Get an Eco Score of 100%

You too can get an Eco score of 100%.

At first I thought that that I would never be able to accomplish this feat.  I was always driving up and down hills and trying to avoid other cars, that I would never succeed in reaching this lofty goal.  But I did it.

There are two gauges on the top of the dash that give you a good idea of your performance.  These two gauges will become as important if not more so than the speedometer. The gauge on the left is State of Charge (SOC), effectively the fuel gauge. The one on the right is a Charge gauge, it shows the charge used and it can be positive (to the left) or negative (to the right).

Accelerating

You will want to concentrate most the attention that you would give to the dash instruments, to the gauge that shows charge. If you can keep the charge from ever breaking 50% when accelerating or driving, then this will improve the Eco score.  Accelerating using the kick-down will push the charge usage up to the maximum and destroy any decent Eco score that you may have created. Also, driving at or above 70 mph can use more than 50% charge.

The difficulty in keeping the charge meter from crossing the 50% mark is that acceleration will be slow.  This slow acceleration will not make you popular with other drivers. Personally, I've had to make an effort to refrain from bolting, because I know that I can do it.  But if I want to keep that perfect score, I can't use the kick-down too often.

Braking

It's not tough to figure out, after a few tries, how much distance you will need in order to stop the vehicle.  The Smart ED does have more motor braking by default than the typical internal combustion engine vehicle.  As soon as you lift off from the accelerator, the ED will engage the regeneration and slow you down.  If however, you've opted for the regeneration paddles, you can control how aggressively the vehicle slows and recharges.  But it is key to getting that high score, that you brake appropriately.

When braking, you can get the best recharge by barely tapping the brake pedal.  This turns on your brake lights and maxes out the needle, which means you pushing the max back into the battery (about 90 Amps).  The regeneration will reduce as you slow down.  

The ECO bar is quite effective in encouraging a driver to drive more efficiently.  It's right there at the bottom of the screen and hard to miss.  But if it seems impractical or a false ideal, think of it as paying yourself back.  Sure you're driving electric now and saving already, but if you drive at 100% ECO, you're saving even more.