The production version of the all-new Smart #1 SUV has been unveiled at a world premiere in Berlin, Germany.
As the first of the new generation all-electric product family, the Smart #1 is jointly developed by Mercedes Benz and Geely.
Exterior design elements include concealed electric door handles, frameless doors, and a floating halo roof.
“The new smart #1 stands for the re-start of the smart brand and showcases our new design DNA of Sensual Product,” says Gorden Wagener, chief design officer of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
“It is grown up, cool and embodies beauty with smart solutions. Therefore, it is new, fresh, and enchanting. Our new smart #1 has the potential to make smart a leading design brand.”
The #1 is the first Europe-bound car to sit on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), which also underpins the Chinese Zeekr 001.
WhichEV understands that this platform offers flexibility in that it can cater for future variants of the #1 that have bigger batteries and powertrains.
Initially, it houses a 66kWh battery and rear-mounted 200kW (268hp) electric motor – enough for a 0-60mph sprint of 6.7 seconds.
The Smart #1’s top speed is around 112mph.
AC charging allows the vehicle to be replenished from 10-80% with a 22kW supply in three hours.
With a DC fast charger, this can be accomplished in under 30 minutes.
Sat centrally inside the EV is a customisable infotainment interface, which houses all the apps, and features an avatar as an intelligent companion with AI-based voice control.
This centralised computing architecture ensures dynamic over-the-air updates so that more than 75% of all ECUs in the car can be updated remotely.
The Smart #1 is currently undergoing the EU homologation procedure, due to be completed by the second half of this year.
No details of when it will go on sale have been provided but we expect it to land in China first before hitting European markets.