One of several new electric cars and concepts at last week’s Paris Motor Show was the electric version of the second-generation Smart minicar. As Smart pointed out, it’s the only maker that offers the option of gasoline or electric power trains in every model it makes.
Those are the For Two two-seat coupe, the For Two cabriolet with its roll-back cloth roof, and the Europe-only For Four four-seat hatchback. The new Smart was a joint development between Daimler, which owns Smart as well as its flagship Mercedes-Benz brand, and the Renault-Nissan alliance.
So the new Smarts share underpinnings with the latest generation of the Renault Twingo minicar sold in Europe. That means the Twingo joins the Mitsubishi ‘i’ of 10 years ago and the Smart For Four as one of the very few small five-door hatchbacks with rear-wheel drive.
Renault’s reason, as further explained by CEO Carlos Ghosn during a joint press session with Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche at the Paris Motor Show, was that volumes on the Zoe weren’t high enough to justify a smaller vehicle that would essentially compete with it.
“We had already a number of electric cars on the Renault Nissan side,” Ghosn said, “and the take up was slow, so a further widening of the portfolio with the Twingo was not warranted.” And yet, as it turns out, there’s a little bit of Renault in the Electric Drive versions of the various Smarts.
The Renault Nissan Alliance announced last week that the electric motors for all Smart Electric Drive vehicles would be manufactured at the Renault plant in Cléon, France. The batteries for the electric Smarts are produced by Daimler, using the same cells as it relies on for the expanding portfolio of plug-in hybrid Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Source: greencarreports.com
