Meet the Smart #1, their first EV developed together with Geely, coming soon to Malaysia

Remember Smart? The German marque was once all the rage with its tiny, compact yet stylish looking cars, but in recent years have been on a slumber of sorts. In 2019, its parent company Daimler would announce a deal with Chinese giant Geely where they would work together on Smart vehicles, with the latter building a new lineup of Smart cars. After some concept cars, we now have the first result of the Daimler-Geely partnership, the Smart #1.

The Smart #1 will be a five-door subcompact crossover SUV electric vehicle, measuring 4.27m in length and 1.82m in width with a 2.75m wheelbase. The Smart #1 is built on the Geely’s Sustainable Electric Architecture (SEA) platform, a modular platform used by Geely in their own cars, specifically the SEA2 in the Smart #1’s case. Both the front and back of the car also has LED lights that stretch across the width of the car, while the front air intake has a trapezoid look to it. On the inside, the driver will get a 9.2-inch digital instrument readout that’s rather short in height but long in length.

As for technical specs, its electric engine rear-wheel drive setup provides up to 200kW of power, 343Nm of torque and a maximum speed of 180km/h. It’s all powered by an NCM battery with a maximum capacity of 66kWh, topping out at roughly 420-440km of range. According to Smart, if you’re charging it off the Smart wallbox with AC power, you should be able to get it back to 80% in just three hours. You could cut that down to just 30mins if you’re using their DC fast charger with 150kW output. It’s tires 235/35 R19 in size, and the flat rims apparently work with the active grill shutters to give the Smart #1 a drag coefficient of just 0.29.

Other notable features of the Smart #1 include a floating center console, a halo glass roof, concealed door handles and a large 12.8-inch, FHD touch screen infotainment unit. There audio system meanwhile has been set up in collaboration with Beats, packed with an amplifier module, 13 speakers and a sub-woofer too. You’ll also find seven airbags for safety and a number of driver assistance tools under its Smart Pilot features such as traffic jam assistance and adaptive cruise with stop-and-go.

It’s pronounced exactly as you think it is by the way: ‘Smart Hashtag One’. The Smart #1 is seen as the first production model of a the new family of Smart electric vehicles, and according to them the ‘#’ followed by a number will ‘define a recognisable family name’ for this new EV lineup.

“As the first product set to launch following the brand’s renewal, the smart #1 perfectly combines electric-drive technology and premium quality. I am convinced that the smart #1 will enthuse future customers in both China and Europe, setting new trends of urban mobility and co-creating powerful brand experiences wherever it will make an appearance,” – Daniel Lescow, Smart Automobile Company VP of Global Sales, Marketing and After Sales

There will be a special Launch Edition of the Smart #1 too when it becomes available. This will be limited to just 1,000 units and comes with checkered rims, a two-tone white and gold exterior and interior along with a glass roof too.

If all of this sounds like a car you’d love to drive then you’re in luck, as the Smart #1 will actually be made available in Malaysia. It will be sold via Proton Edar, the manufacturer’s distributor arm, who had signed a memorandum of agreement with the Smart Automobile Company to be the official importer, distributor and dealer of Smart vehicles in Malaysia and Thailand. This would make it the first EV to be sold by Proton. However, there’s still no word just yet on when it’ll be made available, nor do we know how much it’ll cost just yet.