Video Summary
The 2024 Smart #1 EV is an interesting electric vehicle with premium pricing.Smart started off as a collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and the watchmaker Swatch, specializing in tiny city cars with quirky styling and plastic body panels.
Mercedes-Benz sold half of its shares to China's Geely, making it a joint venture.
Now, Smart is being treated and marketed as a full premium brand, available in select Mercedes-Benz showrooms.
It does have Chinese origins, yet the styling is more Mercedes-Benz than Chinese.
There are three variants to choose from in Malaysia: #1 Pro, #1 Premium and #1 Brabus, and they are treated and managed as separate brands under Proton.
The #1 premium seems to be the Goldilocks option within the range: with larger battery than the pro, range of 440 km, and a better-looking face than the Brabus.
The smart #1’s exterior has a unique style with all the traditional quirk.
The rims are 19 inches, filling up the wheel arches well, and there is a contrasting floating roof look.
There are flush door handles and frameless windows.
The interior has the same concept car appeal of many concept cars, and the build quality was a mixed bag.
There is a T-shaped dashboard that cocoons you within the cabin.
Front seats are harder than other EVs; good lumbar support though.
The ambient lighting has great implementation and doubles as safety warnings.
There’s a 13-speaker Beats Audio sound system as well as Isofix anchors on the front passenger seat.
On this test car, the door creeks a fair bit too.
The rear windows only go down halfway.
There is plenty of room in the back for a three-adult set up, better than BMWs or Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
The onboard system’s graphics have a full Apple CarPlay integration, as well as Android Auto.
This particular Malaysian model has full integration of the EV charging network within the screen.
Power comes from a 272 PS, 343 Nm motor in the rear, and 155 kW fast DC charging is achievable. The range is 436 kilometres.
It drives dynamically, but is not as snappy or aggressive, and the power delivery feels somewhat comfortable; in comfort mode there is good responsiveness in power delivery for daily driving.
In tests, this unit got 13.2 kWh/100 km, exceeding the original stated WTLP range.
The 2.5-Level ADAS (active driving systems assistance) is a bit jittery compared to that of Tesla’s.
A driver-monitoring system watches for attentiveness, which will soon be a requirement in Europe.
