Smart FORTWO ev
Green motoring isnt always as straightforward as it might at first seem. While legions of publicity-seeking celebs have lined up to get themselves behind the wheel of Toyotas Prius hybrid vehicle, the whole life energy output associated with building the Prius and running it are about the same as that of a conventional vehicle. Smart has a different take on environmental matters. Not only is the latest smart ev fully electric, with no petrol engine component at all, its also the first commercially available vehicle that claims to be 100 per cent carbon neutral.
How can smart claim to pull off this trick? Its really quite simple. Firstly all of the carbon dioxide emissions generated in the production and logistics chain of the smart ev are measured and reduced where possible with the remainder being offset through a combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry projects. The net result of this is to save and absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide for every tonne the smart ev produces. Although it at first sounds like marketing gimmickry of the worst sort, further investigation reveals that smart are deadly serious.
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At the same time that smart unveiled the ev, Land Rover were announcing a carbon offset scheme aiming to offset over two million tonnes of CO2 over a pilot period that runs to the end of 2008. Make no mistake - these companies arent doing this out of guilt, social responsibility or the goodness of their hearts. They see this as a potential money spinner and are looking to forge a competitive advantage as soon as possible.
"The smart ev makes Toyotas Prius look about as environmentally friendly as a Humvee"
Smart are out of the blocks quicker than anybody else with the ev (Electric vehicle), a car that can manage a range of up to 72 miles between charges. Exempt from vehicle excise duty and the London congestion charge, it sets a new benchmark in the electric vehicle sector. Dont think of this as some sort of shrunken milk float. With its 30kW power output, the ev can accelerate to a top speed of 70mph, more than enough to keep up with the cut and thrust of city streets.
It actually offers sharper acceleration off the line than its petrol counterpart, the enormous torque of the electric motor pack getting it to 30mph in just 6.5 seconds. The British part of the package comes courtesy of the Zytek Group which undertakes final assembly of the vehicle in Fradley, near Litchfield. As the MD of Mercedes Car Group points out: "A market trial of the smart ev is a significant step for the Mercedes Car Group as it is an important part of our commitment to sustainable mobility. We expect to deliver up to 200 units in this market trial phase and will work with corporate partners to find suitable applications for the ev, and with green energy suppliers to deliver zero emissions from well to wheel." Those corporate partners are already not backward about coming forward. Direct funding for the smart ev pilot has been allocated from Cenex, an initiative funded by the DTI as a centre of excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies. Customers looking to take advantage of the pilot scheme have also appeared and include Knight Frank, a Central London estate agency which is looking to lease ten vehicles, Lloydspharmacy, another founding client of the ev project, and the CityCarClub, which currently operates 200 club vehicles in 12 city centres around the UK and has earmarked the smart ev for use within prestige residential developments in central London. Refurb-A-Sash are also looking to replace their existing smarts with electric models as part of an environmental commitment that has also seen them install a wood recycler thats used to heat their headquarters.
The electricity saved will be used to power their fleet of smart evs. Its not just the capital that will benefit from the take up of this electric vehicle. Local authorities have also expressed interest and Middlesbrough and Milton Keynes are both looking to integrate smart evs as part of their sustainable transport agendas. Otherwise, its the usual smart fortwo recipe one which features a surprisingly spacious interior, a pair of decently proportioned seats and not a whole lot in terms of luggage capacity.
As an urban transport solution, the ev has few peers. The way we all use our cars isnt very smart. On average, most cars on European roads carry just 1.2 passengers and 80% of them in urban areas are occupied by the driver alone.
Nearly half of Europes registered cars travel less than 20 miles a day or around 7,000 miles a year. And, as we all know, the vast majority of journeys are short and for leisure or non-work-related purposes. On top of this, cars tend to spend 90% of their time parked or stuck in traffic jams. As the number of passenger vehicles grows due largely to the increase in solo households (young people, singles or older people without children) so too does the demand for parking spaces.
In just a few years, the face of urban motoring has completely changed and the market now seems right for electric vehicles to take a small but significant chunk. The smart ev doesnt take up a whole lot of room on congested streets. For the record, its 2.5m long (two feet shorter than a MINI) and 1.
45m wide. The electric motor is mounted under the boot and the battery packs are charged from mains 240v current at a socket that sits inside the cars fuel filler cap. In the quest to arrive at a sustainable form of motoring, we will doubtless pursue many dead ends. Perhaps this is one of them.
Its difficult to tell without the benefit of a crystal ball but for the time being at least, the smart ev is going to make sound financial sense to a number of clients looking for a cost-effective urban vehicle on lease terms. Is this The Answer? Probably not but as an answer its as good as weve got at the moment.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: smart fortwo ev
PRICES: leasing rates to be finalised
INSURANCE GROUP: tba
PERFORMANCE: 0-30mph 6.5s / Max Speed 70mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: range up to 72 miles
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, ABS, Trustplus, ESP
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 2500/1515/1549mm
