Why 60mph limit? I hope that can be hacked.

Ben,

I agree, a 100 km/h speed limit makes no sense, too slow to enter a highway imo. Many cities have highways running through them, and even if you use them only for a few kilometres, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so in a car that is limited to 100 km/h. 110 would be the lower limit for me to comfortably enter a highway.

Mannstein,

What is luxuries about a mini?

Interesting to see Tesla enabling yet another EV product - this time in the Euro market. After 30 years of greens it took the computer geeks to start the electrification revolution. More power to 'em.

A Smart pimped by a Tesla pack - nice. pwnaged

IMHO the 100km/h limit suits just perfect for European major cities.
And for the long trip catch a rental, plane, train or whatever.

Last missing link is a European net of rapid chargers (30min. LEAF stuff), then we are all set.
Batteries are going to improve anyway. It's just the beginning of bat. mass production.

A small vehicle can get more than 5 miles per kilowatt hour. Careful driving will get you even more. I learned the term "range anxiety" recently, but it actually has had almost no effect on people buying an electric car except that it has made electric cars far too expensive with manufacturers planning larger and larger batteries for cars and thinking that lithium batteries needed to be used.

I will introduce the term "performance anxiety" that is will the car embarrass you by moving a little bit to slow from a stop, as if you don't do this with your cell phone already. This has also made the electric car far too expensive as all the problems with the Tesla show.

The 13 pound OPOC engine will charge a battery at the rate of 10Kw or more but it also takes a generator that might weigh 20 pounds or more. This is only one example of a range extender that will get you through any city and has the ability to run the vehicle at 60 miles per hour for many hours on a level motorway.

Smaller range extenders are good enough for most peoples use of a car. Forget a big battery. Forget the giant range extender in a VOLT. Forget the 100 Kw motor. Just produce a cheap car with limited electric range and infinite fuel range.

A series hybrid car with a very small battery is already nearly twice as fuel efficient in city driving. ..HG..

I actually have no issue with the 100 km/hr limit. I drive now between 55 and 60 mph, getting over 80 mpg at times with my Insight, so have little concern with a vehicle having the same characteristics.

My state's former Republican US Senator remarked last year that those who were concerned about oil prices and dependence on foreign oil producers had it within their power to reduce their driving time and keep to 55 mph on the highway.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/43926.html

The first generation Smart ED claimed 120 km/h top speed. That had a Zytek motor and sodium-nickel chloride Zebra batteries, but it's unclear how many Zytek ever produced.

Unlike quadricycle/neighborhood electric vehicles like the Reva G-Wiz and MyCar, the regular smart fortwo is freeway-legal, so I'm not sure why Daimler says "Its maximum speed has been deliberately limited to 100 km/h [62 mph], a suitable speed for the city." If it's for engineering reasons, it's probably because the transmission gearing and motor RPM limit the top speed. It could also be because higher speeds drain the battery very quickly. You'll have no problem entering a highway so long as the car can accelerate quickly to that speed.

Sounds like a worthy small electric car. If you want more power and range, get a Mini E, whose 2.5 times bigger battery pack turns it into another two-seater!