% Still only half-powered 3kW level 2, and no level 3 charging %
http://thechronicleherald.ca/wheelsnews/1292035-smart-ev-is-perfectly-‘safe’-fortwo smart EV is perfectly ‘safe’ fortwo Richard Russell | June 9, 2015 [image http://thechronicleherald.ca/sites/default/files/imagecache/ch_article_main_image/articles/B97466750Z.120150609144753000GIA9ROD5.11.jpg The 2015 smart fortwo EV. (Richard Russell) ] Let’s get the big issue out of the way right off the top — safety. Without fail, the first comment people make upon encountering a smart is that they would not want to be in a crash with the diminutive car. Size wins out; it always has and always will. A train will clobber a big truck just as a big SUV would knock the smart for a loop. Nobody has been able to change the laws of physics. What is more important is what happens to the occupants inside the car. smart engineers (pun intended) at Mercedes developed the Tridion safety cell. Just as the shell protects the egg or the inside of a nut, the Tridion cell looks after the two occupants of the smart. Mercedes refers to it as a hard shell with a soft interior. Looking very much like the safety roll cage of a race car, the reinforced, high-strength steel Tridion safety cell is a barrier between you and everything ‘out there.’ In the event of a crash it evenly distributes the forces, greatly reducing or eliminating the harmful effect of any single one. The tiny car is also equipped with the latest array of safety features including ABS with electronic brake force distribution, stability and traction control as well as hill-start assist. In the first milliseconds after a crash, the smart automatically shuts off the engine, activates the flashers and unlocks the doors. Seat belt tensioners, belt-force limiters and a collapsible steering column come into play as required, along with airbags. Mercedes knows a thing or two about airbags, having invented them in 1981. It has continued to lead development in the interim. The smart has eight full-size airbags, including front, knee, side impact and side curtain bags. Occupants are cushioned top-to-bottom and side-to-side . The bottom line here is that in crash tests conducted by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), the smart was awarded the top rating of ‘Good’ in side impact, moderate-overlap frontal-offset and roof-strength tests. In whiplash protection from rear impacts, the design of the head restraints was given the second best of four ratings — ‘Acceptable.’ I have driven thousands of kilometres in the smart here at home, in Germany, New York, Ontario and above the Arctic Circle in the depths of winter. Never did I feel unsafe — tossed around a bit by high winds and tractor trailer rigs as in some other vehicles, sure. But unsafe? Never. But I did encounter a severe case of range anxiety in the test vehicle, a pure electric smart. Mercedes says it is capable of travelling 110 km on a full charge. I say hogwash! Perhaps in an ideal world with a slight tail wind on a perfectly-flat surface with no ancillaries running. I set out for the airport — a 50-km return trip — from my heated garage where the smart had been plugged in for a day and a half. The charge indicator showed 100 per cent. It was a cold, rainy, spring day with plenty of wind when I arrived at the airport 25 km later — it showed 40 per cent remaining! I could try to find a plug at the airport and wait around for a few hours to get a charge, or head back home — at a considerably reduced pace, ever mindful of the shrinking charge. I made it with less than five per cent remaining and a vehicle I could not use the rest of the day. Needless to say, the smart EV does not like long trips, headwinds or hills. What it does like is urban driving with ample opportunity to return to or park at a charging station. Under such conditions it sparkles. Instead of an engine, the smart fortwo EV is motivated by a 55kW electric motor powered by a 17.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The motor produces 47 horsepower; 74 in burst mode for a few seconds. It takes a leisurely 10.5 seconds to reach 100 km/h. from rest. But for the critical first few metres and seconds, the motor’s 96 lb-ft of torque allows you to keep up with traffic away from a traffic light. Smart says the battery can be recharged from a Level II (240-volt) outlet in six hours. Doing so from a common 120-volt outlet requires 16 hours. The necessary cables and plugs are contained in a package in the SMART’s relatively large cargo area. And speaking of large, that Tridion safety cell provides a great amount of head and legroom — more space than you would expect looking at the car. There is a useful eight cubic feet of space beneath the hatch and with the passenger back seat folded down, room for long items. Driving a smart EV is just like driving one with an engine — with slightly more power and acceleration and lack of sound! The little devil scoots about the city with ease, silently. You can drive it as you would any other vehicle — with an eye on the charge state. The electric motor sends power to the rear wheels. It does not have or require a transmission. The shift paddles on the back of the steering wheel do not control gear ratios, but rather the amount of power regeneration when slowing. The steering is pretty much without feel, but direct and light. The brakes are strong and relatively progressive with only a slight notch when the regeneration system comes into play to capture the heat generated, so it can be converted into electricity and sent to the battery pack beneath the floor. While some people may avoid scrutiny when parking, this little thing makes a joke of it. Merely 2.6 metres long, it fits where others — all others — do not. The ride, not surprisingly, is rather choppy — after all the wheelbase — the distance between the front and rear wheels - is short, very short. It is also light, so crosswinds and large vehicles travelling in the opposite direction tend to toss it around a bit. But the standard electronic stability control all but erases any worries on that front, helping maintain an even keel. At $27,000, the smart EV is not cheap. But standard equipment includes air conditioning, remote keyless entry, power windows, locks and mirrors as well as heated seats. In many provinces, other than Nova Scotia, there are incentives that lower that purchase price considerably. The smart EV goes up against some pretty impressive small cars that offer more room, range and practicality but, as thrifty as they are, none of them can avoid gas stations. This quiet little two-seater is a great city dweller. The specs 2015 smart fortwo electric drive Price: $26,990 base, $27,235 plus freight Engine (motor): 55kW electric motor, 74 horsepower, 96 lb-ft of torque Transmission: none Length: 2,695 mm Wheelbase: 1,867 mm Weight: 900 kg Competition: Mitsubishi MiEV, Nissan Leaf Options: Crystal white paint and leather steering wheel with shift paddles, $250; nine-spoke white alloy wheels, $295 [© thechronicleherald.ca] For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-27k-2015-Smart-is-perfectly-safe-fortwo-0-100kph-10-5s-tp4676343.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
