Smart Fortwo Cabrio EQ Electric

City-friendly electric convertible for open-top thrills

​Introduction

There’s something very special about driving around the city in a soft-top with the hood down. You get to see and hear all the buzz and enjoy the enticing scents of the street food too. Smart’s all-electric fortwo is the perfect size for urban streets (and parking places) and the cabrio version adds an extra touch of fun when the weather’s fine. ​

Safety

Active Brake Assist, Cross Wind Assist, Electronic Stability Programme and Hill Start Assist are among the Smart cabrio’s standard driver assistance systems. Both driver and passenger have dash mounted airbags and there’s a driver-side kneebag as well as window bags and two pelvis/thorax bags mounted in the seats. The battery is protected within a strong underbody frame and the Tridon safety cell that surrounds the occupants is made of 75% high-strength steels.​​

Design​

Smart’s fortwo is now in its third generation but at heart it’s still the cheeky, snub-nosed roller skate of a car it has always been. Unlike other city cars, the Smart fortwo doesn’t even have a vestigial seat behind the driver, but the bonus you enjoy is an overall length of just 2.69 metres. That’s so short you can park nose in to the kerb in spaces others simply cannot use. As the name implies, the cabrio is a soft-top so you can open or close the top to any position at any driving speed – and the rear window is glass, so you still enjoy good visibility in winter. ​

Performance

​Like its stablemates, the Smart EQ fortwo cabrio is powered by a rear-mounted 82hp electric motor. Maximum range is between 73.9 and 82.0 miles while acceleration from 0-62mph takes 11.9 seconds; strengthening to compensate for the soft top adds around 30kg to the bodyweight and the luggage capacity is 190 litres compared with 260 for its hardtop sibling. Charging the 17.2kWh battery from 10% up to 80% takes 40 minutes on a 22kWh charger, or 3hr 18min on a home wall box. ​

Technology​

The Smart EQ fortwo cabrio comes with a choice of four trim levels; Passion Advanced, Pulse Premium, Prime Exclusive and Edition One. All come with a 3.5” TFT colour display for instrumentation and a 7-inch touchscreen. You also get 3 years’ access to TomTom live navigation services and Smart EQ control that links to your smartphone and shows current charge level, range and length of time left on your parking slot (if applicable). ​

Verdict

Zero-emission electric power makes perfect sense for the city and the little Smart cabrio’s range of around 70 miles is more than adequate for urban trips – any more would demand a bigger, heavier battery and then the Smart EQ wouldn’t be as agile and nippy. The fabric soft-top, which extends all the way down to the rear waistline, keeps the elements at bay in the winter and opens up to a new dimension of immersive travel in summertime. It’s chic and cheeky.

Technical Specification