SMART first mentioned of this little tyke of a scooter at the 2010 Paris Motorshow will be making an appearance soon, as one of three models lined up for SMART’s e-Mobility range having previously showcased the SMART ForTwo Electric Drive and eBike. Now here’s SMART’s little electric scooter for what looks to be a single seater.
Daimler has outfitted what we will call the ‘SMART eScooter’ with a 48V lithium-ion battery pack stored just behind your feet, which provides the needed electrical juice of 4kW (5.4bhp) to the electrical motor at the rear-wheel.
The eScooter will be capable of whisking you away before topping out at 45kmh, perfect for that run to a favourite nearby ASTRO-equipped ‘mamak’ to catch-up with your mates for some ‘footie’ action perhaps.
The socket for recharging has been located at the front, just behind the SMART logo, and is apparently able to connect to your usual household socket, requiring between 3 and 5 hours to charge up, which should be able to provide you a range of 100km.
The eScooter’s utilizes and combination of steel and aluminium, which happens to follow SMART’s usual choice of materials for its construct and during its conception, SMART engineers (excuse the pun!) have provided a storage compartment beneath the seat (which is able to fold out and back for a pillion) that’s capable of fitting either 2 half helmets or a single ¾ or full-face helmet.
Best of all, the eScooter allows for smartphone integration where the rider is able to place their favourite gadgetry on an inbuilt holster located right between the handlebars. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without a host of apps being made available to the young new owner, which helps to act as a speedometer with range indicator, charge-point finder, GPS tracking device (for when you forget where you’ve left the e-Scooter) as well as a turn-by-turn navigation system.
SMART also made sure a host of safety items got crammed into the little eScooter making it seem as though it meets EuroNCAP safety standards (just joking) with the inclusion of ABS, Blind Spot Assist and an AIRBAG!
As usual, the right handlebar is where the front brake lever is located which activates the front hydraulic disc brake, but other than merely stating the obvious, what happens is that the electric motor at the rear goes from propulsion to generator duty as the rear-brake gets an electrical signal to engage, thereby recuperating some electrical charge back into the lithium-ion battery. There’s even a small solar panel discreetly mounted at the front of the eScooter as well for such recuperating duties.
So as small as it is, the eScooter doesn’t come cheap, especially when it’s been packed big time on options that puts it at the half-way mark for a 600cc sport bike in America, ie. It costs USD5,000. But regardless of pricing, SMART’s definitely injected a huge dose of the cute-factor well into the eScooter’s DNA for 2014.
