Twist the key and you’d never know the new Smart Fortwo Electric Drive is switched on. There’s no noise, no vibration, no shudder. This utterly unremarkably first impression makes what happens next all the more shocking.
Lay your foot down on the accelerator and the car zips forth with a sound like a scalded pig, a high-pitched and prolonged “weeeeEEEEE”. The battery pack under the seats acts something like the keel on a sailboat, allowing for a frivolous, devil-may-care attitude toward cornering. Chuck the Smart into a 90-degree bend and it whips around like it’s on rails. Pitch it down an on-ramp, power through and it’s like driving a high-dollar sports car in super slow motion. Do a u-turn and you’re likely to end up facing on-coming traffic, so tight is its turning circle.
Such laugh-out-loud driving thrills should not be possible in an eco-pod urban runabout. Although, the Smart is laid out just like a Porsche 911 — rear-engine, rear-drive — so perhaps its handling prowess shouldn’t come as a complete shock.
While many major car companies have yet to make a first electric vehicle, this is Smart’s fourth. The brand’s first came along in 2007 and it was slow like a turtle. It’s come a long way since . The 2017 model feels deeply refined. It’s based on the latest gasoline-powered Smart, which was designed from the beginning to accommodate both gas and electric motors. All the positives of the regular Smart carry over — the style, the interior — but so do the negatives; there’s still only room for two and a tiny cubby hole for luggage.
There is a four-door Smart Electric Drive in Europe, but the company has no plans to bring it to North America. Annette Winkler, the head of Smart, said there’s simply no business case. Mirco-cars account for relatively few sales on our side of the world, so it’s not worth doing all the testing and paperwork required to sell the four-door here.
The new Smart ED has the same unfortunate acronym as before, but the car is slightly easier to live with, thanks to incrementally improved range and performance. For 2017 you get 81 horsepower (up from 73) and 118 lb-ft of torque (up from 96). The claimed 0-100 km/h time remains the same as before, a sluggish 11.5 seconds. But it’s the 0-60 km/h figure that’s more important for a city car. It does that dash in 4.9 seconds.
It’ll take you 160 kilometres on a single charge, up from 145, according to official EU test numbers. Smart guarantees the battery for eight years, or 100,000 km. If in that time its energy capacity degrades below 70 per cent, they’ll replace it free of charge.
Canadian pricing has yet to be announced, but the European model is cheaper than its predecessor. If that carries over to Canada, the 2017 Smart ED will be priced around $26,000 when it arrives in spring next year. It’ll be eligible for an $8,500 government rebate in Ontario, $8,000 in Quebec and $5,000 in B.C.
I used to rate the gas-powered Smart Fortwo as the most ridiculously fun city-car money could buy — if you could put up with the fact it only has two seats. The electric Smart is even better. It’s quieter, smoother, sweeter-handling and even more fun. If you can put up with 160 kilometres of range, and have a place to plug it in, you’re in for a good time.
TECH SPECS
Base Price: $26,000 (est)
Engine: 17.6 kWh battery, electric motor
Transmissions: none needed
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): Zero-litres, forever
Drive: Rear-wheel drive
Alternatives: BMW i3, Nissan LEAF, Chevy Bolt, Chevy Spark EV
RATINGS
Looks: The Electric Drive will be available as a coupe and cloth-top cabriolet. More than a Tesla, it feels like a car of the future. It’s a pod. Taken out of context, if you saw one in Disneyland, you’d think it was a part of a ride.
Interior: It’s surprisingly spacious. But to make the Smart look and feel good, you’ve got to dip into the options list. The blacked-out “sport” rims, centre arm rest, orange dashboard and some of the snazzier paint colours will all likely be extra money.
Performance: No alleyway is too narrow, no parking space too small, no u-turn too tight for the Smart car. The electric drivetrain only improves upon the Smart’s grin-inducing handling.
Technology: You’ll need some infrastructure if you decide to buy one of these. You’ll need to buy and install Smart’s wall box, which provides an 80 per cent charge in just 2.5 hours. With a regular household 120V, 12A outlet, it’ll take a whopping 13 hours to charge its battery to 80 percent. As with all electric cars, expect driving range in cold weather to be significantly reduced.
Cargo: The electric version sacrifices nothing in terms of cargo or cabin space to its gasoline counterpart. However, the trunk is still barely big enough for a week’s groceries.
THE VERDICT
8
The street-legal go-kart your inner child always wanted.