smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

No, it’s not available commercially in Malaysia, and even if it was, it would easily cost more than a C 250 CGI. The smart fortwo electric drive seen here is actually making a stopover in the country – the Singaporean-based vehicle is in town courtesy of its appearance at the recent 1st Malaysian-German Sustainable Automotive Mobility Conference 2011, which was organised by the Malaysian German Chamber of Commerce.

You can however catch the car in the metal, if that be your sort of thing, over the weekend – the fortwo electric drive is on display at the Highstreet zone of 1 Utama shopping centre, and it’ll be there until Sunday.

smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

A bit about the car, for those who don’t know what it’s all about yet. The second-generation fortwo electric drive is equipped with a 30 kW permanent magnet motor offering 120 Nm of torque, and driven by a single-speed fixed gear ratio transmission.

The car’s water-cooled 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, which is housed between the axles and occupies the space where the fuel tank is located in a conventional fortwo, is good enough to give it an operating range of 135 km. Which won’t quite take you from KL to KLIA and back, but ample enough for light-duty in-town use.

smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

The 148 kg battery – made by Tesla Motors – has a full recharge time of eight hours, juiced via a household socket, but if you only need to do around 30-40 kilometres of travelling a day, the vehicle only needs to be charged for three hours.

And if you putter around at the average 25 to 30 km/h that smart says is normal in city traffic, the fortwo electric drive can go for around four to five hours continuously before it needs to be recharged.

smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

Other performance figures for the 890 kg rear-wheel drive fortwo include a 0-50 km/h (yes, you read right, half a century) time of 5.8 seconds (or if you prefer, a 0-60 km/h time of 6.5 seconds) and a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

As you’d expect, due to the cost and supporting infrastructure limitations, there aren’t that many fortwo electric drives about – the few thousand examples worldwide are in the hands of selected customers, with leases offered for a period of four years and 60,000 kilometres. In the case of this example, it’s part of a EV case study being conducted by the Singaporean government.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Fiction hero on Oct 28, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    This is future car but sadly it wont be in Malaysia, enough for a week from my house to my office which is 9km per journey.

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  • Ahmed on Oct 28, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Nice baby car but not practical due to the cost . Concept car boleh la . For expensive than a 250 cgi ……. Becoz this not production car la . Display for shiok ? Unbelievable .

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jimmy on Oct 28, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Will the car’s operating range gets shorter and shorter with repeated battery charging?
    What about with repeatitive short-duration charging eg. 3 hours?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Nice but according to Fifth Gear, this car is only suitable for city commute… nothing else.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • you are new or what?smart cars are all meant for city usage…..not a car for you to balik kampung or go highway…just like myvi…only poor malaysian can’t afford a better car and drive their myvi for highway cruising…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • catdog on Oct 28, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    Jadi tren masa akan datang? Mungkin 10-20 tahun lagi…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Kelvin on Oct 28, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    There are a few of those running around in my city under the car2go project.

    www.car2go.com

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  • 123GO on Oct 28, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    electric car will debut around end of 2013 (base on what BMW told me). Thats the reason why they showcase their electric car nowadays to lecture and embed some knowledge on these E-products.

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  • wallstreet on Oct 28, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    Just forget about this stupid electric car until they can come out with a REAL long lasting battery with minimum charge. Charge for hours and only commute for 100 or so km will only contribute to more pollution than a normal petrol engine. Imagine the amount of fossil fuel burn just to charge for such a short range. Not to mention the really weak hp and torque. For now, battery operated vehicle should just stay at the golf course.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Masked Ryder on Oct 31, 2011 at 10:46 am

      Nama je wallstreet, tapi mentality cam lorong haji taib.

      1st of all the technology of EV Car are improving every year, Japan has already come out with fast charging battery which can be fully charged in 30 minutes, even the China BYD have fast charging capability, remember mobile phone used to be a large as a briefcase in the 80’s cost RM16K ? 20 years later it shrunk to a size of a match box n cost less than RM 1K?
      Just because it need 6-8 hours of charging doesn’t mean it burn more frossil fuel, it the “Voltage” that count (switch on ur ceiling fan for 8 hours consume less than switch on air cond for 1 hour).
      Frossil fuel cause multiple pollution, 1st u need tanker truck to transfer the fuel to individual station, then when as u drive yr car u burn the fuel thus more pollution.
      Yes ! fuel is use provide electric power for EV too, but u transfer electric power using cable (not diesel tanker truck), EV have zero emission so zero carbon foot print, beside solar power can be used to charge the station in future.
      U r like living in a era of kereta lembu & kuda refuce to accept modern car will replace those animal power carts.

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      • littlefire on Oct 31, 2011 at 12:08 pm

        Sorry, but i think European diesel hybrid really own those Japs petrol hybrid system… As even diesel powered engine also manage to do better compare to EV or petrol hybrid system in term of maintenance & cost.. (remember paul team test the diesel powered ford focus?) With the bio-diesel already launched, why not built the best diesel engine+hybrid?

        http://paultan.org/2011/05/02/ford-focus-tdci-1365-5-km-done-on-one-tank-of-diesel/

        Autocar also have 1 article between polo bluemotion vs civic hybrid.. Just go read it..

        The only thing EV is good, is no emission and that 1 really admit it is greener.. While for petrol hybrid, is something like 50:50 which is not the best it is category.. As diesel engive been proven to go for better mileage compare to petrol cars.. Why not give it more longer distance if add hybrid system on it?

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      • blue-traveler on Oct 31, 2011 at 12:52 pm

        haha, you got mine vote tumbs up. I just remembered my dad’s 1st moblie phone, like a brick, cost a bomb and have to insured it. Now a days handphone have fast charge up to 80%. Give it a few more years, (I don’t think need anywhere near 20years) these cars all have fast charge up to 80%, and even at 80% it would have around or more than 100miles driven time.
        If you have the time, google Japan home zero e projects, there are a number of them. And most come with a ev car which they charge from home, of which is powered by a combination of PV and NG, or some other combination. So technicality the ev car is free from fossil fuel, mst of the time. But these are still ongoing project.

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  • honda kia on Oct 29, 2011 at 12:16 am

    don forget that electric car has no tax. it will cost around 120k if brought in.

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  • Rosmah on Oct 29, 2011 at 11:09 am

    They still don’t get it. If you can’t afford fossil fuel, ride a bicycle or take a hike.

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    • Well.. if we don’t have constant storms and heat waves, I’ll gladly do it.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Dwen Rasid on Oct 29, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    very cute, this car ….

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  • ah ben on Oct 30, 2011 at 9:21 am

    speedometer sampai 160. tp real max speed just 100 km/h..LoL.

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  • Thumbs me up ! on Oct 31, 2011 at 9:45 am

    If this version do come out in kl, I’d buy it over any other Mercedes for under 200grand. I’m desperately In need of a smart. I just love it.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • three_pointed_star on Nov 03, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    this car have been sold in europe and us and it is successful. next stop is asia!

    pickup is very good for electric car, but top end at a constant speed gasoline is still the champion. thus some of us may pick hybrid better

    i have made rough calculation, it is true it cost as much as 1/3 of normal gasoline fuel. between charges you can consider a tank of a motorcycle lah

    we might distance ourself from these pure EV just because the technology is still expensive. or else I also want to try…

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