smart EMOTION

smart emotion is the core of the smart electric drive community. Here you'll find everything about the fully electric brand.

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Battery rental contract expires after 10 years, what now?

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.
Moritz L.
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Charging bricks are a fire hazard, get a wall box

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.
Moritz L.
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First test drive with the #1 - Comfortable and mature

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.
Moritz L.
Like 8

smart #1 features in detail

smart deliberately kept the equipment lines of the smart #1 very clear. Nevertheless, in the press release and on smart's own website, they are anything but clear. That's why I dealt with it and cleaned up the entire spectrum for you. In this article you can find out what great features are already available from the base and everything else.
Moritz L.
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smart ED3 17.6kWh battery repair (feat. P18051C / bricked BMS)

The battery of the smart ED3 very reliable and robust, however, it still can fail some times. In the following I would like to list everything that is available and how to repair or replace it:
  • Desiccant cartridge
  • Bricked from an accident
  • Deep discharge (P18051C)
  • Current sensor
  • Battery cells & module replacement
  • HV contractors

You will also find useful additional information on how to prevent these defects. Should something break, you can find suitable used parts in the Shop, there you will also find…
Moritz L.

Retrofitting the 22 kW charger

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.
Moritz L.
Like 6

Tune the smart EQ and Twingo ZE to 95 PS and > 140 km/h or simply make it regenerate more

Some readers asked for it and now the time has finally come: With the support of smart eMotion, Steinbauer developed a tuningkit for the smart EQ. I have been using the finished product since two weeks now and of course I would like to tell you how it handles.
Anyone who knows the 4th generation smart electric drive, knows that this little city runabout has already an incredible acceleration coming from the factory. Between 0 - 50 km/h, it's faster than almost everything that everyday life has…
Moritz L.

Repairing an electric smart car

The 3rd generation smart electric drive is a very robust car. Usually it reaches 200,000 km without any noteworthy problems, neither it's high-voltage technology nor general.
For workshops, there is hardly anything to do that they are not familiar with from normal cars already. The high-voltage technology is practically maintenance-free and things like brakes, steering and suspension are nothing new for them. With this blog post I want to take away the fear from the independent workshops of…
Moritz L.

smart ED3 17.6kWh Battery - Accumotive E18-1 Teardown & Analysis

The Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co. KG has set a major milestone with the E18-1. With the first made in Germany battery cells that where used in a series production vehicle, they build a battery pack, that's truly developed and made in Germany. For 2012, it's performance date is impressive:
  • Continuous output: 42 kW (2.4 C)
  • Peak power: 63 kW (3.5 C)
  • Energy content: 17.6 kWh
  • Nominal voltage: 400 V
  • Weight: 175 kg

The battery pack can be cooled and also heated via a fluid based thermal management. It…
Moritz L.

22kW Charger - BRUSA NLG664 Teardown & Error Analysis

When Brusa brought their NLG663 back in 2012 to the market, they where the first company to build a 22kW charger in series production. Back then, other manufactures where only able to fit 11kW in the same volume. The smart ED3 was the first electric vehicle to be equipped with it. A special feature of the 22kW charger is its high efficiency and its quiet operation, it also has a galvanic isolation between mains and HV battery and is VDE certified. That's also why it's being used in the 2.000 PS…
Moritz L.