Much more than showing how he uses his electric Smart Fortwo, Michel wanted us to pay tribute to this model as the brand has transformed. A request as original as the life of our reader.
Preamble
Readers have asked me several times to produce interviews with electromobilists presenting an average French profile. I think I don’t know how to do it. Until I was almost ten years old, I grew up in the same town of Rouher de Creil, in Oise, as Big Brother Pascal Soetens. Then to the Saint-Jean plateau in Beauvais.
In addition to a great diversity of origins, there was also a great social diversity in these areas in the heart of the seventies that we no longer necessarily find today. We still exchanged our particularities there, often without conflict. In class, we only noticed or talked about our differences: skin color, origin of names, diet, parents’ profession, household composition, make and model of the family car when there was one.
As a result, today I only notice what constitutes the inner wealth of each person. Average French people? I don’t see any. For me, there are only people who each have interesting differences to tell. With Michel, 73 years old, living in Tarbes, I am served. After traveling quite a bit with his parents, he settled for around thirty years in Tahiti where he worked as a commercial executive in music.
Switching to electric
Our reader is also a very particular lover of cars: rather small, but unusual. And this, from the start, with a Mini pickup in the 1970s or an Autobianchi Abarth. When he allows himself a compact, it’s still a rarity: a Fiat Ritmo 105 TC that youngtimer enthusiasts today classify as fun driving models.
Now he is on his second Smart Fortwo: “ I really like very well finished little cars. The Smart I bought in 2017 was a gasoline model. I kept it for 3 years. It was already a very nervous car that got going quickly. Two of us went with her to our Pyrenees mountains. I have never had any problems with this model which I consider very reliable. ».
Then he moved on to the trendy version of this car made in France, in Hambach (Moselle): “ My sons told me that for my short trips, the electric Smart would be perfect. I’ve had it for three years. It retains its 2.69 m length which makes it easy to park in the city, even in the other direction. ».
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A remarkable and wonderful car
Michel is so satisfied with his electric Smart Fortwo that he only has two words to describe everything: “ outstanding » et « formidable “. Braking? ” It is remarkable for its power “. The driving ? ” Tremendous ! As soon as I tested this car I was sold! “. The handling? ” Outstanding ! ».
The interior? ” Terrific, with very comfortable leather seats, a bit bucket-shaped like in sports cars and with high backrests that hold your head very well. They benefit from a more generous width of 10 cm compared to the petrol version that I had before ».
In short, our reader is under the spell of this car: “ Visibility is very good and the glass roof brings lots of light inside. I appreciate the alerts which tell me through a little music that I am approaching a bend too quickly and the red square on the dashboard which warns me that I am too close to the vehicle in front of me ».
Usage
The former professional in the musical world wanted the best: “ I have a top option model, with 6 airbags and the JBL audio system whose huge bass speakers are housed in the trunk “. However, he did not need the 22 kW AC charger: “ I have never plugged my Smart anywhere other than at home, on the reinforced Green’Up socket that was installed for me free of charge when I purchased the vehicle. From 11:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. the next morning, I take advantage of off-peak hours to recharge it two to three times a week ».
In a day, he rarely travels more than 30-35 km: “ This is for example to go to a family home in Marquerie located 14 km from my home, to see the doctor or to run errands. By removing the tablet in the trunk, there is enough space to store bags “. In approximately 3 years, the electric Smart Fortwo’s odometer has increased by only 23,000 km.
Michel sometimes makes longer journeys: “ I can take my car to go to Lourdes, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, or Pau. Beyond that, we take the DS 3 [NDLR : 11 ans et 40 000 km] essence of my wife “. Pau is the city furthest from home which he reaches with his Fortwo EQ. A distance of approximately 45 km separates them. According to the WLTP mixed cycle, the range of this car is 135 km: “ Most of the time I drive in Eco mode. Except sometimes to have fun starting off quickly in front of the big cars at a light that has just turned green. It can be annoying. But then I no longer have my 150 km of autonomy ».
