Thanks to the product roadmap that Mercedes-Benz released October last year we know that the Smart EQ fortwo/forfour facelift will arrive at the end of this year. However, only recently, increasing rumors suggest that the unveil will happen in September at the IAA (International Automobile Exhibition), which is the world’s largest motor show.
Considering that in 2020 Smart will completely stop selling the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) variants, the facelift is essential to make the electric variants appealing enough to make sure that the ICE won’t be missed.
The smart vision EQ fortwo concept gives us some clues on what to expect.
smart vision EQ fortwo
For the facelift I expect the previously announced 30 kWh battery for more range, LED headlights, some efficiency tweaks (slight aerodynamic improvement) and a better price. Let’s not forget that at around the same time, Volkswagen will bring the electric city trio VW e-up 2.0, Skoda e-Citigo and Seat e-Mii with a WLTP range of 270 km for roughly 20.000 euros.
I think that the new smart EQ fortwo/forfour and the VW electric triplets will be the first electric cars that we can really call affordable without being dismissive of the general population – that can’t afford a 30.000-40.000 euros car.
Moreover, I still hope that soon enough we’ll add to that list the Renault Twingo ZE – that has been continuously postponed since 2014. If the new generation Renault ZOE gets the 600 km NEDC range – planned at least since 2015 -, the lower range and more affordable Twingo ZE could be sold without cannibalizing ZOE’s sales.
What do you think that Smart needs to make the upcoming transition to all electric successful?
