2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Smart is working hard to get the electric motor ready for series production. A pilot project with 100 vehicles is currently underway in London. With a view to sustainability, the manufacturer also relies on Sun Diesel.
By Sebastian Viehmann
The old lady in the narrow street is startled when the black Smart rolls past her. She just didn't hear him coming because he drives practically silently. When the 41 HP permanent magnet motor is switched on, there is absolute silence. Even at full throttle, only a subtle whirring can be heard from the tiny electric vehicle.
Like a big one
But even if the Smart sounds like grandma's electric wheelchair - it drives like a big one. The electric motor reacts spontaneously to the gas, and in contrast to gasoline engines, the torque of 140 Newton meters is immediately available. The E-Smart needs 5.7 seconds to reach 60 km / h. In the first few meters, it even sprints faster than the Brabus Smart. The top speed is reached at 112 km / h.
This speed is perfect because it corresponds to the maximum speed allowed on British motorways. The electric smart is being piloted in England and is used by authorities, companies and private individuals almost exclusively in the City of London. You rarely drive faster than 30 km / h there.
However, it should not stop at the test fleet of 100 pieces. "There will definitely be a successor that we want to produce in significant numbers," affirmed Professor Herbert Kohler, Daimler's head of environment. The car should benefit from the lithium-ion batteries that will soon be ready for series production and thus have a greater range than the current electric smart. This ends after a maximum of 115 kilometers. But the little Stromer can fill up at any normal socket and causes zero CO2 emissions. In theory anyway - the actual balance naturally depends on how environmentally friendly the electricity required for charging is produced.
No competition with food
The SunDiesel-Smart, on the other hand, still relies on fuel in the tank. But it doesn't care about the oil reserves: it runs on a synthetic fuel called SunDiesel. As a BtL biofuel of the second generation (Btl stands for "Biomass to Liquid"), SunDiesel can be obtained from biomass that is not used to produce food - such as sawdust or residual wood that occurs in forestry operations.
"SunDiesel is a completely sulfur-free and aromatic-free fuel and burns significantly less pollutants than normal diesel," says Renato Andorf, fuel expert at Daimler. In particular, the particle emissions are significantly lower than when using conventional diesel. With slight adjustments to the engine, very low nitrogen oxide emissions can also be achieved. "Overall, CO2 emissions are reduced by 90 percent because the plants used to produce fuel extract 90 percent of the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere that the engine emits into the atmosphere while driving," explains Andorf.
In principle, SunDiesel can be used in every diesel vehicle, but the dream of an environmentally friendly diesel replacement for everyone is still a few steps away from being realized. In the world's first commercial production facility of the Choren company in Freiberg (Saxony), which was completed in April of this year, 18 million liters of SunDiesel will be produced per year once it is fully commissioned. In addition to Daimler, Volkswagen and Shell are also involved in the company. For the next step, Choren is working on a concept for the first BtL plant on an industrial scale, with an annual production capacity of 270 million liters.
About five tons of biomass are needed to produce one ton of fuel, says fuel expert Renato Andorf. According to the study “Biofuels - A Vision for 2030 and beyond” prepared for the EU, biofuels - if domestic raw materials are used - could make up a maximum of 25 percent of total fuel consumption in Europe by 2030. The catch: the need and the logistical supply of biomass must be taken into account in the planning for an economical operation of the plant. The enormous amounts of wood waste, for example, would ultimately have to be collected and transported by truck or train.
