The new Smart Forfour

HERE it is, drum roll, the first vehicle to wear Mercedesbenz’s new EQ badge – The Smart Forfour.

But why the sarcasm? Well, EQ are the letters that will be seen on the German manufacturer’s future electric vehicles and we motoring writers expected it to debut on something more dramatic.

Presumably something rather more headline grabbing is waiting in the wings.

We tested an electric Smart Fortwo last year. That little twodoor, two-seater is the car I think of when the name Smart is mentioned and, as an electric city car, it works perfectly.

The Fortwo has no direct rivals but the Forfour does, with VW’S Up! among them.

However, this electric version could be a much more convincing purchase than the conventional petrol Forfour.

But in the never-ending heatwave we’ve been experiencing this summer it’s not.

With the temperature up around 30C you need air conditioning in a car and we’ve got used to this luxury and expect it on all vehicles these days. No more Smart Forfour

EQ five-door hatchback

Price: £22,285

Engine: 60kw electric motor generating 80bhp

0-62mph: 12.5sec

winding down the windows like in the last roasting summer of 1976.

The Forfour EQ is certainly fitted with air conditioning and it’s very effective – but it’s also effective at draining the car’s battery. Range anxiety is the big fear with electric cars, but as battery technology improves that’s becoming less of an issue.

Smart claims a range of 96 miles for the Forfour EQ but in this