[ UPDATE 21/11/2023 ] Smart #1 is officially priced from RM189,000 in Malaysia.
===
Smart Malaysia has officially revealed the price range for its upcoming electric vehicle, the Smart #1. In addition to that, the company has also confirmed that the new model will be made available in three variants.
This is a rather interesting development because prior to this, only Premium and Brabus variants were confirmed for release in Malaysia. Now, you can also add the Pro variant to the list.
Smart #1 Malaysia price range, free charging credit
So, let’s talk about the pricing first. While Smart Malaysia still haven’t released the full pricing yet, the company said that the price range for all three variants will be between RM200,000 and RM250,00 on-the-road without insurance.
For those who are wondering, Sales and Service Tax has been included in the pricing. While this is only been made official today, customers have already been able to book Smart #1 through the Hello Smart mobile app since late last month although the Pro variant has not yet been listed at that time.
As noted before, the booking fee for Smart #1 is RM1,000 and is fully refundable, unlike Tesla’s order fee. The Hello Smart app is readily available from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Huawei AppGallery.
In today’s announcement, Smart Malaysia once again said that it is on track to deliver the first batch of Smart #1 into Malaysia within Q4 this year. The company’s CEO, Zhang Qiang also pointed out that nine dealerships throughout the country are currently gearing up to launch the new EV.
The CEO has also announced the #1 Early Bird program which provides free charging credits of RM1,001 to the first 501 customers of the new EV. They can utilise the credit directly through the Hello Smart mobile app itself which can be used to activate more than 70% of public chargers in Malaysia.
What’s different with the Smart #1 Pro variant?
The new Smart #1 Pro is essentially the lower-end model of the family. That being said though, this variant still has the same 200kW (268hp) electric motor with 343Nm torque in rear-wheel drive setup as per its Premium counterpart.
Similarly, the Pro variant can also sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 6.7 seconds alongside a top speed of 180km/h. What really separates it apart is the smaller 49kWh LFP battery.
With a smaller battery, this means the variant’s range is also much shorter at 315km according to WLTP standard. As a comparison, the Premium variant has a WLTP rated range of 440km while the Brabus version can deliver a WLTP range of 400km.
The Smart #1 Pro is still able to support 150kW DC fast chargers and with a smaller battery, this means it can also be charged from 10 to 80% SOC much faster at 22 minutes. However, its onboard AC charger can only support up to 7.2kW which resulted in a much longer AC charging time of 6 hours.
On the outside, the Pro variant is also missing the matrix LED headlamps with Adaptive High Beam. Other exterior features that are also absent from this variant include auto head lamp levelling, illuminated front grille & door handle, luminous side logo, welcome light, and kick sensor for the power tailgate.
As for the car’s interior, Smart #1 Pro carries leatherette seats instead of leather while there is no ventilation feature for the front seats as well. This variant is also missing the 10-inch head-up display and has been fitted with a 5-speaker audio system from an unnamed maker instead of having a Beats audio system as per other variants.
You can watch our first drive with the Smart #1 Pro in Malaysia below:
