Smart’s escooter concept

By Tom Phillips

September 2010

The battle to rule the urban jungle is hotting up! Just as MINI showed an electric scooter concept at the Paris Motor Show, Smart has got in on the act with its own electric two-wheeler.

Called the escooter, the stylish concept brings car-like levels of technology and safety provision to a two-wheeled vehicle.

On the style front, the escooter features a white and green livery, just like the Smart ForTwo ED, and incorporates solar cells, which help charge the batteries when the scooter is in motion, and full LED lighting.

Tech highlights include full smartphone integration, which means your phone doubles as the instrument display and sat-nav. Your phone can also be used to activate the heated handlebars remotely on cold days and to locate your scooter via GPS.

The escooter is powered by a 48-volt lithium-ion battery pack, which feeds electricity to a disc-shaped 5bhp electric motor in the rear wheel hub. This allows the scooter to travel up to 62miles on a charge at speeds of up to 30mph. Recharging takes around five hours from a household socket.

On the safety front, the escooter features ABS brakes, a Blind Spot Assist function like that fitted to the wing mirrors of larger Mercedes models, and an airbag.

The scooter is a move by parent company Daimler is part of a wider plan to expand the Smart range to more varied kinds of urban mobility solutions. The firm has already partnered up with Renault to produce the replacement for the ForTwo in 2012, and will add a larger ForFour version soon afterwards.

The scooter isn’t a production certainty yet, and is said to be one of several vehicles the firm is currently evaluating to add to the Smart line-up.