Smart, the brand best known for its small city car, the ForTwo, has unveiled its biggest model yet, a mid-sized electric SUV known as the #5 with technology for glamping (glamorous camping) and gadgets not seen on any car in the Australian market.
On the same day that Smart officially launched the smaller #1 and #3 electric cars on the Australian market, Smart chose Byron Bay – and a rainforest backdrop at an upmarket resort – to make the global reveal of the #5 electric SUV, making it one of the only EVs to ever be globally unveiled in Australia.
Smart is a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and China’s Geely Holdings. Mercedes-Benz has had a big influence on the design of the vehicle.
The new, rugged-looking #5 – Smart would like you to call them “hashtag 1, hashtag 3, hashtag 5 etc – features some European and Chinese idea of what a modern “glamper” might look for, including a projector for watching movies off road, external sound systems and a 20-speaker Sennheiser sound system providing well-tuned sound experience.
The #5 also comes with an option to turn the cabin into a big bed. According to Smart, it offers a King sized cabin space of 2.7 metres by 1.4 metres. That seems fairly generous given the 4,705 mm length.
This cabin is also equipped with a powered roof shade and soundproof privacy glass too to help isolate the occupants from the outdoors and provide a comfortable space to relax when needed.
The #5 sits on an 800 Volt architecture, helping its big 100 kWh battery charge from 10-80% in just 15 minutes. This battery will deliver up to 740 km of CLTC range, which is translate to around 600 km on the WLTP cycle.
The front has a rugged look with LED light strips running along the car’s width. There is also a lidar featured on the roof of this SUV. Other external off-roading features showcased were a roof rack (on which a tent can be mounted), side steps, side bags and a front LED bar.
The interior includes a large “zero-gravity” passenger seat that will provide comfort. These have become popular in some models, given the extra space afforded by the electric set up. In the back, there is a big emphasis on the large rear passenger legroom.
The cabin also features a 10.3-inch LCD instrument cluster screen and a dual 13-inch screen that fills nearly the entire width of the car. This infotainment system is powered by an AMD processor AMD V2000 high-computing-power chip.
Mandy Zhang, the global chief marketing officer of Smart, describes the #5 as a “Contemporary Adventurer”. It is more Jeep Defender than Toyota Landcruiser. But it is electric.
The #5 was designed to inspire exploration of the great outdoors by making every journey a joyful, comfortable experience,” she said.
“The vehicle represents a new level of premium for smart and our entry into a new market segment. Join us as we go beyond conventional boundaries, ‘open your mind’ to new opportunities as a new world of possibilities presents together with our first-ever premium mid-size SUV.”
The #5 will be its largest offering ever in the popular mid-sized SUV segment and is expected to arrive in Australia in 2025.
With prices currently unknown, it’s expected to be priced in line with other adventure vehicles currently on offer which often start around the $90,000 range locally.
The new #5 has been showcased to be feature pack and built for several road conditions..
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.