[masterjorn]

I’ve been wanting to get a smart for a bit. I’ve been looking for months to see what my first car would be (first car hype!) And while the smart may not be the most versatile choice, I just can’t think of choosing anything else, I fell in love with it xD.
So I wanted to get the ED, because I don’t feel like paying $3.70 a gallon for gas (Southern California).
So my choices are the ED 3 (451), and the ED 4 (453). While the 453 is newer, and supposedly more reliable, I just love the 451’s design better. But the thing holding me back from the 451 was the RIDICULOUS charging time (8 hours on level 2!?!), and the slightly shorty real world range.

What I want to know is, is the charging time actually that bad? I can live with the slightly shorter battery, but that 8 hour charging figure basically kills any chance of me taking it more than 60 miles.

Thank you for reading this!?
-Jorn

 

[mcowher]

I recently got my 451 ED down to about 5.5% battery left (according to the OVMS Module, which I highly recommend), It took 5-1/2 hours on my garage Level 2 charger to get it back to 100%.

They can be found for a steal right now. I bought my 2016 with about 27,000 miles on it for $8,000 plus tax, title and fees.

Right now, there's a 2016 with 12,000 miles on it for $6,000! I love my car, expecially after putting in an Android Head Unit in place of the factory FM/AM radio. And adding an armrest and cruise control module.

 

[mcowher]

Also...if you are on city streets and stay below 45 mph, you will get closer to 90 miles on a full charge. Maybe even 100 miles.

Looks like there is a great deal near you:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/791430715/overview/

 

[masterjorn]

I s

Also...if you are on city streets and stay below 45 mph, you will get closer to 90 miles on a full charge. Maybe even 100 miles.

Looks like there is a great deal near you:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/791430715/overview/

Thank you! I saw that one. Your input was fantastic! I can deal with 5 1/5 hours charging time, and that range is a lot better than I thought!

thank you so much, andcongrats on your smart!
-Jorn

 

[mcowher]

I s

Thank you! I saw that one. Your input was fantastic! I can deal with 5 1/5 hours charging time, and that range is a lot better than I thought!

thank you so much, andcongrats on your smart!
-Jorn

If you want advice on replacing the stock radio with an Android Head Unit, let me know.

 

[smark]

Buy the 453 EV, it has a battery warranty. The 451 doesn’. Replace the radio head with a unit, that has Apple car play.

 

[OliverB]

Buy the 453 EV, it has a battery warranty. The 451 doesn’. Replace the radio head with a unit, that has Apple car play.

Wonder how many 453 EDs were imported to the U.S. Slightly less than 10k ICEs hit our shores.

 

[masterjorn]

Buy the 453 EV, it has a battery warranty. The 451 doesn’. Replace the radio head with a unit, that has Apple car play.

That’s what I’m planning on. But for double the price of the 451, this is going to be my first car, so I don’t want to go overboard with the price.

 

[Kevin Rowell]

That’s what I’m planning on. But for double the price of the 451, this is going to be my first car, so I don’t want to go overboard with the price.

I bought a 2016 with 24,000 miles on it about 2 months ago for $7,500 delivered to my house. It had 11 months left on the factory warranty. Not, that it would it be easy to get to a reaming service center. l don't regret it, well except the $200 additional fee Arkansas charges to register an EV each year... grrr. My commute is about 45 miles per day, most days my L2 charge takes 3.5 hours with about 40% left in the battery. It's costing me $0.84 cents a day for energy + $1.00 to the state (I work about 200 days a year, so....).

I had a 2009 Brabus when they came out and kick myself for selling it. The 2016 is just about the same car. 453's are newer and have more warranty left. The nearest service center to me is a 6 hour drive, so I'm not sure how much that really brings to the table for the extra price. Stick with a 451, they are a great value right now. There is a risk, but I think the odds are very much in our favor.

 

[Kevin Rowell]

... and cruise control module.

Mcowher what did you use for a cruise control module? I didn't know you could get on for the ED. Also, I ordered an ovms last week, can't wait to play with it

 

[mcowher]

I bought it from MisterDotCom for 322.69 EUR (about $355) shipped. The kit I bought uses the existing control arm so you don't need to swap it out. And it saves you some money over the SmartMadness kit, which is $499.

The product link is MisterDotCom Cruise Control, but your best bet is to email [email protected] and tell them you would like to buy Article Number MDC10516.4. They sent me a Paypal invoice and I paid for it that way. I also added the armrest (MDC10214) to my order for another 100 EUR. Much better pricing than SmartMadness.

 

[RickyM]

I have a 2016 smarty electric with only 5000 miles on it I’m selling due to moving. I have it listed on this website. Pretty much like new house it’s never been parked in a parking lot so no door dings plus it’s always covered.

 

[masterjorn]

I have a 2016 smarty electric with only 5000 miles on it I’m selling due to moving. I have it listed on this website. Pretty much like new house it’s never been parked in a parking lot so no door dings plus it’s always covered.

I’d take you up on that. But I’m not buying right now. I don’t even have a job yet xD. It’s going to be about 1-2 years before I buy one. I’m just trying to get all my eggs in a bunch to make the buying process easier when I am In a position to buy one.

Thanks for the offer though!

