Smart #1
Buy from £35,950 // Lease from £480/month
Do you remember when Smart Cars were titchy two-seaters that could be driven nose-first into an on-street parking space with little worry? Those halcyon days are long gone, replaced by a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Chinese automotive giant Geely.
The Smart ‘Hashtag’ 1 (yep, you have to say hashtag) loses some of that exciting future city transport cool in favour of the now ubiquitous SUV/Crossover styling, which means it’s physically quite large and looks a bit like a balloon animal version of a Mini Countryman. Underneath, all versions receive a 62kWh battery pack that sends power to a motor on the rear wheels. The more expensive Premium model manages to eke 273 miles of range from said power source, while the cheaper Pro+ manages 260-miles.
Like so many electric cars on sale, the modern Smart car feels extremely brisk, able to accelerate from 0-62mph in just 6.7 seconds. Like we said, it’s rear-wheel-driven, too, so it’s possible to have the traction control light flashing when approaching a wintry roundabout a little too ‘hot’. Not what we expected from a family-friendly daily driver.
The interior is the majority Mercedes-Benz, so there’s a lot to like about the overall ambience. Hushed mood lighting when the sun sets, a Beats sound system in the Premium models and a large infotainment screen complete with an AI fox taking care of voice commands. It’s also surprisingly roomy inside, with the raised roofline offering plenty of headroom and the panoramic sunroof in our test model letting in lots of natural light. The sparse minimalism inside gives the Smart #1 a whiff of Apple Store about it, which is nice.
Despite the roominess in the rear, boot space is pretty stingy, while the general driving demeanour lacks any sort of soul aside from the silly acceleration. The regen braking has zero feel and is often snatchy at low speeds.
It’s just a relatively non-descript (but nippy) way of getting from A to B, but if that’s all you want from your EV, the fact it has 150kW charging capabilities (a 10 to 80 per cent top-up takes less than 30 minutes), as well as a sizeable range, means it will be more than apt for many.
