3 reasons why the Smart fortwo EQ is the best urban electric car

The Smart fortwo EQ offers outstanding conditions for urban driving. These are the reasons why you should consider buying it if you are looking for an electric car to get around the city.

The Smart fortwo EQ is one of the most suitable electric cars for city driving. In fact, we could say that its qualities make it the best in its class in urban environments. Here we explain the three reasons that confirm it as the definitive urban electric car:

1. Outstanding practicality in the city

The compact dimensions of this Smart fortwo EQ make it a vehicle with outstanding manoeuvrability. Its 2.69 metres in length are especially welcome when parking in the city. It is hard to find spaces where this car won’t fit.

How many times have you found a small gap between two cars where you wished you could fit yours? Countless times… right? With the fortwo EQ you will rarely have to keep looking, the car fits almost anywhere. Sometimes you can even park it at right angles to the other cars parked in a row. The advantages of being the shortest car on the market…

But its limited proportions are not its only virtue when parking. Added to this is its remarkable turning circle: the car can make a full turn in a very small space, specifically 6.9 metres. The car practically turns on its own axis, which makes parking manoeuvres child’s play.

If we add to this the excellent visibility offered by its wing mirrors and the privileged view provided by the rear-view camera, we are undoubtedly looking at the most manoeuvrable vehicle in the city.

2. Range: more than enough for the city

The Smart fortwo EQ offers an official range of 160 km, a figure that can be achieved if we drive efficiently, and that allows us to drive without worry in urban environments.

The car has a 17.6 kWh battery capacity, small compared with the other electric vehicles coming onto the market (between 25 kWh and 60 kWh), but the great virtue of this car lies in its ability to consume very little in urban environments and at an eco-friendly pace.

If we drive efficiently, the car shows its best version as far as range is concerned. However, if we abuse the accelerator pedal, the car turns into a very different vehicle. In this case, it shows its more performance-oriented side, but consumption multiplies considerably. The range can drop by half or even more in that case.

In any case, the key point is that the car achieves its highest consumption efficiency in the city, and that if we moderate the acceleration of this “little one” a little, we will achieve very suitable consumption figures that will let us drive without worrying about range.

It is important to mention that the car consumes considerably more on the motorway, but this does not mean we cannot take it onto the motorway from time to time. We just need to keep in mind that the car is not designed for such journeys and that the range will drop by approximately 30%, as long as we drive at a maximum of 100-110 km/h; above this speed, consumption rises quite a lot.

The car includes a 7.5 kW charger that allows the batteries to be charged to 80% in 6 hours from a standard socket (230V 12A). There is also the option of charging the car in 3.5 hours via a Wallbox (20A).

3. Good performance to get off the line first at traffic lights

Small but tough. The Smart fortwo EQ accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds, but the figure that really matters is the 0-60 km/h time (4.9 seconds), since that is the range in which you will mainly be moving around the city. In short, if you floor the accelerator of the Smart fortwo EQ, you will be pressed back into your seat for a few seconds.

Although the car has an electric motor that produces only 81 hp and 160 Nm of torque, its limited weight (1,085 kg) and its instant torque delivery (a common characteristic of electric cars) make it a vehicle that is very quick off the line at traffic lights.