Smart #1: full details revealed
- Smart #1 revealed
- Electric SUV has 273-mile range and space for the family
- On sale later this year for £35,000
The Smart #1 electric SUV has been revealed today (7 April 2022) at a launch event in Berlin. The #1 is designed to appeal to the kind of young and trendy inner-city couples that bought a Smart EQ ForTwo or EQ ForFour in the past but – with a baby on the way – now need more space. It'll go on sale later this year and is expected to cost around £35,000.
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The Smart #1 represents the first fruits of the equal partnership between Mercedes and Chinese EV expert Geely, under the company’s “dual home” business strategy which saw the car's development completed in Europe and China.
One thing that hasn’t changed is Smart’s ability to make a car that looks like nothing else on the road. The Smart #1 has a basic SUV shape – it’s as long as a VW T-Roc – with the smoothed-out styling of an EV but from there things are less conventional.
The ‘halo’ roof is the main talking point. It appears to float – like a Ken doll's haircut – above the car’s body thanks to black pillars hidden in the windows and a C pillar that floats above the lower windowline. Other features include frameless windows and handles that retract into the door when they’re not in use. A set of 19-inch wheels finish off the look.
It’s all very modern on the inside, too, where you’ll find a huge 12.8-inch centre touchscreen backed up by a 9.2-inch digital instrument binnacle with a 10-inch head-up display.
As you’d expect, the whole lot is voice activated but instead of talking to a blank screen like you do with most infotainment systems, in the Smart #1 you speak to a 3D avatar.
You can expect the Smart #1 to feel posh inside. These pictures show a car with white leather upholstery and a gold finish, but you can bet the whole interior is customisable to stay onside with the fashionable types that are likely to buy the car.
What is less typical of a smart car is the amount of interior space on offer. While the Smart #1 is about the same length as a Volkswagen T-Roc – 4270mm versus the T-Roc’s 4234mm – its 2750mm wheel base is 73mm longer than a Tiguan.
Smart hasn’t revealed any interior measurements, but you can expect the Smart #1 to be the roomiest car the company has ever built, with space for tall adults to sit comfortably and a back seat that slides back and forwards on its runners. You even get two boots – a standard 411 litre boot at the back with a 15-litre ‘frunk’ at the front.
Whether it’s loaded to the gunnels or travelling one up, the Smart #1 will feel quick. Power comes from a 272PS electric motor that drives the rear wheels, which should be enough to get the #1 from 0-62mph in less than seven seconds, while the car is limited to a top speed of 112mph.
Mounting the motor at the back means it doesn’t get in the way of the front wheels, so the Smart will have an exceptionally tight turning circle for town-driving. But you can expect it to be reassuring on the motorway, too, standard kit includes things like active cruise control, traffic jam assist and lane keep assist that mean the Smart can drive itself on the motorway, A roads and in stop-start traffic – so long as you keep your hands on the steering wheel – to help take the edge off long drives.
Big journeys fall well within the Smart’s remit – it has a 66kWh battery and a range of up to 273 miles while a 200kW charging speed means you’ll be able to charge the Smart from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in around 30 minutes using a public DC fast charger or in three hours with a 22kW charger.
We'll have a full review before the car goes on sale later this year.
