Image: Smart
Smart is a brand that many car enthusiasts would remember as making small inner-city cars.
These days, Smart Automobile is backed by Mercedes-Benz and Geely and they have just started deliveries of their next model which happens to be an EV – and slightly bigger than the quirky inner-city ICE car we once remember it to be.
Like the BMW-owned Mini brand has grown in size over the years, Mercedes-Benz-backed Smart has also grown.
Smart has just commenced deliveries of the #1 EV in China. This diminutive vehicle is more like a small SUV than the mini hatch it once used to be. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the funky colour schemes it once offered.
The new EV is 4.27 metres in length. This is a tad smaller than the most affordable EV available in Australia, the BYD Atto 3. The Atto 3 is 18.5 centimetres longer at 4.45 metres.
The official range figure in China where customer deliveries have begun stands at 560 km on the CLTC cycle. The Smart #1 will sit around 450+ km of range using the WLTP standard.
For a quick comparison of range, Tesla says the Model 3 in China has 556 km of range, based on the CLTC rating standard.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the same model is 491 km, based on the European WLTP range test.
We expect the range of Smart #1 to be closer to 450+ km under the WLTP cycle.
The Smart #1 can achieve fast charging speeds of up to 150 kW. This is similar to Polestar 2 currently available in Australia.
The price of the Smart #1 EV starts at just shy of $42,000 AUD and goes all the way up to $52,500 AUD given the current exchange rates for RMB to AUD.
A model like the Smart #1 that’s similarly sized and priced (for its base model) is set to be a hit, given the recent success of the BYD Atto 3 in Australia.
There is quite a bit of demand for affordable smaller EVs. Bringing an EV similar to this to the Australian market will offer a broader range of EVs to those looking at making the switch.
The Smart brand is well known by many in the inner-city parts of Australia. Perhaps this could be the next smarter city EV that many go for.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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