Smart fortwo electric drive to be launched in China by year’s end

Daimler’s smart brand will bring the smart fortwo electric drive to market in China by year’s end, becoming the first European importer to sell a fully electric vehicle on the Chinese market. The Chinese government has now given the green light for approval of the zero-local-emission runabout.

The new smart electric drive is powered by a 17.6 kWh Li-ion battery pack and a 55 kW electric motor delivering 130 N·m (96 lb-ft) of torque. Acceleration from 0-60 km/h (37 mph) takes less than five seconds; range is 145 km (90 miles).

The smart fortwo electric drive is produced at the Hambach plant in France, with a battery pack developed by Deutsche ACCUmotive (a joint venture with Evonik) and an electric motor from EM-motive (a joint venture with Bosch).

In 2012, more than 1,000 smart electric drive models were produced and delivered to customers in Europe. smart is now represented in 46 markets worldwide with the brand most recently introduced in Russia. In addition to Germany and Italy, China is one of the smart’s main sales markets, with sales there increasing by 43.8% in 2012.