Smart moves away from city cars with this Chinese-built electric crossover.

New models usually have an obvious relationship with their predecessors. That isn’t the case here. Because the new Smart #1 is about as far from the brand’s heritage as it’s possible to get. Vfd Pump

Smart was established to create innovative, dinky city cars – the #1 being an electric SUV that is pretty much the same size as a Hyundai Kona EV and weighs 1788kg in two-wheel-drive form, which is more than twice as much as the original Smart ForTwo.

But it’s not hard to understand this change of direction. While the ForTwo was one of the most innovative cars of the last quarter century, it was also a commercial disaster. The original car came from a joint venture between watchmaker Swatch and Mercedes, and lost a reported $US4.6 billion before the brand was fully absorbed into the Daimler empire in 2006.

In terms of global sales, BMW’s much less radical Mini brand has beaten it by more than three to one in every year both were on sale, with Smart having pulled out of Australia in 2015 and the US in 2019.

The #1 – which really is meant to be called 'hashtag one' – is a very different car and the product from a new alliance. Smart is now a joint venture between Daimler and the vast Geely Group in China, the same company that owns Volvo, Polestar, Proton and Lotus along with other brands. The #1 is going to be built in Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, China, and will be sold in markets including the PRC and Europe, but there are no active plans to bring it to Australia.

We figured you’d want to know what we’re missing out on anyway, which is why you’re reading about them here. I drove both the regular rear-wheel-driven #1 and the all-wheel-drive Brabus in and around Lisbon in Portugal.

Basic spec puts the Smart #1 somewhere around the centre of this growing segment. It sits on Geely’s pure-electric SEA platform with all versions using an underfloor 400-volt nickel cobalt manganese battery with a 64kWh usable capacity. This supports DC fast charging at rates of up to 150kW, while all but the base #1 can also manage 22kW AC charging where available (the entry-level Pro+ in Europe being limited to 7.4kW).

Both Pro+ and the mid-spec Premium use a single 200kW electric motor, the Brabus gets a second 115kW motor at the front to give a 315kW system peak. Range under WLTP runs from 440km for the Premium RWD down to 400km for the Brabus.

There is plenty to like. Although the biggest Smart yet, the #1 is still smaller than the segment average – a 4270mm overall length making it shorter than a Volvo XC40 Recharge or Mercedes-Benz EQA. There is something Mercedes-ish about the rear light bar, too, although the cutesy bulbous styling is reminiscent of earlier Smart models. The oddest design detail from the outside is the way the glass line falls at a faster rate than the roof at the back, and with the colour contrast roof panel this makes it look like it is slightly melted.

The interior is impressive, being both well finished and roomy. The size of the console that sits between the front seats isn’t the most efficient use of space, and this incorporates compartments for mobile devices (with both a wireless charging pad and USB-C sockets), cupholders and then a chilled drinks compartment.

The standard of both construction and trim felt high on my test car, with details like the LED illumination that surrounds the metal air vents very upmarket. But while passenger space is good, with a full-sized adult able to sit behind another in reasonable comfort, the #1’s 313L of luggage space feels minimal even by segment standards, with an even titchier 15L front storage area under the bonnet.

Digital instruments and a 12.8-inch high-definition dashboard touchscreen are standard. These suffered from different lighting levels – even with the central display turned up full, it was still dimmer than the driving display. But more of a problem was the UI, which definitely didn’t feel finished on the two cars I drove.

While Volvo and Polestar both use Android Automotive, what is grandly called Smart OS is based on Geely’s ECARX system. The result was clumsy, unintuitive and with a number of obvious errors, from spelling mistakes to the slightly alarming fail that moving the stability-control tab to its green “on” position actually de-activates the system.

Smart was particularly proud of an animated fox that roams the UI menus, although most potential customers would doubtless be willing to swap this gimmick for the smartphone integration the system completely lacks. That’s right, this is a tech-focussed EV that doesn’t support either Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

The driving experience is better, although without any obvious link to any earlier Smart product. The regular rear-driver has brisk performance low-down, and although acceleration starts to fade beyond about 100km/h, it still felt entirely comfortable cruising Portugal’s Autoestrada highways at 130km/h. This pace did set the range falling faster than kilometres were being covered. Ultimately progress is curtailed by a 180km/h speed limiter, although one it’s hard to imagine owners ever finding, let alone complaining about.

