Smart and the city of Rome have a very special relationship. Here, as many as 200,000 of these small cars have been registered since 1998. The reason is; simple, with its 2.7 meters, the Smart & egrave; perfect to escape through the traffic of the Capital. And how long has it been? turned electric, yes & egrave; transformed into the ideal vehicle for modern cities & agrave; that aim to make mobility more sustainable.
It is therefore not surprising that the car manufacturer has chosen Rome to let us discover its potential; of the car in its ideal environment. It is not & egrave; treated, for & ograve ;, of the classic test drive but of a & quot; trip & quot; which also allowed us to discover some of the beauties of the Italian capital, a city & agrave; rich in history that the whole world envies us. For the occasion & egrave; it was chosen to retrace at night some of the places of the Italian film & quot; The great beauty & quot ;, directed by Paolo Sorrentino . A film that won the Academy Award for best foreign film.
ROMA BY NIGHT
Precisely for this reason we started from Palazzo Brancaccio where not only several scenes of Sorrentino's film were shot but also those of & quot; Roman Holiday & quot;, a film starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Before taking possession of the Smart, we had the opportunity to visit the building and its main rooms. The car that is mine touched on test & egrave; was a Smart EQ fortwo: two dry but comfortable seats.
It had never happened to me to try a Smart, not even with an internal combustion engine and therefore I had a lot of curiosity; in testing its characteristics, even if for a short time within a particular context. Although it was not the most opportunity suitable, I still wanted to keep the consumption parameters under control to have a rough indication of the possible autonomy of the car in a city context. Before continuing, I recall some of the main technical features of the car.
The Smart EQ fortwo features a powertrain consisting of a 60 kW electric motor (40 kW continuous power) with 160 Nm of torque. The speed maximum & egrave; 130 km/h, while it takes 11.6 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h. Looking at the performance from a stronger perspective; town, for acceleration from 0 to 50 km/h 4.8 seconds are enough. This is powered by a 17.6 kWh battery which allows a range of 125-135 km according to the WLTP cycle.
The route of this unusual test drive led me to pass through places such as Piazza Venezia, Via IV Novembre, Salita del Grillo, Colosseum, Viale Aventino and Via dei Cerchi. All this interspersed with an exclusive night visit to the Capitoline Museums in which all my colleagues present at this & quot; unusual & quot; Smart event.
Overall, I had the opportunity to drive the Smart EQ for about 15 km, equal to almost 70 minutes in the middle of traffic certainly not “easy” ; From Rome. I tested the car on smooth roads, rough roads and obviously also on the cobblestones that put a strain on the suspension of all cars. In this drink test drive I understood why & eacute; the Smart & egrave; defined as the & quot; passepartout & quot; of the Roman traffic.
The compact size makes the Smart a perfect car for roadworthiness; of the capital. Moreover, thanks to the electric motorization that allows you to have all the torque immediately, the fortwo is & egrave; also proved extremely agile. The set-up is able to absorb roughness quite well; of the road, even when you & egrave; dealt with facing the cobblestones. I cannot say much, however, about road holding as I was unable to tackle routes suitable for this purpose and given the speed; low hold during the test drive. But the ideal terrain of the Smart & egrave; the city & agrave; and from this point of view it did not disappoint at all. And thanks also to the silence; of the electric powertrain, the comfort is not & egrave; absolutely bad. Inside, there is no lack of space for two people. I exceed 180 cm in height and in the passenger compartment I immediately found myself at ease. Too bad not having been able to try it more & ugrave; to better understand its characteristics.
A note on consumption . I started with 98% battery and finished at 82% with an indicated remaining range of 115 km . The small on-board computer showed a consumption of 20 kWh/100 km . A little worth tall but definitely influenced by the test a bit to & quot; hiccups & quot; and from the air conditioning always on during the test (the car also tends to regenerate very little).
SMART EQ, FEATURES AND PRICES
Maybe not everyone knows, but the Smart was originally thought of as a ; electric car . However, at the time of the first concepts, the technology was not yet ready. The small electric & egrave; available in fortwo, also cabrio and forfour versionswith 4 seats. The powertrain & egrave; always the same. Performance and autonomy change only slightly. In the forfour, for example, Smart claims a WLTP mileage of 120-130 km. All cars can be chosen with the 4.6 kW on-board charger or with the optional 22 kW charger to significantly reduce energy refueling times.
The city car & egrave; available in Italy in four versions: pure, passion, pulse and prime . The first is already very rich and includes, among other things, the Active Brake Assist, the Cool & amp; Sound, digital radio, clock and tachometer, lockable glove box, the acoustic system for pedestrian safety, the cable package, 15-inch alloy wheels and the comfort package that offers the opportunity; seat and steering wheel height adjustment.
By choosing the passion version, we also find 2 interior variants (black/black or black/blue), the multifunction sports leather steering wheel, the 15-inch two-tone alloy wheels and the ready-to-package module, the & lsquo; black box & rsquo; for the new generation of 'ready to' services. Furthermore, & egrave; the Advanced Package with smart Media system and Android Auto and the central armrest is available as standard.
Going up the level, the pulse set-up proposes the sports pedals in steel and the two-tone 16-inch alloy wheels, but above all the Premium Package with panorama roof, windbreak, rear camera and net for objects. Finally, the top of the prime range offers as standard leather interiors, heated seats, 16-inch 8-spoke alloy wheels and preparation for housing the iPad in the case of the forfour version. The standard Exclusive Package adds full LED headlights, fog lights, rain sensor, light sensor, ambient lights and automatic anti-glare rearview mirror.
Prices in Italy start from 25,210 euros for the fortwo, from 25,832 euros for the four-seater version forfour, to reach 28,577 euros for the Smart EQ fortwo cabrio. All models are compatible with state incentives. Also included in the price is a 3.7 kW Enel X wallbox (installation included).
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