Smarter than you think

Years ago, smart (note the lowercase ‘s’) was born from an unlikely alliance between Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, and Mercedes-Benz. Initially launched as a compact two-seater – sometimes affectionately dubbed the ‘Swatchmobile’ – it eventually became a sub-brand under Mercedes. The name smart is actually an acronym: S for Swatch, M for Mercedes, and ART. You may want to tuck that away for your next pub quiz. The car was so short that if you couldn’t find a space to park it lengthways, you could always try widthways. It also earned notoriety in the Moose Test – a sudden swerving manoeuvre used to simulate avoiding an obstacle – where early models didn’t exactly pass with flying colours. Several tweaks (and a fair bit of money) later, the car was much improved – and considerably safer.

Time, as they say, waits for no person – or car – and the original smart has now taken its place in the museum of quirky motoring relics. Which brings us to the new smart, though it’s not particularly small anymore. Born from a joint venture between Mercedes (or Daimler, as the parent company is still known in some circles) and Geely, it combines German design with Chinese manufacturing. The result is the smart #1, a fully electric compact SUV. Incidentally, Geely also owns Polestar, Volvo, and Lotus, which explains why the new Volvo EX30 shares its underpinnings with the smart #1.

At first glance, especially in isolated photos without a frame of reference, you might assume the smart #1 is small. But up close, its height becomes obvious. I’m of average height, yet when I’m standing beside it, I lose eye contact with a passenger getting in on the far side. It also gives the impression of being quite wide – though its actual dimensions are in line with many rivals.

Also, it is quite spacious inside. There is lots of headroom and a feeling of width inside the car that belies the figures and size competition with the likes of the model Y. There are no swings without roundabouts and hence the boot size is limited. Don’t expect to get a full set of golf clubs in there.

Test model

My test model was the Brabus version – Mercedes’ performance arm, long known for coaxing more speed out of just about anything on four wheels. Select the right drive mode and you can unleash all 430bhp and 543 Nm of torque, propelling the car from 0 to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds – more than enough to startle the unprepared. Twin motors provide four-wheel drive, while other variants offer a more modest setup: Rear-wheel drive only, smaller (and more affordable) batteries, and consequently shorter range. There’s also a mid-spec version with rear-wheel drive, but a larger battery, giving it greater range.

The Brabus model offers four driving modes: Eco, Comfort, Sport, and finally, the fastest, Brabus.

Features

It is seriously rapid yet fuss-free. It just gathers pace with no warning, no extra noise. With the Brabus mode, there was supposed to be an artificial exhaust noise, but I didn’t notice it. While I had the car there was a software upgrade, and I was supposed to accept terms and conditions, which I didn’t, losing me some of the features until a service man with a laptop restored normality.

One these lost features, which I didn’t get to try out, was the voice command function. Any car that relies heavily on a touchscreen needs good voice instructions, and Mercedes have these to a fine art in their own cars, so I would expect the software to work equally as well.

All the safety features are well accounted for with lane assist and adaptive cruise control (the only one to have). I was not able to switch off the lane assist, but there are times I find I’m locked out of interfering with the safety features on test cars.

I pride myself on driving smoothly, but found, in certain driving modes, I had a lot of difficulty. In Eco mode, it was easy, less so in other modes, but I would expect, with practice, I’d get the hang of it eventually.

There was some road noise, which (my opinion only) I felt was due to the frameless door windows, and (maybe) the lack of insulating glass. The driver gets two screens, with a small narrower screen the driver only can see and a central one for everyone else. The upper market versions also get the heads-up display for the essentials, such as speed and cruise control. And they also get a Beats sound system, which is excellent.

Handling was safe and predictable, as with all electric cars it finds grip wherever it is available. You don’t buy a car like this to explore the limits of traction and I found it felt a little light getting near the edge, encouraging me to back off.

The test car was predominantly black with red highlights and accents.

It will be sold alongside Mercedes in their showrooms. In the UK, they are winning sales from Mercedes because customers simply see them and instantly like them. They are a safe, comfortable, and, for a smart, a spacious car. I expect they’ll do well.