is a strong piece of work for quieter, more economical, healthier and more-efficient urban and suburban mobility. It's hampered by its low top speed, but the 80-mile range should be more than enough for most needs.

It's a Smart that's, um, a lot smarter.

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