The Metropolitan Police Service in London (the Met) is testing a smart ed (electric drive), for routine police operations. Two of these zero-emission units will be deployed, one in Central London and the other at Heathrow Airport. The Met test belongs to a 100-vehicle smart ed test which is being conducted around Great Britain and some of the other sites have even made it to TV. The Met smart ed allows the Police to have police presence in very congested areas, thanks to its size. The smart ed has a top speed of 60 mph and has a range of up to 70 miles in between charges. It's estimated that the car achieves the equivalent of 300 mpg.

[Source: Smart UK]

We've seen two reviews now of the smart ed, one favorable, the other... not so much. Regardless, we hope that smart is able to offer an electric version of their little runabout sooner rather than later. Whether using the Zebra batteries of the ed or newer lithium ion packs, an electric smart car is just what the market needs in the U.S. We'd like a diesel and the micro-hybrid too, of course.


Halfway there: Number 10.

We can think of a few electric cars which have gotten less-than-stellar reviews, probably deservedly so. The first reviewer that we know of to tackle the smart ED, though, was rather in favor of the diminutive electric machine, enjoying the 60 mile-per-hour top speed and 72-mile range. Top Gear, though, was less than impressed, citing a distinct lack of range and suggesting that "the Smart looks less appealing than a bike." Granted, smart thinks that the review unit provided to Top Gear must have had some ailments, but perhaps the system still has some growing-pains to overcome before it's truly ready for the mainstream market. It's likely that the Zebra battery would be replaced with lithium ion's in any real production version, in any case. Still, we remain wanting to get a crack at the smart ED ourselves. Thanks for the tip, Forrest!

[Source: Top Gear]

Thanks to tipster Adam, we've read the first review of the smart ed, and now we wish even more that we could buy one for ourselves. If you've never heard of ed, as we like to call it, smart's U.K. operations has made available an electric version of the diminutive microcar to companies willing to power it using electricity generated only from renewable means. So far, the general public is unable to purchase ed, no matter where they live. This is a real shame, because it sounds like ed's a perfect little electric city runabout. Being able to reach 60 miles per hour and travel for 72 miles in between charging in a near-silent and completely non-polluting - not to mention safe - car really does sound smart.

Ed uses a sodium-nickel chloride battery along with a Zytek electric motor and is able to hit 30 miles per hour from a dead stop in 6.5 seconds. Not bad for a city car! Also, that 60 mile per hour top speed is electronically limited, so there could be enough power for highway travel, depending on how long the stretch of roadway is. In short, the smart ed is a real car, one that just happens to be powered by electrons. We want.

[Source: Smart Planet, thanks Adam!]