smart the first European importer to bring a fully electric vehicle onto the Chinese market

smart fortwo electric drive to be launched before the end of the year

Stuttgart, 25-4-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — With the new smart electric drive, the smart brand is further expanding its leading position in the field of urban mobility. The Stuttgart-based company will soon be bringing fully electric motoring to China, its third-largest market, where the smart fortwo electric drive will be available before the year is out. This means that smart will be 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. In Germany, the electric smart established itself as the market leader among battery-electric vehicles within a very short space of time.

Dr Annette Winkler, Head of smart says: „smart has conquered the hearts of our Chinese customers by storm – they appreciate and love smart because it is the perfect city car. By bringing the smart electric drive to the Chinese market we will be the first European importer to introduce a fully electric vehicle in China. Again we are proving our role as the global pacemaker of urban mobility. Our numerous forward-thinking clients in China will be enthusiastic about the smart electric drive`s fabulous driving dynamics.”

Urban mobility without any local emissions
Zero-emission motoring with even more driving pleasure – that’s what the new smart electric drive promises. All thanks to its powerful drive technology: with 130 Newton metres of torque, the 55 kW electric motor leaves other cars behind when pulling away at traffic lights, passing the 60 km/h mark in less than five seconds. And with a top speed of 125 km/h, the two-seater is also well equipped for urban motorways – a lithium-ion battery with 17.6 kWh provides enough energy to cover a range of 145 kilometres.

Produced at the Hambach plant in France, with an energy accumulator developed by Deutsche ACCUmotive (a joint venture with Evonik) and an electric motor from EM-motive (a joint venture with Bosch), the electric smart is a true European.

In 2012, more than 1000 smart electric drive models were produced and delivered to customers in Europe. This year, production of the electric drive will be stepped up continuously in order to satisfy the high demand from customers all over the world.

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.

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