What's the news?
Smart, the city car branch of Daimler AG that you may not have heard of as its cars are not sold in Ireland at this time, has revealed not one, but three new electric cars. The Smart Electric Drive trio of Fortwo, Forfour and Cabrio will make their world debut at the Paris Motor Show next week.
The three models share the same three-phase synchronous electric motor, mounted at the rear of the cars, turning the rear wheels through a single fixed gear. The peak power of the motor is 81hp, but it's the 160Nm of torque that should make the Electric Drive Smarts feel rapid in town, as it's all available the second you touch the accelerator. Smart quotes 0-100km/h times of 11.5- to 12.7 seconds depending on body style, but we reckon the Electric Drive cars will feel quicker than that up to urban speed limits. The top speed has been limited to 130km/h in a bid to extend the range. On that note, Smart says the Electric Drive Fortwo will do 160 kilometres between charges on the combined cycle and when a new fast charger comes on stream in 2017 it'll be possible to fully charge the battery in as little as 45 minutes.
Anything else?
None of this matters to us Irish, as there are no plans to bring the Smart brand to Ireland any time soon. The Electric Drive cars go on sale in the USA at the end of this year and the rest of Europe gets their hands on the electric Smarts early in 2017. You could import one from the UK if you're really keen...