There’s now a smarter and electric way to drive in the US as the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive makes its debut in the country.
The vehicle will be part of a programme launched by Smart USA Distributor LLC that will place electric drive vehicles with partners in select regions of the US. The company will deploy around 250 of the vehicles across the country and target key electrification leadership cities and Department of Energy grant areas. Companies, municipalities, organisations and individuals will all be included.
Smart Fortwo Electric Drive.
The fleet of 250 vehicles will begin arriving in October and is the second phase of a three-phase roll-out that started with the placement of 100 electric drive units in London in 2007. That was followed by phase two which sees 1,500 cars produced for cities in Europe, the US and Canada as well as selected markets in Asia. Phase three is the series volume production.
Each of the vehicles arriving in the US will be a full electric Smart Fortwo Electric Drive. The cars are powered by a 30kW drive motor and include a 16.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack that takes around three and a half hours to charge from 20 to 80 per cent of its capacity – a full charge takes less than eight hours. The vehicles can reach highway speeds and offer a range of 82miles.
Consumer sales will begin in 2012 with the 2013 model year; while partners for vehicle placements will be announced later this year.
