10-ED3 Known serial defects

  • There are two known serial errors:

    1. Vehicles with a 22 kW charger suddenly do not charge at all or only charge in one phase
      • The problem here is the 22 kW charger of the first series "D01"
      • The only way to prevent this error is by buying a vehicle with a D02 charger
        • I strongly advise against third-party solutions
    2. The vehicle can no longer be driven and charged after a long period of it beeing parked
      • The HV battery is deeply discharged
        • The reason for this is that the 12V battery is defective and has therefore drained the HV battery
      • This error can be prevented by replacing the 12V battery every 3-5 years
      • Affected batteries have to be opened and charged manually (smart ED3 17.6kWh battery repair (feat.P18051C / bricked BMS))
        • Be careful not to break the current sensor in this process


    Not a series defect in this sense, but two specialities of the 22 kW charger:

    1. It does not charge 1-phase faster than 16 A.
      • The built-in Brusa charger can also charge 1-phase 32 A.
        • Smart has made this software adjustment so that it never charges with an unbalanced load anywhere in Europe
      • With the ED4, however, they gave up on that. It can also charge 32 A 1-phase
      • The charger only charges > 16 A with 2 or 3 phases


    In addition, two campaigns for which there were no known defects or the like. This was preventive and was done for everyone without exception:

    1. The 22 kW charger has been around from the beginning, i.e. since the end of 2012, and there are also cars from that time with it. But there was a delivery stop at the beginning of 2013 and something was done to the 22 kW charger. In mid-2013, vehicles with 22 kW were delivered again. In between there were only vehicles with 3.7 kW and all 22 kW orders were pushed back.
    2. Furthermore, there was a recall for the battery of the very early smarties from 2012. The battery was replaced with a modified one. The battery then went from the original 200,000 cycles for the HV contactor up to 300,000 cycles. Today there is practically no car with only 200,000 cycles, I have never seen one. All have got 300.000 cycles.

22kW charger of the first generation (series "D01")

The 22kW charger of the first series unfortunately has the characteristic that it will sooner or later fail. All years of construction are affected as they used it till the end of production. In moste cases you can still charge with 3,7kW. The defect is usually caused by 1-3 blown capacitors. The replacement device is then from the improved series "D02", the error has been fixed so that this fast charger will outlast the smart.


Can I prevent the failure?

No, unfortunately you cannot. The defect will definitely occur at some point. It doesn't matter whether you only charge with 3.7 kW or with the full 22 kW.

I strongly advise against any kind of preventive measures, I have never seen one that has been proven to be successful.


How do I know which series my 22kW charger is from?

The charger placed under the trunk. If you lay down under the car with a flashlight and pull yourself further under the car you can see this sign:


Brusa Typenschild EN


As you can see we are interested in the "D02", this proves that the 22kW charger is already from the second series and that everything is fine.


What if the 22kW charger is still from the first series?

If the smart is sold at the smart / Mercedes dealer, you have the 1-year-warranty anyway. This can be extended annually (~ 400€) which I would do with the D01-22kW charger, until it's been replaced. The replacement of the 22kW charger is otherwise in 4-digit range. Please make sure to extend the "SG100" warranty, a "SG80" warranty does not cover the 22kW charger.


Of your charger isn't covered by warrenty andmore, you can also buy a used D02-charger from my shop:


eqpassion.de/shop/product/43/

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