Smart cars dot down in New Zealand soon with two fresh offerings in the #1 and #3.
Remember smart cars when they first arrived in New Zealand as used imports? The little pint-sized fortwo – two-seater, clearly – that you could just about wrap your arms around, it was that tiny. So small in fact you could park it by merely driving into a space between two parked cars. And we don’t mean parallel parking. No, you could nose it into the curb because it was so short (2.7m) it fitted when parked 90 degrees to everything else. You could also fit two of them into one carpark.
Well you can forget about all that because the new generation of smart cars is no longer miniature. They’re compact but not shrunken in size, both the first offerings to arrive here being between 4.2 and 4.5m long. Plus, they have seating for five. And regular luggage space, with space for cables up front.
So yes, they’re electric. As are all smart offerings, at least for now.
The reincarnated smart brand is a collaboration between Mercedes and Geely, all using the latter’s SEA platform. And while there’s initially a pair of them, known as #1 and #3 – one guess why there’s no number two – there are actually six variants of the pair. That’s because there are three grades for each of the body shapes, varying by specification and power, by and large. For both ranges, the entry model is the Pro+, the intermediate model is known as Premium and at the head of each shape, the Brabus go-hard model. The latter are dual-motor AWD variants.
Brabus is a long time aftermarket tuning house and it specialises in Mercedes, Maybach and smart vehicles. So there have been Brabus smart tearaways right from the outset, the first Brabus fortwo emerging in 2003.
Smart originated as a collaboration between Swatch and Mercedes, aiming to make artful creations. The smart badge, by the by, looks like a stylised C with an arrowhead beneath. Evidently, it stands for ‘compact and forward thinking’. Hence, the smart name, with a lower case.
Only the next model to join the smart line-up later in the year isn’t exactly compact at 4700mm. The #5 medium electric SUV will feature a 100kW battery pack offering a real world range of around 550km, so smart is really entering not-so-compact territory here. Expect both an SUV and a more expensive Summit off-road version. They will come with an 800v platform, permitting a 70 per cent recharge in 15min. And, like most manufacturers who aimed to be electric only, the slowdown in EV adoption has Smart looking towards a PHEV version of the #5. That’s for H2 of this year.
Meantime, the cars you see here are about to go on sale and we got a short taste test in one of each range. Kicking off with the more exotic looking coupe-style #3 Premium variant ($74,990) which has a 66kWh battery (DC fast charging 10-80 per cent takes 30min), range of around 450km and a 200kW/343Nm motor driving the rear wheels. That’s a fair amount of poke for a vehicle weighing in at 1810kg. It feels smooth and effortless in town, using the Comfort mode, and is said to reach 100 from stopped in 5.8sec in Sport. Plant it for an overtake and it fair rushes forward. The #3 range kicks off with the Pro+ at $69,990.
The Premium we drove is not as fast as the $10k more expensive Brabus version, however; with 315kW and 543Nm and weighing just over 1900kg wet, it can complete the 100km/h dash in 3.7sec. However, we did drive back from the Matakana area in the #1 Brabus ($79,990). This is the more upright urban-look electric hatch. It has the same powertrain as Brabus #3, and when we let rip away from an intersection in Brabus mode it rampaged to 100, with a convincing synthesised snarl as an accompaniment. People will like how these two Brabus small’uns go. Don’t fancy your chances in a stoplight strop with either of these, unless you’re bringing a seriously sharp knife to the proceedings. And their brakes and regen settings are just as well thought out.
The Premium is a good drive too, nicely balanced and rear-wheel drive. You’d probably only go for the Brabus because you really want that pace or genuinely feel the need for AWD. Maybe you just enjoy putting high-powered ICE cars in your rear view mirrors.
What we also like about this pair is their control systems. All those annoying safety items garner each vehicle a five-star ANCAP crash rating but some of the reminders can be vexing. We culled the overspeed bongs and the lane departure noises. You can then save these optimised settings so that next time around you just need to push the shortcut button to silence them all. Hooray to that.
So this is essentially a new start for this brand in New Zealand; only the name remains really. Here smart is distributed by Armstrongs. Which is appropriate as they have major Mercedes dealerships in Botany, Auckland and Christchurch. Smart cars will occupy their own space within Mercedes dealerships. And that is a clever strategy indeed. For the least expensive electric Mercedes available currently is the EQA 250+ which kicks off at $92,500. So all current smart cars are significantly less expensive but no less premium.
Both cars look modern and the smart interior is just that, with interesting metallic dash finishes, supportive seats, a panoramic sunroof, and Qi charging. There are contrasting paint finishes too, with a black or red roof. Premium comes with leather seat trim and Beats audio sound system. There’s power operation for the fifth door across the range. The upper two models in each of the line-ups come with a head-up display.
All except the Brabus ride on 19-inch wheels, while the speedsters get 20-inch hoops. They all have a five-year/150,000km warranty (battery eight years/160,000km). Service intervals are 12 months/20,000km.
Smart reckons its vehicles are “the perfect blend of German precision, European quality and leading-edge Chinese EV technology”.
General Manager, Arek Zywot, has been driving the #3 Brabus and commented “You have a smile on your face every time you get behind the wheel.” He added “Smart is here to shake things up and disrupt the status quo.”
If it were us, we’d spend the extra on the #3; the sleek coupe styling alone is worth it. Besides, it has more boot space at 260L vs 203L. However, the #1 is a bit more compact at 4270mm vs 4400mm, if that’s important. Both are handy five seaters. Rivals include Cupra Born, MG4 XPower and some of the incoming premiums like Zeekr X.
You can test drive these ahead of dealer sites opening in March if you’re curious. To do so, head to www.nz.smart.com.
