Smart #1 review

Our opinion on the Smart #1

New starts are hard, but despite this, the Smart #1 shows plenty of promise as the Smart brand transitions to an electrified future. It’s got a spacious interior with a nifty sliding rear seat, an efficient electric drivetrain that helps get the most range out of its battery pack, and handsome styling. We also can’t knock it for over-delivering on performance compared with its rivals.

However, there’s still work to be done nailing down the ride and handling balance, especially in the case of the high-performance Brabus version, which isn’t what you want in a car with a sub-four-second 0-62mph acceleration time. Some quirks to its infotainment system need ironing out, and we’ve found its safety assistance technology to be highly annoying and a bit distracting while driving.

About the Smart #1

Smart used to be a purveyor of tiny two-seater city cars, but it has since built on its early efforts with electric cars to sell bigger electric SUVs with wider appeal, starting with the appropriately named #1.

It shares a platform with the Volvo EX30, and comes with a choice of battery sizes: 49kWh for Pure and Pro trims, and 66kWh for the Pro+, Premium, and Brabus trims. All rear-wheel drive, single motor models put out 268bhp, while, the high-performance Brabus model uses two electric motors, giving you four-wheel drive and 422bhp.

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We’ve twin tested the Smart #1 against the Renault Megane, and we’ve also put a Smart #1 Premium through a long term test.

Smart #1 prices and latest deals

Pricing for the Smart #1 starts at just under £30,000 for the Pure version with the smallest 49kWh (47kWh usable) battery pack. The larger 66kWh (62kWh usable) battery pack is available from the Pro+ trim and costs around £37,000, while the Premium trim, which includes the all-important heat pump and offers the longest electric range, is just over £39,500. The bonkers fast Brabus tops out at nearly £45,000, which is more than the entry-level BMW iX1.

If you're interested in getting yourself a Smart #1, we can help. Configure your ideal Smart #1 now to get top offers from local dealers, check out the latest Smart #1 leasing deals or search for used Smart #1 models with our Buy A Car service. You can even sell your existing car for a great price with Auto Express Sell My Car.

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While it’s hard not to be impressed by the performance of the Smart #1, we’re a little underwhelmed by its soft suspension, which leads to excessive body roll on twisty B roads, and a tendency to feel bouncy at speed when loaded up. All this performance needs to be backed up by a well-sorted suspension system, given the wide range of road types (of varying quality, too) we have in this country. We think the #1 still needs some work.

All isn’t lost for those who’ve set their heart on getting a Smart, because the Smart #3 with its firmer suspension settings and longer wheelbase contribute to a much more settled and confidence-inspiring drive, and it still has the cute looks that make the #1 such an appealing proposition.

Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed

The straight-line speed of the #1 is a world away from Smart cars of old because even the least powerful model has 268bhp and surges through the 0-62mph sprint in 6.7 seconds – that’s the same as the hot-hatch rivalling Ford Puma ST. 

If that isn’t enough, then there’s the even more bonkers Brabus version with 422bhp. Combined with the additional traction of four-wheel drive, it launches from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds, outgunning even the more expensive BMW iX1 and plenty of high-performance petrol cars.

Town driving, visibility and parking

If what you want from your small electric SUV is a speedy getaway in the traffic light Grand Prix, then the Smart #1 is your car. Even the least powerful version can embarrass a hot hatch, while the hotter Brabus version is just plain nuts. And if there are any lingering memories about the slow and jerky performance of old Smart cars, then the #1 will dispel them immediately. The all-electric drivetrain is much smoother, given that it doesn’t need to change gears.

However, performance isn’t all that crucial, given you’ll most likely end up stuck in traffic not going very fast, and this is where you start to notice the shortcomings of the #1. Like many EVs, the #1 has a heavy battery pack contributing to a not inconsiderable kerb weight (up to 1900kg in Brabus form). You’ll feel that weight because the soft suspension and under-damped shock absorbers of the #1 lead to an unsettled ride that struggles to control the car’s mass. We’ve found it to be bumpy at low speeds over potholes and speed bumps. 

There are three different drive mode settings for the steering weight, of which we think the middle ‘comfort’ option is best. Sport adds additional heft, but it’s a bit much for what most buyers will want from a small electric SUV – especially when parking in town.

Typical of EVs, the Smart uses motor regeneration to slow the car while recovering energy. However, there’s a delay between lifting off the accelerator pedal and the regen engaging. It’s hard to drive the #1 smoothly because of this, and is most obvious in the top ‘one-pedal’ setting, where the most aggressive regeneration slows the car noticeably after a brief pause when lifting off the accelerator. 

