The original Smart City Coupé was one of the most revolutionary vehicles of the past quarter century – and a huge commercial failure.
When the innovative miniature was first launched in 1998, Smart’s parent company, Daimler, predicted that cities would be designed around it – something that seemed genuinely possible, given its dinky dimensions and radical styling. But despite receiving generous backing for more than two decades, Smart never achieved commercial success, nor reportedly ever made a profit – and BMW’s much less technically adventurous Mini brand outsold it by more than three to one.
That’s a quick way of explaining why, although the branding of the Smart #1 is familiar, almost everything else is different. This is another roll of the dice, an all-new electric crossover that’s the first product from a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, the Chinese giant that also owns Lotus, Polestar and Volvo.
Under this deal, new Smart cars will be designed by Mercedes and briefly sold alongside the existing EQ Fortwo and EQ Forfour electric city cars. But the #1 sits on Geely’s SEA platform and will be built by that company in Xi’an, China.
Let’s start by covering off the name, which, in the fashion of a middle-aged father trying to get down with the kids, really is meant to be pronounced ‘hashtag one’. You can decide for yourself whether that’s #blessed or #cringe.
Three versions will be available from launch in the UK next year, the entry-level Pro+ (possibly the first car named after a hangover cure) and the Premium both using a 268bhp motor out back. The range topping Brabus (which you can read about overleaf) gets a second motor up front and peak output of 422bhp.
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