In August 2024, Smart, the brand best known for its small city car, the ForTwo, entered the Australian market with The Driven team getting the first test drive of the #1 and #3 models.
Since then, hundreds of owners have taken deliveries of the #3 around the country, so we decided to spend a bit more time with this mid-sized electric SUV with the mid-spec Premium variant to see what’s changed and if its still our pick from the brand.
The Smart #3 comes packed with great premium interior quality, and offers design, tech, and a silky smooth drive at a reasonable price.
The pricing for the #3 officially starts at $57,900 before on-roads for the Pro+ variant, while the Premium variant we tested comes at $61,900 plus on-roads.
The #3 comes with a 66 kWh Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) battery pack, delivering up to 455 km of WLTP range on a single charge. In our testing, we got close to 400 km on a single charge, which is plenty for most drivers around our major cities.
When it came to charging, it also did well in both DC charging with speeds of up ot 150 kW achievable at the right DC chargers, ideal for road trips with quick top-ups at those speeds.
Smart claims 10-80% in 30 minutes, and in our testing, it was close, coming in at 32 minutes for 15-80%.
Where the #3 Premium variant really does stand out is with its on-board AC charger, which delivers up to 22 kW of charging capabilities for those who have access to a 3-phase 22 kW charger.
With this, charging the car from pretty much empty to full takes around 3 hours, making it very convenient for those relying on kerbside charging as an option.
The influence of Mercedes-Benz on the styling is clear, both inside and out. At the front, the LED lighting signatures do make it very easy to spot and give the car an overall premium look, found on cars that cost much more.
I found the cabin quite roomy, partially thanks to the large panoramic sunroof, which gives more headroom for taller drivers and passengers in the car.
In the centre, there is a 12.8-inch screen, which is where many of the car’s functions and infotainment can be accessed from. I found it quite responsive and it was certainly one of the better systems I’ve seen in recently launched EVs.
It integrated well with my Android phone, and its in-built mapping system did the job in most cases. For those looking for a familiar interface, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, which I also tried and worked well, bringing Google Maps and Spotify directly into the car.
The car also features its own apps, such as Spotify, available with the help of the mobile data pack included with the car.
Behind the steering wheel, a 9.2-inch cluster screen provided key driving, navigation and other information. On top of that, a 10-inch head-up display is also included, and in all my testing, it worked well in many different lighting conditions.
The driver’s seat is very supportive and feels good on both short and longer drives, and I got multiple people of different heights commenting on the surprising amount of leg and head room in the rear passenger seats, given the size of the car.
The #3 Premium is powered by a single RWD electric motor. It delivers up to 200 kW of power and 343 Nm in torque, which is plenty for city and suburban streets, and it does well on the highway. This powertrain also delivers a 0-100 km/h sprint time in just 5.4 seconds, which is pretty impressive for a small SUV at its price point.
Where I found the car quite fun to drive was in the hilly roads of the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Ranges, although one area of improvement is the driver monitoring system, which appeared to be on the more sensitive end of what we’ve seen in other cars.
Finally, the steering was relatively precise, although not at Tesla or BMW levels, it did do a good job around mountains and gave the right feedback on busier city and suburban roads, where most buyers are likely to drive this variant.
Where the steering and the car’s tech suite stood out was in parking at the local shops and in multi-level carparks, which can be narrow at times. The camera system with a 360-degree view made it super easy to drive around those, as well as tighter drive-thrus.
All-in-all, driving the Smart #3 Premium was quite fun to drive. It’s got great styling, a nice light bar at the front of a coupe-like SUV styled car.
It’s loaded with plenty of tech, is easy to drive, park and zippy enough around our cities. It also offers great charging tech, especially the 22 kW AC at this price point and 150 kW when DC charging on the go.
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.