Electric fortwo sales begin

Smart’s fortwo electric drive has gone on sale in the UK, with two ownership routes available.

The first is simple outright purchase, which sees the coupé and cabrio versions priced at £20,395 and £21,895 respectively. However, with the Plug-in Car Grant that’s currently available, those amounts are cut by £5,000 to a more acceptable £15,395 and £16,895.

The second, called ‘sale&care’, reduces the purchase price because the battery pack is rented separately for £55 per month. Under this scheme the coupé is £12,275 (after the government grant has been applied), while the cabrio costs £13,400.

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Coupé (2013) Front Side

Based on the existing ‘passion’ trim grade, the fortwo electric drive comes with a decent specification. Included as standard are 15” alloy wheels, electric windows, air conditioning, a trip computer and satellite navigation.

Among the options is a £155 sound module that’s designed to help prevent pedestrians wandering into the path of the silent fortwo. Also being offered is a £600 design package, which consists of a green finish for the tridion safety cell and door mirror caps, white bodywork and wheels, green cabin accents and black upholstery.

Performance from the fortwo electric drive should be more than adequate for urban use, as it will hit 78 mph (125 km/h) and - more importantly - have a range of up to 90 miles (145 kilometres).

Fully recharging a totally depleted battery takes seven hours, although customers can order an optional 22 kW onboard charger. Costing an extra £2,650, it slashes that recharge time to just one hour when using a public quick-charging station.

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabrio (2013) Rear SideSmart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabrio (2013) Side

The fortwo electric drive undoubtedly lowers the entry point for zero-emissions motoring. But will it appeal only to electric car aficionados, or might some other drivers be converted from their internal combustion engines? For many, that’s probably going to depend on a number of factors such as purchase price, running costs and likely use patterns.

Don’t forget, the petrol-powered fortwo passion mhd is significantly cheaper at £10,275, plus it achieves up to 67.3 mpg (4.2 l/100km) while emitting less than 100 g/km of carbon dioxide. And then there’s the £11,475 diesel version which, with figures of 85.6 mpg (3.3 l/100km) and 86 g/km, boasts even greater efficiency.

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