Smart ForTwo ED to Enter Production This Fall Using 2nd-Generation Electric Drive
By Scott Doggett August 20, 2009
Second-generation all-electric Smart ForTwo ED minicars will start rolling off a production line this November at the factory in Hambach, France, parent company Daimler AG announced today.
Daimler says that unlike its predecessor, the second-edition zero-emissions Smart ForTwo ED (pictured) is fitted with an innovative and highly efficient lithium-ion battery housed in a space-saving position between the axles. That "means that space is not compromised in any way in the intelligent two-seater vehicle," the company said.
That's a big deal, Daimler and Smart salespeople are fond of saying, because one of the major selling points of the vehicle is its size. At only 98.4 inches long, the vehicle is shorter than the width of most curbside parking spaces, allowing two or three ForTwos to park in a space intended for a single car.
What they usually don't mention is that this type of parking has been banned in Munich, amongst other European cities, and such parking in parallel-designated spaces is illegal in most American jurisdictions. But the vehicle's size often permits the car to be parked in legal parking spaces in which few other models could fit.
A 30-kilowatt (40-horsepower) electric motor is housed at the rear of the new ForTwo ED and provides "for good acceleration and high agility" with 88.5 pound-feet of torque that's immediately available.
By good acceleration the company means 0-60 kilometers per hour in 6.5 seconds, which equates to a respectable 0-36 miles per hour in the same amount of time. A 0-60 mph time was not available.
Daimler says the ForTwo ED can be charged at "any normal household socket" and says that in Germany, a full battery charge costs approximately $3 and is sufficient for a range of about 69 miles from the Tesla Motors-sourced 14-kilowatt lithium-ion battery.
It was unclear, and no Daimler was immediately available to confirm, if by "normal household socket" the automaker meant 110-volt outlet (standard in the U.S.) or 220-volt outlet (standard in Europe).
The availability of the new ForTwo ED will initially be limited to leased customers in Berlin and other cities in Europe as well as some American cities for real-world testing in tough everyday conditions. Daimler says that from 2012, the ForTwo ED "will be available to anyone interested."
In related news, the American-spec 2009 Smart ForTwo today achieved the "strongest roof" rating among competing minicars in tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
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