Brabus Tunes Smart Electric Drive and Smart Ebike [Geneva Auto Show]

Brabus Tunes Smart Electric Drive and Smart Ebike [Geneva Auto Show]

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Brabus, the well-known Mercedes tuner, is attempting what might be the impossible: Make the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive fun to drive.

This is the first time Brabus has worked over the electric version; past Brabus Smarts were based on the regular car. An updated version of the EV Smart debuted in Geneva with a revised powertrain good for a massive 74 hp and 96 lb-ft of torque. (These are huge improvements over the previous ED’s numbers, if you can believe it.) In this Brabus version, the ED’s electric motor is coerced into stirring up 81 hp and 100 lb-ft of torque.

Brabus’s electric car is equipped with a sports suspension that lowers it by 0.4 inch. The standard wheels have been replaced with 16-inchers in the front and 17s at the rear. Other changes include a sport steering wheel with paddles that let the driver select a more aggressive battery-recuperation setting. Plus, the requisite aero kit.

Also revealed at the Geneva show was the Smart Brabus ebike. In the same powerful, eco-friendly mindset as the Brabus ED, this matte-black and green bike is powered by a 500-watt electric motor. That’s twice as powerful as the motor on the standard Smart ebike available throughout Europe and North America, and Brabus also says that its version (somehow) weighs 10 percent less (somehow) than the Smart model. The ebike can reach speeds of 28 mph.

Both the Brabus Smart and the ebike will be available in 12 countries by the end of this year, although the U.S. will not be included.

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