"Daimler, Utility To Test 100 Electric Smart Fortwos and 400 Charging Stations in Italy" Green Car Advisor

Daimler, Utility To Test 100 Electric Smart Fortwos and 400 Charging Stations in Italy

German automotive giant Daimler announced today that it will expand its "e-mobility" electric-drive test program to three Italian cities.

Daimler, which earlier this year launched a major electric vehicle test program in London and recently announced plans to expand it to Berlin (pictured) next year, reached an agreement with Italy's largest electric company to test electric-drive Smart Fortwos in Rome, Milan and Pisa.

The agreement calls for a total of 100 Fortwo EDs (electric drives) and 400 charging stations to be deployed in the three cities in 2010. Smart will be responsible for supplying and maintaining the electric vehicles and Enel, the power company, will be on the hook for the development, implementation and operation of the charging stations as well as the central control system.

Why, you ask, were Rome, Milan and Pisa selected over, say, your favorite Italian cites of Palermo, Venice and Naples? Good question. Daimler, which in addition to Smart is also parent to Mercedes-Benz, says the cities were selected because they represent the diverse lifestyles and living arrangements that characterize Italy today.

The electricity used to supply the EVs will be certified by Renewable Energy Certificate System, an international system involving 25 European countries that was established to finance the development of renewable energy resources, such as water, the sun, wind and geothermal resources. Already, 1.3 million customers have already signed up for this type of plan, provided by Enel on the free market.

The goal of the system is the elimination of all greenhouse-gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, benzene, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates. Enel has calculated that if one-fourth of the cars circulating in Pisa were electric, emissions of CO2 would diminish by 25 thousand metric tons a year and other emissions would decline significantly.

To put that in perspective, it would take a forest the size of 4,500 football field a year to absorb.

The tiny Smart Fortwo, in production since 1998, is an attempt to help make individual transportation environmentally sound and sustainable, and the gasoline- and emissions-free ED versions, Daimler says, could be the answer.