► Updated Smart city cars
► All run on electric EQ power
► On show at IAA 2019
As planned, Smart has committed to making all of its cars run on electric power only. Its latest all-electric versions of the ForTwo and ForFour city cars will make their debuts at the 2019 Frankfurt motor show.
The updated models are expected to go on sale in the first few months of 2020, undercutting the likes of the Honda E and Mini Electric on price.
Is it happy or angry?
Depends, but it still looks like a Smart. The ForTwo has a V-shaped grille, while the ForFour has an A-shaped one. The idea is to add some extra differentiation in the front design to set the models apart. Beyond the door count, obviously. Full LED headlights and concave squirlcle rear lights are new, too.
Inside, little has changed but Smart points to a new centre console and a fresh infotainment which ‘purely relies on the seamless interaction with mobile phones and their computing power.’ The idea being that Smart’s, millennial customers with smartphones attached to their hips will connect instantly and allows for new apps to work ‘immediately’ if installed. See also: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
There’s also a theft recovery system that sends a push notification to your smartphone if the car leaves a ‘geofenced’ area, and its ‘Ready to’ services mean you can car share, find where you parked it and find out if what you’re about to pack in it will fit – all via an app.
Electric power, you say?
Yup, and it’s now your only choice. Smart has been gearing up for a while to make its range EV-only, with the US the first to experience Smart canning its ICE cars in 2018. Before it canned the entire range there: Smart is being pulled from the market Stateside due to sales not justifying the homologation cost.
But for Europe a 17.6kWh battery pack is paired to a synchronous e-motor making 80bhp and 116lb ft. It’s still not that fast; it takes 11.6 seconds for a ForTwo and 12.7 seconds for a ForFour to sprint to 62mph. Still – a Smart is about nipping around town. Top speed is 81mph.
You can eke out up to 98 miles of range in the ForTwo or 95 miles in the ForFour. Smart says the ForTwo and ForFour’s optional 22kW charger with fast charging capabilities means an 80% charge can be done in around 40 minutes.
Check out our Smart reviews