The rear-wheel drive Smart #1 has three dynamic modes – Eco, Comfort and Sport – although without adaptive dampers these only alter the throttle map, regeneration levels and the weight of the steering. Both the cars I drove had a very slight response delay on acceleration, no more than a couple of tenths, but enough to mean that sudden requests for full thrust would arrive with a bit of a bump.

Driven gently this wasn’t an issue, and the soft springs gave a plush ride despite 19-inch wheels and low-profile tyres. The steering also felt a little inconsistent – initially keen off centre but with responses then slowing down. But given the limited bite of the low-resistance Continental EcoContact 6 tyres, there wasn’t much point in pushing harder, with significant lean under cornering loads also discouraging faster progress.

Beyond the different levels in each dynamic mode, the #1’s driver can choose between two different levels of regeneration, but can’t turn regen off to allow a sail mode. There is also a one-pedal function, although this slowed the car too gradually for anything other than very timid progress and, strangely, in Sport mode the e-braking became so weak it couldn’t actually bring the Smart to a halt on a falling gradient.

While the rear-driven #1 felt up to segment standards, the Brabus version is a bit of a mess. The prospect of 315kW, all-wheel drive, and a 3.9sec 0–100km/h time all sound thrilling, but the reality is a car that has way more performance than finesse.

Listing the differences between the single-motor #1 and the Brabus doesn’t take long. Beyond the second power unit up front, there really aren’t many changes. The Brabus is 112kg heavier, gains a bodykit, Brabus badges and different wheels – plus a new Brabus dynamic mode above Sport.

But that’s pretty much it, with company engineers admitting that suspension settings have been altered only to take account of the extra mass that sits on the front axle, and the Brabus sent into battle wearing the same Conti EcoContact tyres as the RWD car. Definitely not the sort of rubber you expect to see on a car packing more power than an Audi RS3.

The result is a car that could be politely described as a straight-line hero. The Brabus is indeed savagely fast: it would take a sharp-end supercar to keep anywhere close to it under a full-bore launch, with a hard start causing the all-wheel drive #1 to chirp all four tyres. It’s almost comically fast, especially given the cutesy looks and tall proportions.

But adding corners sees discipline disappear. The Brabus #1’s steering is no more incisive than that of the regular car, with the front end’s gummy reactions making it embarrassingly easy to push it into ungainly understeer. At that point the powertrain sends more urge to the rear, where the back tyres are no better able to cope than the ones at the sharp end – creating the unmistakable sensation of impending oversteer.

Fortunately, the traction-control algorithm intervenes before the car actually slides, with more torque then sent forwards until the front starts to run out of grip again. Put simply, the chassis doesn’t feel anything like up to the task of handling so much power – and this was on warm, dry tarmac. The idea of driving one down a wet, greasy road is slightly terrifying.

The less potent RWD #1 is undoubtedly a better car, and one that should be competitively priced when it goes on sale in Europe next year, although considerably more expensive than the Chinese-made MG 4 we drove last month. With a sub-€40K ($AU62,000) starting price, the Smart #1 Pro+ will undercut the Volkswagen ID.3, with standard equipment including a panoramic glass roof, power-adjustable front seats, and a power tailgate.

Premium trim will add adaptive LED headlights and a Beats-branded audio system, among other features, and carry a supplement of around €3000 ($AU4600).

The Brabus should sneak in under €50,000 ($AU78,000), although it will need to be sharpened up to justify itself on any kind of rational criteria. For now, the cheaper and more basic #1 is undoubtedly the better car.

Our bloke in the UK has been writing about cars since the late ’nineties, and served time on the staff of CAR, Autocar and evo magazines. These days he combines his duties for Drive with being European Editor for Car and Driver in the ’States. He loves automotive adventures and old Mercs, sometimes experienced together.

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Copyright Drive.com.au 2022ABN: 84 116 608 158

Vfd 5.5kw DAP Pricing– Unless otherwise stated, all prices are shown as Manufacturer's Recommended List Price (MRLP) inclusive of GST, exclusive of options and on road costs.