Have a smart ED. Considering leaf as second vehicle. Questions

Hello all. We have a 2015 smart ED. Absolutely love the car. In a couple years we will need to replace our other oil burner. We are seriously considering the 2017 leaf as a contender. The 135 KM that our smart car provides us is all that car will ever need for what it has to do. We rarely use more than 50 percent of its range. However, the second vehicle will have to make a once or twice monthly run to around 200 KM, primarily in summer conditions. The 4 seats will be a nice to have although not need to have feature. Really we are stacking it up against the 2017 453 smart ED which will supposedly have a similar range. Here is a list of my questions.

1. Do you think the 2017 leaf will have an actual working range of 200 KM. I know that no one has a crystal ball but I suspect there are some reasonably well connected and informed people on this forum.

2. Has anyone here had a smart ED?. I would be interested in hearing comparisons between the two. Acceleration, quality of ride, durability, service, dealer knowledge. Interestingly enough the dealerships that sell the leaf and the smart (mercedes) are owned by the same dealer and are co-located. Our experience with the smart dealership has been stellar.

3. Maintenance. From year to year, expensive???

Any opinions, thoughts or comments are appreciated.

John

Assuming the 2017 LEAF will be the next gen model, 200 km should be no problem as the SV or SL should be more than 30 kWh. The 30 kWh 2016 models about to be released have an EPA range of 172 km.

No Smart experience, sorry, too small for us.

Same minimal maintenance as any other BEV.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

Assuming the 2017 LEAF will be the next gen model, 200 km should be no problem as the SV or SL should be more than 30 kWh. The 30 kWh 2016 models about to be released have an EPA range of 172 km.

No Smart experience, sorry, too small for us.

Same minimal maintenance as any other BEV.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

For a second car, you may be better off getting a PHEV that will let you drive your usual mileage in all EV mode, with the ICE backup for your occasional long distance runs. The upcoming Volt 2.0 should handle this easily.

Have you mapped out that monthly 200km run on plugshare.com? Look for Chademo chargers or even 30amp L2s that will charge at double the smart speed. In the summer I would have no problem doing a 200km highway speed run in my 2015 24kWh leaf with a stop for a charge, under 20 min if it's a quick charge and about 40-60 min probably if it's a 30amp L2. With the 2016 giving 6 more kWh it's like having that extra hour stop on board. You may still have to stop with a 2016 but it would be short. This is of coarse me assuming that it's highway. If you are doing that 200km on flat ground and under 80km/hr a 2016 leaf will probably do it most days without a charge but you'd need to ensure there's the option on the route.

That said the 2017 is likely to be either a carry over 2016 (less likely of the 2) or a totally new model that will easily do 200km. Tesla has also said they will start model iii pre orders this March and Chev has said the Bolt will start production Oct 2016.

I haven't heard any rumours on the range for the next smart ED but with a 4 inch wider body and very little to work on for aero on that vehicle I doubt they could double the range without doubling the capacity. I think the limiting factor in the next smart ED will be space for the batteries. Capacity for weights and volumes have improved but I don't think it's anywhere near enough to get 30+kWh in a smart car. I think it would be a safe bet that the next smart ED will come in at 90-100 EPA miles.

If you rarely use 50% of the range of the smart you're doing less than 60km most times and size is obviously not an issue, I'd recommend getting a 2015 volt now while there are good deals on them or even a used older volt. For that 200km trip it would be about 8.5L of gas once a month if you're using the highway, if your speeds are under 80km/hr you can get 100km electric in a volt and you'd burn about 6L . If you compare that from this point on vs keeping an ICE car for over a year you will probably burn way less gas with a volt now than waiting for a second gen long range EV, not to mention probably saving a lot of money.

Good morning folks. Thanks all for the comments.

So, I took your advice and looked a little closer at plug share. It's actually about 218 KM but there are numerous L2 charging options along the way so there will never be a crisis. I would like to be able to make it in one shot though.

We are not in a rush as our other vehicle is a CDI diesel and gets phenomenal mileage. Having said that it will be 13 years old then and it is getting time for a change. The volt did interest us but I think we are committed to no more tail pipes so in our affordability bracket the leaf is a strong contender.
Interesting comments on the smart re battery size limitations etc. I never thought of that. I saw one article speculating a 24 KW battery but doing the math you may be right. There will be some improvement but probably not get to my goal.

Re speed. The safe speed for at least half of the trip will be upwards of 105 to 110 KMPH so the "burn rate" will be up there.

I appreciate all your comments. I'm learning lots. Thank you.