Smart EQ ForTwo

The Smart EQ ForTwo is a cool micro-EV for the city

Overview

The Smart EQ ForTwo is available in two formats: Coupe and Cabrio. We look at the Coupe version below.

Smart is part of the Mercedes-Benz Group and has been around for a while now.

These are really tiny city cars, with plenty of panache and style. They are the ultimate ‘park anywhere’ vehicle, now with zero emissions.

Read our quick review for essential stats on battery range, charging costs and speeds, dimensions, boot space, efficiency, performance, and more.

Smart EQ ForTwo Price, Trims & Variants

The price of the Smart EQ ForTwo Coupe starts at £22,225 for the base Premium trim, and goes up to £23,375 for the top spec Exclusive trim. Here are all the variants:

Trim / Variant	Price	Drivetrain
Premium	£22,225	Rear-wheel-drive
Exclusive	£23,375	Rear-wheel-drive

Range & Batteries

How far can you drive on a full charge of the battery in the Smart ForTwo? In ideal conditions, you should be able to achieve the official ‘WLTP’ range in miles. However in winter, for example, electric car batteries don’t perform as well, and actual range will be lower.

This table shows both the more optimistic WLTP range, and a rough, more likely ‘average’ range for the various versions of the Smart:

Trim / Variant	Battery (useable)	Average Range	WLTP Range
Premium	17 kWh	66 miles	81 miles
Exclusive	17 kWh	66 miles	80 miles

Efficiency

We are all used to ‘miles per gallon’ of petrol or diesel when thinking about efficiency in traditional cars. With EVs, you need to replace ‘gallon’ with ‘kWh’. 1 kWh = 1 unit of electricity. So the ‘miles per kWh’ measure tells you how many miles you can go on 1 kWh of electricity – the higher the number the better.

Here’s data for the ForTwo Coupe, together with an equivalent in miles per gallon (yes, electric cars really are that efficient!):

Trim / Variant	Efficiency (electric)	Efficiency ('MPG')
Premium	3.91 miles per kWh	156 miles per gallon
Exclusive	3.86 miles per kWh	154 miles per gallon

Charging Times & Costs

If you have off-street parking, the best and cheapest place to charge your Smart ForTwo is at home. Depending on your home energy tariff, you’ll either charge at a standard flat rate or at a lower off-peak rate. The 0-100% charge times below are a ‘worst case’ scenario – typically you will charge 1-2 hours a day, or maybe go for a longer charge on just a couple of days a week.

Charging at Home on an Off-peak rate of 10p per kWh

Trim / Variant	Charge Time 0-100%	Cost per mile
Premium	2 hours 18 minutes	2.6p
Exclusive	2 hours 18 minutes	2.6p

Charging at Home on a Peak rate of 34p per kWh

Trim / Variant	Charge Time 0-100%	Cost per mile
Premium	2 hours 18 minutes	8.7p
Exclusive	2 hours 18 minutes	8.8p

The Smart ForTwo isn’t capable of so-called ‘DC’ charging. This is a kind of EV charging you normally use on trips, when you stop to charge at say a motorway service station, and want to get miles back into your car quickly. You’ll need to stick to AC charging when you are out and about, as shown above.

Performance

The Smart, like all pure electric cars, has its wheels turned by one or more electric motors. The motors themselves are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Battery + electric motor is a great combination, giving you instant torque with no gears to change.

You’ll find the ForTwo Coupe eerily quiet after an internal combustion engine. Here are the performance stats:

Trim / Variant	Top Speed	0-62 mph
Premium	81 mph	11.6 seconds
Exclusive	81 mph	11.6 seconds

Boot Space & Dimensions

The Smart ForTwo is a hatchback, and its boot space can be further increased by folding the rear seats down. Here are all the boot and dimensions measurements:

Boot Space & Cargo Volume

Trim / Variant	Boot Space	Cargo Volume (seats down)
Premium	260 litres	350 litres
Exclusive	260 litres	350 litres

Dimensions

Trim / Variant	Length	Width	Height
Premium	2695 mm	1663 mm	1555 mm
Exclusive	2695 mm	1663 mm	1555 mm

Next Steps

We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief analysis of the Smart ForTwo Coupe. We’ve focussed mainly on potentially unfamiliar electric car related items, such as batteries, range and charging.

Where to next?

1. Narrow down your EV search in a systematic way using our Car Selector tool
2. Read more about the ForTwo at Smart’s UK website
3. If you’re ready to go, consider leasing the Smart ForTwo from a low-cost broker