Starting price displayed: 30,000 euros
The starting stake could appear high: “ The price of my electric Smart Fortwo was around 30,000 euros at the Mercedes dealership near me. By deducting the bonus of 7,000 euros and the trade-in of 6,000 euros for my old Smart gasoline, I ultimately only had to pay 17,000 euros. My thermal Fortwo was quickly bought back. I liked shifting gears with the paddles on the steering wheel. ».
In use, the electric version is very competitive: “ Every year I save 100 to 150 euros for insurance and around 200 euros for maintenance “. And for energy? Michel told us that doing 1,500 km costs less than 25 euros in Eco mode, or around 1.66 euros per 100 km. His previous petrol city car consumed 6 liters for this same distance.
Which gives, with a unit price of 1.93 euros verified as of September 6, 2023 on the government website dedicated to fuel prices, an amount of 11.58 euros. For 8,000 km traveled per year, the energy saving is 926.40 (80 x 11.58) – 154.40 (80 x 1.93) = 772 euros. Which gives a little more than 1,100 euros saved each year including insurance and maintenance.
Anecdotes
Concerning the Smart Fortwo in general and its electric one in particular, Michel has plenty of anecdotes. Starting with the only problem he encountered in three years with his car: “ The GPS was getting stuck en route. Reset attempts were unsuccessful. After a year, the device was changed for free. It seems that this is an isolated problem: the dealership has never encountered the phenomenon ».
He thinks ” that there are still around twenty thermal or electric Smart Fortwos in circulation between Tarbes and Pau » : « We still see first generation models that work very well ».
He still laughs at this policewoman who arrested him “ thinking he was driving a car without a license. His colleague disabused him by telling him that, on the contrary, the electric Fortwo is a machine that can start very hard “. He also sees again, in Paris, “ the arrival of a dozen Smart cars of all colors at a red light ».
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End flap
Where our reader neither laughs nor is moved is on the change made within the brand: “ It really bothers me that future Smarts will be made in China. We no longer see Fortwos at the Mercedes dealership that maintains mine. They told me this car is no longer sold ».
For him, the two-seater electric city car is “ ideal for young couples, but also for older people like me who travel less and less. I went to see this car at a car show. I have followed its story since the project of Nicolas G. Hayek, inventor of the Swatch watch ».
To be more precise, the Smart Fortwo was born from the meeting of two trends. The first dates back to 1981 with the Nafa concept presented by Daimler. At the end of the same decade, Nicolas G. Hayek hoped to duplicate the recipe for success that brought his watches to a small mass-produced car. These two trends merged in 1992 with the creation of Micro Compact Car AG. A first prototype of a two-seater city car with electric propulsion quickly emerged. The 3-cylinder gasoline engine only appeared six years later with the Smart City Coupé.
Destined to become trendy
The Smart Fortwo was destined to become hip. That is to say trendy, but also by embedding an electric powertrain. The subject returned in 2006, with mass production three years later. It is then supplied with energy by a Zebra sodium-nickel chloride battery. Lithium-ion chemistry arrives with a new generation of Fortwo marketed in 2012.
In a fledgling market, it occupied fourth place in the sales table for the following two years, behind the Renault Zoé, Nissan Leaf and Bolloré Bluecar. The figures are then modest, respectively 478 and 509 copies. The Forfour also becomes available in an electric version in 2017, in a range called Electric Drive, or ED.
A first for a manufacturer of thermal vehicles, the Smart Fortwo, Fortwo Cabrio and Forfour are only available in an EV version from 2020. To achieve this, they inherit a new designation – EQ – also used at Daimler for its battery models. . The same year, Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding created their joint venture Smart Automobile Co., Ltd responsible for radically changing the face of the brand.
What Michel strongly hopes for today, “ it is that the concept of the Fortwo is taken up by another manufacturer ».
Automobile Propre and I thank Michel very much for his testimony and his availability.
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