kingdragonfly: Fantastic advice. Cheers.

I was thinking of taking a second look the the Smart "ForTwo Electric Drive."

Do you need the car to fast charge? 

The i-Miev can fast charge...and because the largest battery is 16kWh, it doesn't take long.....but your range will be limited. 

Many of the smallest EVs only AC charge...and may be limited to 7kw. That means it may take several hours to charge them.  That's fine if it's your daily commuter car. But if you wanted to go anywhere further you'd have to schedule it carefully across a few days. 

The Renault Zoe is a nice compromise as it only AC charges, but can take 22kw (3-phase 32amp). The largest ZOE battery today is 41kWh - 250-300km range - and 'only takes' 2 hours to charge at 22kw (or under one hour at 43kw if you get the faster charging model and live around the Waikato, Napier or Nelson.