Smart cars in Mercedes-Benz EQ brand

Daimler is about to launch its latest EV under its new Mercedes-Benz EQ brand.

“With the Smart EQ fortwo/forfour, we are putting the first products from the Mercedes-Benz Cars EQ family on urban roads and showing how much fun electric mobility can be,” Smart chief executive officer Dr Annette Winkler says.

Daimler is unveiling a new ‘nightsky’ special edition of the fortwo and forfour as well as a few new features for the electric Smart car line-up, Electrek reports.

A new 22kW onboard charger is added to both as an option from May in Europe. It’s not ‘DC fast-charging’ – just a more powerful onboard charger for level 2 charging.

Daimler also announced a new ‘Smart EQ control’ mobile app to access a few features.

“Connect” offers the functions of an on-board computer. The user can call up their vehicle’s current status at any time by smartphone. Displayed information includes charge level, range and whether the tyre pressure is correct.

“Control” enables functions such as pre-entry climate control to be operated from anywhere via the app. Additional remote functions are planned.

“Comfort” uses push notifications to inform Smart drivers if, for example, the state of charge of the battery is very low. The app’s scope of functions also includes a link to the innovative Smart “ready to” services.

The app should be available in mid-2018.

‘Smart EQ control’ is also linked to Daimler’s new ‘ready-to-share’ private car-sharing function. When buying the ‘ready-to-share’ package, which includes things that can facilitate car sharing, like keyless entry function, owners can easily share the vehicle through Daimler’s app.