The Smart Fortwo electric drive vehicle will begin large scale production at its plant in Hambach, France, in 2012.
Daimler AG had already announced it would begin limited series production of around 1,000 units of the Smart Fortwo electric drive at Hambach this November with the vehicles to be provided to customers participating in a number of mobility projects in major cities in Europe and the US.
However, under the latest plans, the Smart Fortwo electric drive will be produced in “significantly larger volumes” as of 2012 as part of the Smart portfolio, and will be sold through its sales network.
The announcement was made by Dr Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. He said that the Smart Fortwo electric drive would prove that emission free driving in an urban environment is already feasible and he believes that the parent plant in Hambach will set the course both for series production of electric vehicles and for the future of the plant.
It is expected that Daimler will invest a double-digit million Euro amount at the Hambach plant to produce the vehicle with a lithium-ion battery. This is just the latest step in Smart’s progress in the electric vehicle sector, the company having begun testing electric drive systems in 2007 in London and one year later introducing a second generation with a more advanced electric drive and a lithium-ion battery.
The second generation of the vehicle accelerates from 0-60km/h in 6.5 seconds and has a maximum speed limited to 100km/h to make it suitable for the city.
