Who has been following smart eMotion for a while, knows that the smart electric drive has no problems with high mileage. My own smart ED3 reached the 200,000 km in November 2018 and still has 90 % of it's battery capacity remaining after 2,000 cycles.
At that time I already predicted that it would not be the HV technology that's going to eventually quiet its service. Was I right? What broke in the last 200,000 km?
At first I would like to thank Oliver and his wife for this phenomenal achievement:
We have been in contact since 2016 and I had the honor of getting to know the vehicle and driver personally at a German road tour in 2017. Of course, I am very pleased that they have contacted me when they reach the 400,000 km mark and provide me with an update to their car.
I would especially like to thank Oliver's wife, Jana owns the smart and since Oliver has gotten into the kilometer fever, she only rarely sees the car. Usually only when it is empty and busy charging again. But she takes it with humor, the little one is loved by the family.
What happens between 200,000 km and 400,000 km?
This post is an update to my experience after 200,000 km. Here is everything that happened in the record-breaking period of 200,000 km to 400,000 km. At the end of this post I will link the detailed report of first my 200,000 km.
In fact, it is the undercarriage that had to be replaced:
- Coupling rods
- Bearing rubbers of the stabilizers
- Wheel bearings
- Motor mounts
All components are rather cheap, even more extrapolated to the mileage.
It should also be mentioned that the battery is unfortunately been replaced. Not because it ran out of capacity, but because his HV contactors broke. That was back in 2017, unfortunately smart only replaces the entire battery, not the contactors individually. Meanwhile smart eMotion can replace the contactors without having to replace the entire battery. (Blog-Post: smart ED3 17.6kWh battery repair (feat.P18051C))
All in all, the small car continues to do very well. Reliable as on the first day and still in good condition all round. Still using the first brake disks and shoes, similar to my over 200,000 km old smart, the disks have some rust. When they have to be replaced, it's because of their age, thanks to regenerative breaking they hardly wear out. Jana's smart even has the regen paddles. With their help, the regen is even stronger and the brakes wear even less.
Even after 400,000 km, the smart ED3 is still a first-class fun mobile, perfect for mastering the daily routine. In particular, this is even a convertible, so it is even more fun than the coupe. And also because the convertible top has not caused any problems at all.
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