I have a 2013 electric smart car that developed a very strange (bad ) odor. I can smell it (and my smeller doesn't work very well). Car was closed up and water vapor was on the windows (in other words damp inside). Battery had gone down from about 50% to 18% (I hadn't driven it in a few day but still should not have gone down that much!!) Light on gear shifter was on (showed it in park) which was odd. Looked all around inside and could see nothing amiss). Any idea. BTW my wife (who nose works well) said it smell to her like mold? Car is garaged in Phoenix, AZ so humidity is generally very low. Just check 12v battery and it is warm and smell seems to be coming from that area.
Odd smell
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Sounds like time to replace the 12 volt battery. You don't want to leave it in the car until it is completely dead: Read this warning to prevent hv battery failure!! 
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Get a new Fabrese Fram cabin filter. They are only $17 at an agricultural store. I left my 1st 451 at the armory whilst I went for training. I left a huge bag of seeds in Ekaterina... ...Mr. Jangles and his friends thanked me! There wasn't a clear ductwork in the whole car! Industrial vacuum and new cabin filter solved the attic smell (bat guano
I haven't read your warning yet, but I did come to the conclusion to disconnect the battery pack from the 12v battery as it seems that it was keeping the battery charged (and therefore was outgassing...smell!) I've had it towed to MB in hopes that it'll be an easy and relatively easy fix! I've never had a battery failure like this IF this was the problem. Hope this was all that is wrong and not a short somewhere.Sounds like time to replace the 12 volt battery. You don't want to leave it in the car until it is completely dead: Read this warning to prevent hv battery failure!!
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I had the air canister blow up under the floorboard and had to take it out. Maybe that's the smell.
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Was this making the person who posted this the problem too?
No, it was the battery venting. It is still at the shop (ouch) so have not heard why it was venting. I found out the hard way...DO NOT disconnect the red wire that goes to ground on the 12v battery. It appears that this causes all the error codes to need to be checked/reset (at least this is what I was told) I did disconnect the HV pack as this was keeping the 12v battery charged and so continued venting.
The dealership said everything is fixed and it drives normally BUT they said they can't figure out why the 'check light' is still on. I don't know if this is the error code (CBD) or if this is on the instrument panel. Any thoughts? I haven't picked the car up yet because they should figure this out right?
Actually I mis-wrote this. Dealership said 'check battery' not ;check light.'
I will be picking up my electric smartcar tomorrow. I got verbally 'spanked' because I didn't follow their maintaince schedule. I asked what it consisted of "checking fluids" change desiccant etc. (I said this is ridiculous re: the disiccant in Phoenix, AZ where the humidity is usually less than 10%). Bottom line, I am asking what needs to be maintained on an electric smartcar when it come to the HV battery? Maybe checking the cables. They said the check battery said the HV needs replaced even though I only experience a slight decline in mileage. They also said the heater doesn't work (not sure if it worked before as I don't use it...again in Phoenix, AZ. I think this is all service bunk because they can't get the money for the oil changes etc. Right?
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See the sticky at the top of the electric car forum. It gives maintenance items that need to be done/checked. The Smart EV is without a doubt the easiest car I have ever owned regarding DIY service. Simple, fast and easy and even if you have never done any work on a car before, you can do just about everything yourself very easily. If you have any questions when you are at it, ask here and someone will help you out. There is also a battery test unit that is available from a few sources (me being one of them) to give you readings for both of your batteries.
Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 21,500 miles
Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 21,500 miles
I would like more info on the battery test unit.
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Here's an overview of the unit. PM me if you want more info. You can also do a search in the Electric Car Forum to get what others have said about the unit.
Len
Battery Health Check Tool for smart Electric Drive (model 451)
It all started for me with a Hackster post of this guy in Germany who created a device to interrogate the status of the main battery in his smart Electric Drive car.
www.sokoloff.com
Len
Heres the scoop as far as the 12v battery outgassing . Nothing! No explaination from the car dealership except to say I wasn't doing the prescribed maintaince. They did replace the 12v battery and the desiccant ($80.00) Since I disconnected the red wire that goes to ground, they had to re-set all the error codes. Perhaps one of those error codes would have pointed to the problem? They said the HV battery pack 'failed' even though I have not experienced any problems ('cept of course the 12v battery outgassing!). They checked all the hv battery cells (93) and they all passed! So, after over $1000, no clue as to what happened. I'm thinking that something was charging the 12v battery and didn't disconnect/stop as it should have when the battery was charged (thus the outgassing). So, it appears that this could happen again.
Actually the 12v battery was $193.00 the desiccant was $80.
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