Articles

The time had finally come, smart presented the #1 in its final version.

All key data on the brand's first SUV can of course be found at smart eMotion. Also, don't forget to comment below. I'll be at smart tomorrow and I'll have an exclusive demonstration of the vehicle. Of course, I'm also happy to ask your questions.

smart confirmed in its last press release that the smart #1 will be presented in April. Also, very detailed photos of two prototypes were leaked last night.
Reason enough to summarize what we can expect from the production car.

Today you don't just buy a car, today you buy a complete mobility concept. Smart knows this as well and therefore takes the next logical step:
The brand not only announces that the production version of the smart #1 will be presented in April 2022, but also how they intend to integrate charging into the customer experience.

The electric drive powertrain is clearly superior to the combustion engine. No question.

However, this is now causing a real hype, which is probably why there is currently a bubble. The underlying phenomenon is not new, history is full of examples from which we can learn: I am thinking of the Dot-com bubble of 2000 and the Video Game Crash of 1983-1985.
In this article I would like to explain to you how I come to this conclusion. I will also show why this will shake up the sector sooner or later and why it will not harm it in the long term. Actually, quite the opposite is right: The bursting of the bubble will clean the market again and make it even more consumer-friendly. But until then, some caution is required.

In the last weeks we have learned how Nicolas Hayek failed with his swatch car at Volkswagen and that Daimler Benz has been working with Professor Johann Tomforde on a similar project since the 1970s.

The following article is about how the two joint their forces between 1992 and 1998 to make the dream of an electric city car a reality. After the swatch group and Daimler Benz had found each other, it was time to turn the projects of the two companies into a joint car.

Last week we learned that Nicolas Hayek failed with the swatch car at Volkswagen. After that his path would lead him to Daimler Benz. A microcar project was already underway there, which fitted perfectly with Mr. Hayek's ideas.

But how did it come about and what did the first drawings from 1969 look like?

The man behind the article is Professor Johann Tomforde. In this article you can find out how his diploma thesis became the smart fortwo 30 years later.

There will be a smart fortwo again. At least smart never get tired of emphasizing this on a regular basis. But what could this look like? An smart eMotion reader asked himself this question and decided to draw a sketch. He posted his thoughts in the forum.

Together with my thoughts on this, I would like to fantasize about the next smart fortwo with you in this article.

It was a long way before smart delivered the first production car in 1998. We all know the story of how Mr. Hayek came from swatch and wanted to build the infamous swatch car. A small, fully electric two-seater whose name the smart fortwo still bears in common parlance today.

But how was it really?

Over the last 5 years I have collected everything possible, written together and thought about it. This has now become the trilogy of the smarts story. The first part is about how Hayek's swatch car failed at VW. In the next two weeks I will then go into how it went on after that.

Today, smart announced the name of their beacon of hope. They also show how the all-electric SUV performs in winter at - 40°C and proudly present the results from the wind tunnel.

What is there to consider with the battery of the smart ED4? What can go wrong there? Can this be repaired? In the following article I will guide you through the battery and show what you can do and what the general topics are.

What does the battery of the smart ED4 actually look like? What happens in it, how is it a new development compared to the ED3 battery and why is it called the E18-2evo, not just the E18-2?
In the following teardown I show you the entire battery and explain with many pictures what is where and what it looks like.

smart Germany announced in a press release that they will have around 100 locations across Germany and that these will become an integral part of the sales network. What the brand imagines by that will be explained in the following article.

It was presented as a study at the IAA last year and the new smart SUV is scheduled to arrive at the end of this year. Now the first photos of a prototype have been posted on one of China's largest social networks. What there is to see and my thoughts on it are in this article.

It is common knowledge that all modern electric cars can charge with Type 2 or Type 1. This is a standardized plug that works across manufacturers.

But what exactly is it that makes it so special? How does it work and why did Mennekes take the trouble to develop it instead of simply charging all cars with a household socket? I would like to outline that in this article and if you want to go deeper, you will find many links to the smart eMotion Wiki. With the documentation there, you can effectively build a wallbox yourself or use it to build a tester to check wallboxes and charging stations.

But don't worry, the article itself is very general and shows even beginners how it works.

Today the new model year 2022 was introduced. With it, smart is consistently moving towards restructuring the company and getting rid of its "legacy".

They had already told me at the IAA that smart wants to bring the Concept # 1 presented at the IAA onto the market as soon as 2022. They were able to take most of my skepticism about the tight schedule and now I can show you how serious they mean it.

These days smart applied for a patent for the production version of the Concept # 1 and for this they also had to show pictures of the final car.

Martin from from Germany, the land of poets, thinkers and bratwurst. It was with this sense of humor that he set out to go on a 5,200 km road trip through nine countries across Europe with his smart Brabus electric drive convertible.

What he experienced on his trip and his travel recommendations can be found in this blog post.

Smart, weren't they sold to China? They don't build the fortwo anymore, the plant was sold. What are they doing now, wasn't there an SUV?

The world has changed in the last 20 years and smart is now changing too. Smart is rebuilding, reinventing itself. But what does that mean and what are the biggest hurdles now?

It was the year 2012 and my parents didn't know any better: They had ordered our first smart ED and did not order the 22 kW charger. It's expensive and you don't need it in a city car anyway. That was their though

How often have we been bothered about our wrong decision in the meantime. But that is finally over. A few weeks ago I retrofitted the 22 kW charger in our smart and I would now like to tell you how you do that and what it costs.

A few weeks ago I noticed that the clock on the on-board computer of my smartEQfortwo is exactly 2 hours behind and that I cannot change anything. I take this as an opportunity to talk about software in modern cars and what impact it has on premium vehicles. Ultimately, things come full circle and it becomes clear why smart will focus on the vehicle's operating system in the future.