smart EMOTION

After the 1st generation (2006) of the electric smart was based on technology that was 10 years old, smart urgently needed external help. The choice fell on the then still very young Tesla startup. Today it is common knowledge that Tesla developed the 2nd generation (2009-2012) of the smart electric drive for Mercedes. What is less known, however, is that it was heavily based on the original Tesla Roadster. The first prototype of the smart ED2 's electronics even thought it's a Tesla roadster and had all its components. Including the roadster-specific on-board computer, display and 248 hp rear-wheel drive motor.

Reason enough to take a closer look at the original Tesla Roadster and its interesting history. Because not only smart as we know it today is based on his shoulders, but also the entire Tesla company. In this article I would like to bring you closer to the Roadster and therefore I spoke to David Lyons. He was Tesla employee number 12 and worked at Tesla from 2004 to 2008 as Director of Engineering for everything to do with the roadster's powertrain.

The first smarties with a battery rental contract are now turning 10 years old and in the coming months and years this of course will increase. This raises a question I'm getting asked more and more:
The 10-year rental contract is expiring and I received an offer from smart to buy a battery. Should I buy it?

In this article I would like to give you an overview of your options and of course I will also tell you how I will deal with the rental battery of my own 2013 smart.

I'm still being asked why you should buy an expensive wall box when the same thing is also available as a cheaper solution in the form of a charging brick. However, I strongly advise against this, not only from personal experience. Nowadays, mainly due to a variety of experiences from my readers and things that I have already seen over time.
Charging bricks are not called emergency charging cables for nothing and should therefore not be used as a permanent charging solution. They are not designed for this and sooner or later, in the best case, "just" something will break, in the worst case even burst into flames. This saves no money.

In this article I answer all the common questions and myths that I have come across on the subject over the past few years. At the end I will also give you a safe and inexpensive recommendation.

It was an exciting week for the smart community. Here is everything at a glance:
• The first dealer vehicles have arrived in Europe
• The smart #3 is being homologated
• Another variant of the smart #1 was shown in China
• The smart #1 scored top marks in the EU crash test

You can find all the details in this article.

So now I've had the chance to test drive the all new smart SUV. The smart #1 is already very impressive in the pre-production version and well on the way to becoming a really popular car. In this post we'll take a look at what I've experienced in 2-3 hours and why the car made me speechless.