 

[Jim007]

I’ve been wanting to get a smart for a bit. I’ve been looking for months to see what my first car would be (first car hype!) And while the smart may not be the most versatile choice, I just can’t think of choosing anything else, I fell in love with it xD.
So I wanted to get the ED, because I don’t feel like paying $3.70 a gallon for gas (Southern California).
So my choices are the ED 3 (451), and the ED 4 (453). While the 453 is newer, and supposedly more reliable, I just love the 451’s design better. But the thing holding me back from the 451 was the RIDICULOUS charging time (8 hours on level 2!?!), and the slightly shorty real world range.

What I want to know is, is the charging time actually that bad? I can live with the slightly shorter battery, but that 8 hour charging figure basically kills any chance of me taking it more than 60 miles.

Thank you for reading this!?
-Jorn

I’ve got (2)2013 smarties and I put $24 in mine to fill it up and get between 400-500 miles on a tank one that has 13000 miles gets a little less mileage then the one with 75000 miles but one was wrecked and was looking for junk one for parts and came across an electric one for 1000. With bad battery. Well I thought I would just get a battery and drive that, well the battery cost $20000.00 to replace. So keep that in mind when you want a electric one.

 

[Smart car]

I’ve been wanting to get a smart for a bit. I’ve been looking for months to see what my first car would be (first car hype!) And while the smart may not be the most versatile choice, I just can’t think of choosing anything else, I fell in love with it xD.
-Jorn

Welcome to the forum masterjorn,
I can say that I LOVE My smart ED 451 and hope it lasts 10 more years or more! It is my little toy and fun to drive!
We own two electric cars, one being the Smart ED and a Chevy Volt that my wife drives daily on Electric only and we put $3 in gas twice a YEAR to keep the engine cycling.
Now in my humble opinion the choice to go electric is not for everyone,
The distance you commute, the location you have to charge, how early you leave to work, how late you stay out, if you have a "FREE" charger at work etc..
I chose the Smart because
1: I commute 14 miles one way to work.
2: I get home with 53 miles remaining and my car has all night to charge at level 1
3: We have the Volt for road trips and longer errands.

I will add that I have driven it 60 miles with the A/C on and hit the RED state of charge and it did not reach full by morning on level 1 but I had 49 miles to go to work and back (28 miles)

So if you drive more than half the battery daily, the cost to install level2 plus the electric bill plus the short life on the car all add up to an EV costing you more than gas at $3+

 

[masterjorn]

I’ve got (2)2013 smarties and I put $24 in mine to fill it up and get between 400-500 miles on a tank one that has 13000 miles gets a little less mileage then the one with 75000 miles but one was wrecked and was looking for junk one for parts and came across an electric one for 1000. With bad battery. Well I thought I would just get a battery and drive that, well the battery cost $20000.00 to replace. So keep that in mind when you want a electric one.

Yea, I’ve accepted the fact that the battery’s will die. But most of the time, lithium car batteries are very resilient to time. So I have a fair amount of trust that the batteries will last me a good while. At least until there’s a good ev alternative to the smart in the US, rip smart .

Also, I’m a big tech head, and I just think electric cars are cool, so I’m whiling to compromise to get that “cool” factor every time I get in my car.

 

[masterjorn]

Welcome to the forum masterjorn,
I can say that I LOVE My smart ED 451 and hope it lasts 10 more years or more! It is my little toy and fun to drive!
We own two electric cars, one being the Smart ED and a Chevy Volt that my wife drives daily on Electric only and we put $3 in gas twice a YEAR to keep the engine cycling.
Now in my humble opinion the choice to go electric is not for everyone,
The distance you commute, the location you have to charge, how early you leave to work, how late you stay out, if you have a "FREE" charger at work etc..
I chose the Smart because
1: I commute 14 miles one way to work.
2: I get home with 53 miles remaining and my car has all night to charge at level 1
3: We have the Volt for road trips and longer errands.

I will add that I have driven it 60 miles with the A/C on and hit the RED state of charge and it did not reach full by morning on level 1 but I had 49 miles to go to work and back (28 miles)

So if you drive more than half the battery daily, the cost to install level2 plus the electric bill plus the short life on the car all add up to an EV costing you more than gas at $3+

I live in a semi-urban area, it’s sort of converting from a rural area to an urban, and I’m stuck in the middle of it. But that means that any commute that I’d make is generally under 20 miles both ways. The longest i have to go in a year is 40 miles to my grandparents house for Christmas. So i know that the smarts range (both the 451 and the 453) would be adequate.

And as for prices of gas vs ev. I don’t see the prices of gas getting lower here in Cali, their probably going to get higher, so I want to get on the ev train before that happens. Not to mention any ev gear I buy, I can just use on the next car I get, so It seems like a decent investment to me : )

 

[Yinzer]

What I want to know is, is the charging time actually that bad? I can live with the slightly shorter battery, but that 8 hour charging figure basically kills any chance of me taking it more than 60 miles.

-Jorn

In my normal use, were the SOC only rarely goes below 30 percent, my charge time has never been longer than 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Also, after a bit more than 4 1/2 years and 36k miles/58k km of use, the battery pack has degraded about 6%. No noticeable loss of range.

 

[MineCooky]

I've got them both, a ED3 and a ED4. To be honest, both got there advantages. That's why I've wrote a blog post about that topic:

smart ED (2013) vs. smart EQ (2018)

 

[masterjorn]

I've got them both, a ED3 and a ED4. To be honest, both got there advantages. That's why I've wrote a blog post about that topic:

smart ED (2013) vs. smart EQ (2018)

Wow! This is a very comprehensive guide! This was extremely helpful, ill be sure to look back on it when I'm ready to buy!