[MeridianTodd]

I have been driving a 2015 SMART ED since mid-June 2019. So far, I have absolutely loved it.
Normally a very fastidious car shopper, I bought this car after driving it around the block for 10 minutes and thinking about it for 60.
So first of all, the range is perfect for me. I can easily drive to and from work four or five times between charges. Its size makes my garage seem twice a large as previously (I had a 2006 Prius). Plus, it does not feel like a small car when I'm driving. I am sitting higher in my Smart car than I am when driving my Prius or my wife's Sonata. I love this car.
Here are my concerns so far:

• The closest dealership to work on Smart Cars is 370 miles away (about 300 miles beyond cars range with probably only two charging stations between here and there)
• A Prius Battery replacement is in the $3k range. I'm seeing triple that for a Smart ED
• My Smart still doesn't have 25K and it's already out of warranty - Why such a miniscule warranty?

In spite of my worries, I know that there are many Smart ED drivers whose cars are approaching or have surprassed 175k and even 200k without much trouble. I don't need to worry ever again about oil changes.
Any recommended servicing that I could do myself?
Looking forward to participating in this forum!
Todd

 

[sokoloff]

Todd - welcome. I don't think I've ever seen any Smart EV's with the kind of mileage you mentioned - ICE's yes, but EV's, I don't recall any near those numbers.

Maintenance - super, super easy and cheap. Read over the stickys at the top of Electric Car forum. I posted the required maintenance sheets there. Most everything is "inspect this" and "check that." The only real jobs to do are the desiccant cartridge and brake fluid every two years and the cabin filter every year. A five year old can do the desiccant cartridge in five minutes. Any shop can do the brake fluid if you aren't a DIY'er. My cabin filters do get checked, but I haven't changed them in three years, although I do have a spare on hand.

As for the cost of the battery, consider that a few years ago, it was $20K. I wouldn't be too concerned about the battery, but I highly recommend that you peruse a couple of the threads about battery issues in the Electric Car forum.

And on the warranty, it is 4 years or 50,000 miles - not too shabby I don't think.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,500 miles

 

[MB DNA]

Todd - welcome. I don't think I've ever seen any Smart EV's with the kind of mileage you mentioned - ICE's yes, but EV's, I don't recall any near those numbers.

Welcome to SCoA.

As Sokoloff suggests, don’t know of any smart ED’s that have logged the miles you are suggesting???

The short range and slow L1 charging makes such high numbers pretty difficult to achieve?