We drive the fourth-generation Smart EV in its natural big-city environment
Electric-only in North America From now on, the only new Smart car you can buy in North America will be electric. There may be a few of last year’s gasoline-powered models still in dealerships, but when they’re gone, they’re gone. Fortunately, the 2018 Smart Fortwo electrics have bigger and faster-charging batteries, so they have greater range than before – good for about 120 kilometres in real-world driving on a full charge. By Mark Richardson ▲
Fourth-generation electric The original Smart Fortwo electric car debuted in 2007, and the new 2018 model is already the fourth generation of its technology. Its styling is tweaked slightly, but it’s still instantly recognizable as a Smart. ▲
120-km real range I drove the cabriolet version around Geneva for an afternoon. The official range is 155 km on a charge. That’s five kilometres less than the hardtop version, but the convertible weighs about 30 kg more. With air-conditioning and headlights and all the other drains on the battery, that will give a realistic range for comfortable driving of up to 120 km. ▲
2.5-hour fast charge The onboard charger on the new Smart is a 7.2 kW unit. This is big enough to charge the empty battery to 80% of its capacity in about 2.5 hours, if it’s plugged into a 32-amp Level 2 charger. That’s the equivalent of a 240-volt household washing machine socket. It will take about 13 hours to charge from a regular 120-volt socket. ▲
Faster in Europe The European version of the Smart has a smaller onboard charger, just 4.6 kW, but it will be replaced next spring with a 22-kW unit that can provide the 80% charge in about 45 minutes. It’s not compatible with North America (we use single-phase power while Europe uses three-phase), so we won’t get such fast charging – yet. Technical progress is swift with all electric cars. ▲
Gasoline, too, in EU Europe will still get new gasoline-powered Smarts, as well as the larger Smart ForFour, because there’s still a big demand there for them. In Canada though, the electric models accounted for one of every three Smarts. even back in 2014. ▲
Global popularity The Smart is still very popular in the rest of the world – its largest markets are Germany, Italy, and China, and the makers sold more than 144,000 cars last year, which was a record. It’s not been such a big seller in North America, though, where we like more size to our cars. ▲
Car2Go staple Sales of the Smart have been helped by its visibility in the popular Car2Go fleet, which is now the largest car-sharing organization in the world. Smart EVs have driven more than 35-million km since their introduction to the Car2Go fleet. ▲
Going electric doesn’t come cheap The new Smart EV is considerably more expensive than the gasoline-powered Smart. The hardtop EV, seen here, will cost $28,800 and the cabriolet EV will cost $31,800. This is an increase of almost $2,000 from the previous-generation EV, and about $10,000 more than each of the gas-powered Smarts. ▲
Subsidies key to sales Provincial rebates will make all the difference to sales in Canada. Only three provinces offer subsidies though: Ontario ($8,500), Quebec ($8,000) and British Columbia ($5,000). Don’t expect to see many Smarts anywhere else in Canada until either more rebates are offered or the price comes down. ▲
Money talks everywhere Rebates help sales considerably in Europe, too. When Spain, for example, offered a rebate of 5,300 euros on EVs, sales of the Smart jumped from 40 a year to more than 1,000. ▲
It’s no powerhouse The little Smart is not a fast car, like some peppy EVs. Zero-to-100 km/h takes about 11 seconds, and top speed is 130 km/h, which is slightly faster than the previous generation. The 17.7 kWh battery creates 60 kW of power – the equivalent of 82 horsepower and 118 lb-ft of torque. ▲
Street-smart agility The Smart is exceptionally agile in the city, though. Its turning circle of 6.95 metres seems not much bigger than a dime. Its 96-cell battery is contained under the floor between the axles, so the centre of gravity is very low. ▲
Battery life guaranteed The battery is guaranteed for eight years, or 100,000 kilometres. ▲
Paint is key to ID The new electric Smarts can be easily told apart from the older gas-powered Smarts by the painted blaze most of them carry on the back of their bodywork. The radiators also come painted in different colours, too. ▲
Quasi convertible As before, the roof of the cabriolet can be pulled back to be open like a large sunroof, or folded back entirely and the two roof support bars removed. ▲
Day-use storage room The roof support bars stow easily in the compact trunk. This doesn’t leave room for much else, but there’s space for a couple of small bags back there. ▲
Staggered seating The two seats don’t sit exactly side-by-side – the passenger seat is set back a few centimetres. This stops elbows from banging into each other in the compact cabin. ▲
Improved instrumentation The instrumentation is improved for this fourth-generation model, with clear gauges to show range and energy consumption. Smart estimates that in Europe, the average Smart EV driver covers 35 km in a day, so range anxiety for city commuting shouldn’t be too much of a concern. ▲
Smart regeneration The new Smart uses a radar system to monitor traffic around it, and to determine how much regeneration of the battery should be created when you take your foot off the throttle. There are five different settings, selected automatically. If there’s no traffic, the Smart will coast almost like a regular car, but in heavy traffic, it will apply maximum engine braking to boost the battery. ▲
Two driving modes There are two driving modes: Regular and Eco. When the Smart is in Eco, it softens the throttle response, cuts back the maximum speed, chooses maximum energy recuperation and even turns down the air-conditioning, all to save power and increase range. ▲
Right-foot eco bypass The Eco function can be bypassed, if extra acceleration is needed, by just pressing hard on the throttle. Do this and the little car will surge forward, though not as rapidly as a BMW i3 or Chevrolet Bolt. ▲
Pre-heated or pre-cooled Like all electric cars, you can set the Smart EV to warm or cool its cabin at a predetermined time while it’s still plugged into a power socket. You can also do this with an app on your smartphone. This makes the car ready to go without sapping any of its range. ▲
At home in the big city In Geneva, the newest Smart Fortwo EV seemed right at home. It will probably find a popular home in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but less so in provinces where there is no rebate. ▲
Another step in the EV evolution It’s come a long way in the last decade, though. Perhaps another 10 years from now, electric vehicles could be mainstream and gasoline-powered cars the exception. Every year marks another small step in the EV’s evolution. ▲
Keyword: 2018 Smart car goes all-electric in North America