smartnoob Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 (edited) Hello community... I hope this community is as awesome as the car is :)... We are about to buy a Smart 2015 ED with 30k km on it, but here is the trick, we are from Costa Rica, and, as a any new buyer of an electric car, I'm afraid that the battery can be dead after a couple of years... (yes, I've read that it support up to 4000 cycles of charge, 8 years warranty (it doesnt apply to me), up to 100k km / 400k in the theory)... Murphy can be around the corner as usual. How easy is buy a replacement battery in a retailer? How much does it cost? Does Mercedez sells it on the site if you have the vehicle registered?. We have Mercedez dealers in CR but they dont sell these cars over here. All info to the newbie electric driver is more than welcome (and comments for the sake of my peace of mind :)) Thanks in advance, Adrian B. -noobsmart Edited September 21, 2018 by smartnoob Quote
MikeT Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 Welcome. You should check about the cost of getting spare battery pack to CR. I expect Mercedes in CR should be able to special order the part, check with them. Quote
Willys Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 Welcome, then check how much work is entailed in replacing said battery? I don't know, but if you need the dealership to do said work, it'll probably be more than the car's worth imho...lol. I understand the appeal to the electric IF you have the infrastuture for one, but if not, why buy one? I know this will hit many people's large nerve for electric vehicles, but, concidering the possible cost of doing what the poster is asking, is it really a sensible purchase? I'm not interested in the whole electrical arguement all over again, but in this instance...seriously..is it worth it..? Just asking is all. I am getting such fantastic mileages from a diesel I can't see the benefit for the electric if there is a chance it may leave you starnded for any reason if you do not have the dealership support etc etc. 1 Quote
MikeT Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 It'd be a few hundred dollars for battery installation, tops, I expect. Whether a gas, diesel or electric, with no dealer support it's all the same. But he didn't say there's no dealer support, just that they were not sold there. So, as I wrote: ask the dealer what the pack costs, whether they work on smarts and then make an informed decision! 2 Quote
smart142 Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 5 hours ago, smartnoob said: I'm afraid that the battery can be dead after a couple of years... welcome to the club! A mechanic with over 30 years experience (and who is an electronics expert) told me that the battery would be good for over 12 years, and not to worry!! ps. I leased a smart ED for 3 years - loved the car!!! 1 Quote
smartnoob Posted September 22, 2018 Author Posted September 22, 2018 21 hours ago, Willys said: Welcome, then check how much work is entailed in replacing said battery? I don't know, but if you need the dealership to do said work, it'll probably be more than the car's worth imho...lol. I understand the appeal to the electric IF you have the infrastuture for one, but if not, why buy one? I know this will hit many people's large nerve for electric vehicles, but, concidering the possible cost of doing what the poster is asking, is it really a sensible purchase? I'm not interested in the whole electrical arguement all over again, but in this instance...seriously..is it worth it..? Just asking is all. I am getting such fantastic mileages from a diesel I can't see the benefit for the electric if there is a chance it may leave you starnded for any reason if you do not have the dealership support etc etc. Hey Willys... well... you are in US and Diesel is cheap over there, that's great... in CR on top that we are a poorer country, gas is near the sky... in price terms. A Galon here is between $4 and $5. That's one point. Then, we have a Nissan Qashqai 2017 that does 450Km for... $80 the tank (regular gas)... per month in just commute... let's talk about $200. Now, my job offered the electricity for free... per month, with this Smart... $0 There is when the numbers close to a Costa Rican guy Quote
smartnoob Posted September 22, 2018 Author Posted September 22, 2018 20 hours ago, MikeT said: It'd be a few hundred dollars for battery installation, tops, I expect. Whether a gas, diesel or electric, with no dealer support it's all the same. But he didn't say there's no dealer support, just that they were not sold there. So, as I wrote: ask the dealer what the pack costs, whether they work on smarts and then make an informed decision! Dealers in CR are a monopoly... Mercedes have a exclusivity contract with just one company and no one else can sell brand new Mercedes car (consider CR is small, half NY). They are kind of jerks and im afraid they may refuse to help, even so I will try... The dealer got the car from New Jersey and he mentioned the battery is around $2k in the worst case scenario, not bad, IF it dies soon, probably not. Thanks Mike!!! 19 hours ago, smart142 said: welcome to the club! A mechanic with over 30 years experience (and who is an electronics expert) told me that the battery would be good for over 12 years, and not to worry!! ps. I leased a smart ED for 3 years - loved the car!!! Thanks smart142!! :)... 12 years will be a bless! Well, is probably a done deal, we are in the middle of the paperwork... so I will be around here often I suppose. Thank you all for the interaction and feedback... The worst try is the one that you never made Quote
Blaine Posted October 2, 2018 Posted October 2, 2018 I'd recommend you buy or build your own ED battery tester. https://github.com/MyLab-odyssey/ED_BMSdiag For what it's worth, we have 73k on the car, do 450km per week and charge twice a day. Car still rocks after 4.5 years. Hope your ED turns out well! Quote
smartnoob Posted October 4, 2018 Author Posted October 4, 2018 On 10/2/2018 at 5:23 AM, Blaine said: I'd recommend you buy or build your own ED battery tester. https://github.com/MyLab-odyssey/ED_BMSdiag For what it's worth, we have 73k on the car, do 450km per week and charge twice a day. Car still rocks after 4.5 years. Hope your ED turns out well! Hello Blaine!, excellent, thanks for sharing your experience and usage, that somehow provide us some relief. and THAT tester! That is so cool, buying the parts already, I didn't know the community was techy as well (SW Engineer here). We tested it for 110km and seems like range is ok for a 3yo car. Thanks for the good wishes, your contribution was awesome!!!! 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.