Country road driving and handling

When you consider the Smart’s performance, the relative lack of body control on a challenging country road is more of an issue. This is a quick car in standard form – its 0-62mph time matches that of the hot Ford Puma ST, while the Brabus version is even quicker – yet the suspension in all versions feels unprepared to handle that speed on anything other than a straight road. Sudden bumps are dealt with very harshly. It’s more of a concern in corners, where the body has a tendency to roll quickly, and then bounce once it’s fully loaded up. The ride feels more at odds in this car than in many rivals, because the springs and dampers often feel out of sync with one another. 

What’s also not a great idea are the nannying safety assistance systems that constantly interfere with the steering when travelling down a narrow country lane, and can get quite aggressive when you move out to try and give a cyclist a wide berth, for example. The driver attention monitor is also deeply frustrating because it can go off when looking to check that the coast is clear at a junction, or if you take a sip from a water bottle. 

Motorway driving and long-distance comfort

The one plus to the Smart’s soft suspension and significant body weight is that it feels fairly soothing at motorway speeds. Our picture editor, Dawn Grant, ran a Premium trim version for a period of time as part of a long term test, and found it to be quiet at higher A road and motorway speeds, making the #1 a relaxing place to spend time in on longer trips.

“The chassis in the Brabus version can come close to unravelling if you’re too harsh with your inputs; the front tyres break traction first, and then the system seems to start allowing some slip at the rear, before changing its mind. Let’s just say that you’ll end up squirting the Smart #1 Brabus between corners like a mini-GT, instead of pointing it at apices like a hot hatch. - John Mcllroy, former deputy editor

Electric range, battery life and charge time

The Smart #1 range starts with a 49kWh (47kWh usable) battery pack in the entry-level Pro version, while all other versions come with a 66kWh (62kWh usable) battery pack. The entry-level Pro model provides 193 miles of range, rising to 260 miles using the larger battery in the Pro+ model. This increases to 273 miles for the Premium model, while the top-of-the-range Brabus with four-wheel drive and additional power drops this down to 248 miles.

If you’re thinking it’s odd that the pricier Premium model goes further than the Pro+ version despite using the same size battery, that’s because a heat pump comes as standard on the former. This device is a much more efficient way of heating the interior of the car in cold weather, and provides a welcome boost in range. During our testing of a Premium trim test car against a Renault Megane E-Tech, our results suggested that over 230 miles of range in warmer weather is achievable, while our picture editor, Dawn Grant, achieved an average of 3.9 miles/kWh or around 242 miles of range between charging during her long term test.

Find a suitably fast rapid charger, and you can top-up the 49kWh (47kWh usable) and 66kWh (62kWh usable) versions from 10-80 per cent charge in around 30 minutes. The smaller pack will take up to 130kW, while the larger one will take up to 150kW.

Most will probably use cheaper overnight electricity and charge up using a 7.4kW wallbox charger at home. The smaller battery pack will take up to 7.5 hours to fully recharge, while the larger capacity battery will take up to 10 hours to fully recharge a flat battery.

Insurance groups

The nippy electric car performance we described earlier means your insurance costs will be higher than the equivalent petrol or diesel alternative. The least expensive Pro is in group 30, while the high-performance Brabus is in group 38. That’s a lot higher than a regular petrol small SUV, such as the 1.0 TSI SE SEAT Arona, which is only in group nine. If you’re after an EV with lower insurance costs, a Vauxhall Mokka Electric starts in group 21, while the highly regarded Megane E-Tech starts in group 26.

Tax

The zero tailpipe emissions of the #1 mean it’ll be beneficial to company car drivers paying Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) rates, because it sits in the low three per cent category – at least until 2025. That’s much lower than similarly sized petrol or diesel small SUVs. 

Unfortunately, you will have to pay an annual vehicle excise duty (VED) tax to drive this EV. The £40,000 luxury car tax surcharge barrier is being increased to £50,000 for electric cars from 1 April 2026, but those who ordered an EV from 1 April 2025 will retrospectively benefit from this change.

Depreciation

Depreciation for the Smart #1 should be reasonable by class standards, according to our experts. Over three years and 36,000 miles, it should maintain between 41 and 47 per cent of its resale value. The Skoda Elroq performs slightly better than the #1 by retaining between 47 and 55 per cent of its value over the same period.

