It’s 11pm and I’m in London. A quiet night, few cars out and as I cross an empty street on the way to a pub, I hear an almost inaudible whirring sound. Next thing I know a car is barely 5 feet its horn blaring and a pissed off driver telling me to “get my bloody arse off the street”.
Sheepishly I crossed not before I heard the driver (a woman) mutter “wanker” at me. I was dumbfounded. Not because of the insult but rather because I’ve just seen my first Smart fortwo BRABUS ED or electric drive.
Couple of minutes later, I parked a few feet away from the pub I see the ED that almost ran me down. On closer inspection I see that the wider door frames, a melon green paint job, Monoblock light alloy wheels and what can only be daytime running lights. On the inside I noticed the color scheming has improved. There’s new upholstery in matte green and the instrument panel/cockpit is accentuated in matt silver and brown leather.
Available this year in Europe and 2010 in the US, Smart fortwo BRABUS ED customers can choose between a cabriolet and coupe. Powered by a 30 kilowatt magneto-electric motor, the ED has a top speed of 75mph and a maximum range of 70 miles on a single charge. A recharge of its lithium-ion batteries takes between 2-4 hours and full charge is achieved in 8 hours when plugged into a standard 220 volt socket. Quicker than its gas powered brother which has twice the horses under the bonnet, the ED can go from 0-30mph in 6.5 seconds.
The ED has no manual transmission to speak of. There are 3 positions on the selector level- N for Neutral, R for Reverse and D for Drive. In reverse mode, the polarity of the motor is simply, well, reversed.

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