The exterior design for the #1 came from the European side of the partnership, while the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) – all the mechanical bits beneath that handsome body – are the work of Geely. It’s a partnership that, on the face of it, looks to have worked well. The bold design is very premium looking, and the free two-tone paint scheme helps it stand out against competitors.

As already alluded to, there are five trim levels, starting with the Pure trim. It comes with all the stuff you’d need, including 18-inch alloy wheels, LED head and tail lights, auto lights and wipers, blind spot monitoring, and traffic sign recognition. Upgrade to Pro trim for 19-inch wheels, a panoramic glass roof, artificial leather trim with front seat electric adjustment, an electric tailgate, adaptive cruise, dual-zone climate control, and ambient interior lighting. Next up is Pro+ (not a caffeinated tablet), which gives you a larger battery pack. 

Our favourite Premium trim adds:

• Matrix LED headlights
• A head-up display
• A fancier sound system
• Wireless phone charging
• A heat pump. 

The Brabus trim is the only way to get four-wheel drive, adds sportier exterior and interior design details on top of all the equipment a Premium trim provides.

Interior and dashboard design

The clever use of bold shapes, textures, and the visual delight of the 64-colour ambient lighting help to distract from the inevitable cheaper plastics mounted lower down. Overall, the effect remains impressive, giving a fresh, modern, and minimalist look.

The driver has a 9.2-inch digital cluster tucked into the dashboard, which is a little on the small side. You can get around this by opting for a Premium trim with a head-up display, which projects important information directly onto the windscreen in your line of sight, meaning you don’t need to refocus your eyes from the road. The Volvo EX30 doesn’t get this handy feature, and you have to resort to looking over towards the central screen to find important information like what speed you’re going, because you don’t even get an instrument cluster in front of the driver.

Materials and build quality

The interior is the highlight of the #1, because it resembles the work of a premium manufacturer. It certainly feels like co-parent brand Mercedes had a hand in the action of the cubby lids and the tactile-feeling buttons on the steering wheel. 

Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo

All versions of #1 get a 12.8-inch central touchscreen that’s reasonably responsive to your inputs. It has a rather busy-looking home screen that is a little difficult to navigate compared with the simpler sub-menus within the infotainment system, although we suspect that most will get used to it over an extended period. We did note that the animated fox (which acts as a home screen companion) was a little glitchy in the early build cars we’ve tested, so hopefully, this will be mended with an over-the-air software update.

Those initial cars we tried didn’t have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone capability, but we were promised that this would be sorted via an update, and any orders placed since October 2023 would have this connectivity upon delivery. There are four USB-C charging points (two up front, and two for rear seat passengers), while a wireless phone charging pad is provided from Premium trim and above.

The Beats sound system doesn’t really live up to the high-end ambitions you’d expect for an uprated speaker set-up. For its 640-watt output and 13 speakers, it’s a bit underwhelming to our ears.

“I’m not entirely convinced by the wireless phone-charging pad that comes as standard on our Premium-spec model. It does work, but if the phone moves slightly, it stops charging. Rather than worry about having to continually adjust the phone’s position, I’ve got around the problem by plugging a cable into one of the USB ports in the rear – it’s always good to have options.” – Dawn Grant, picture editor 

Considering that the #1’s footprint is similar to a VW Golf’s, the room it offers for both occupants and their luggage is very impressive. However, larger rivals like the Skoda Elroq have come along, providing much more space inside for a family.

Dimensions and size

The Smart #1 is longer and taller than its Volvo EX30 sibling, if not quite as wide. It is taller than our class favourite, the Skoda Elroq, but the Elroq is larger in all other dimensions, helping to contribute to its more generous interior accommodation. 

Seats & passenger space

You sit quite high up in the Smart #1, and when combined with a large amount of glass all around, you have excellent visibility in all directions. All but the entry-level Pure trim gets front and rear parking sensors, plus a 360-degree camera system to help you out when parking. Space is good up front, with enough head, leg, and shoulder room for a pair of six-footers. 

There’s lots of legroom in the rear, and headroom is good despite the panoramic glass roof. We found more space in the back of the #1 than in the Megane E-Tech, which is undoubtedly helped by the sliding rear bench. The floor is flat with no central tunnel, so there’s plenty of foot space for three passengers. The one minor downside is that the seat backrests are quite firm.

An Isofix point is mounted on the front passenger seat (ensure the passenger airbag is disabled when a rear-facing child seat is fitted), and two Isofix points are provided on the outer positions of the sliding rear bench. 

Boot space

At only 323 litres (Premium and Brabus models lose 10 litres due to the Beats Audio system’s subwoofer), the boot appears small compared to the 440 litres provided by the Megane E-Tech. However, the boot floor of the #1 is level with the bumper, making it less of a hassle to heave heavier items over the awkward loading lip in the Renault. Additionally, the #1 features a neat, square-shaped boot area with a wide opening, making it quite useful.

You can always slide the rear seats forward for a little more capacity, or fold them down completely. Doing so increases the volume to 986 litres (976 litres for Premium and Brabus models) – and that figure measures only to the window line rather than the roof. There’s a decent amount of extra storage under the false boot floor, and the #1 also has an additional storage space under the bonnet – ideal for storing dirty or wet charging cables and keeping them away from your luggage in the boot.

Towing

Aside from the entry-level Pro model, all two-wheel drive 66kWh and four-wheel drive Brabus models have a 1,600kg braked towing rating, which is good for an electric car. If you need to pull greater weights, you’ll either need a pricer electric car, like the Kia EV6 with its 1,800kg tow rating, or head back to a fossil fuel vehicle such as the petrol SEAT Ateca, because that can lug around 1,700kg.

“I’m starting to warm to the huge centre console because it creates three very practical storage areas, all with sliding covers. Up front, the smallest cubby includes wireless phone charging in our Premium-spec car, while the middle one has two cup-holders, and the large storage space behind can work as a mini cooler – handy for keeping snacks chilled. Beneath the console is the perfect slot for my handbag – much better than having it on the seat or in the front passenger footwell.” – Dawn Grant, picture editor

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The Smart #1 received a maximum five-star rating from safety experts Euro NCAP. It scored better than the Megan E-Tech in all areas. It even beats the pricier Nissan Ariya in most areas apart from the ‘vulnerable road users’ and ‘safety assist’ categories.

You get a lot of safety technology as standard, including adaptive cruise control to keep you a safe distance from the vehicle in front, a lane-keeping assist system to help keep you within your lane, and also intervene if you’re about to collide with a vehicle travelling alongside you in your blindspot, and a cross-traffic alert system to warn you of vehicles crossing your path when reversing or entering a main road from a junction. 

It’s a bit early to say what the reliability of the #1 will be because it’s the first of a new line-up of Smart cars built on a new platform. It’s also built at a different manufacturing plant in China, whereas all previous Smart cars were built in a factory in Hambach, France. From a superficial build quality standpoint, we’ve so far been impressed with certain aspects of the fit and finish of the #1, such as the damping of the few interior buttons it has, and the action of all the covers on the centre console. Some cheaper plastics are used inside, but that criticism can also be levelled at far pricier electric rivals to the #1. 

Our best buy: Smart #1 Premium

We’d advise avoiding the most powerful Brabus version because it doesn’t handle its power, and instead go for a two-wheel drive #1 instead, preferably in Premium trim. It comes with the biggest battery and more energy-efficient heat pump, so it has the best driving range.

Smart #1 alternatives

As with its immediate predecessor, the latest Smart #1 is a collaboration between different manufacturers. Mercedes is still a joint owner, but Chinese car manufacturer Geely is also in the mix, along with Volvo and Zeeker. These combined efforts have developed the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform that not only underpins this Smart #1, but the Volvo EX30 and Zeeker X as well. It has also spawned the Smart #3, and will continue to underpin other future models for the brand.

Price-wise, the Smart #1 goes up against one of our favourite small electric SUVs, the Hyundai Kona Electric, which is a better all-round package with a much bigger boot. Then there are the more comfortable and better handling choices, such as the Cupra Born, Renault Megane E-Tech, and Volkswagen ID.3. There are also the Kia EV3 and our 2025 Car of the Year, the Skoda Elroq, to consider. The latter is much more practical and can be had with an even bigger battery, giving it plenty of range and lots of room inside for a family.

Deals on the Smart #1 and alternatives

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Smart #1 Premium long-term test

Our picture editor, Dawn Grant, ran a Smart #1 Premium as part of a long-term test. She found the #1 to be spacious enough for her needs, and it proved to be nippy enough around the streets of London.

However, her early car had a few issues. Some of them were resolved with software updates, but there were also some hardware issues, such as the driver’s heated seat not working and a misaligned bonnet. 

Smart #1 pictures

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