New Smart #5 EHD offers enormous 1,000-mile PHEV range
The #5 PHEV is unlikely to come to the UK as Smart remains committed to being an electric-only brand in Europe
A plug-in hybrid version of the new Smart #5 with an enormous range of more than 1,000 miles has been launched in China. However Auto Express has learned there are no current plans to bring it to the UK, or anywhere in Europe for that matter.
The Smart #5 EHD Super Hybrid uses the latest PHEV technology from the Chinese conglomerate Geely, part-owner of Smart and responsible for the engineering of its cars. Mercedes, which established the brand, is the other part-owner and still takes control of design.
Geely’s so-called NordThor Hybrid 2.0 drivetrain uses a highly efficient 1.5-litre petrol engine that is claimed to return 64mpg after the battery is fully depleted. It works together with a three-speed DHT automatic transmission and a 268bhp electric motor to drive the front wheels.
Smart claims this car’s ‘Super Hybrid’ set-up offers better stability, smoothness, quietness, fuel efficiency and range than typical plug-in hybrids or range-extenders.
The e-motor is also designed to be highly efficient and is powered by either a 20kWh or 41.46kWh battery pack. The larger unit is capable of delivering more than 150 miles of range all on its own – plenty, Smart says, to handle a week’s worth of commuting. Although it is worth noting all the #5 EHD’s range and efficiency figures are based on the Chinese CLTC test cycle, not the tougher WLTP standard we use in Europe.
The electric #5 arrives in the UK very late this year with a choice of two sizes of battery and four different power outputs from 335bhp through to the 637bhp Brabus range-topper.
The #5 is the third Smart, joining the #1 and #3. Both those models are available through the Auto Express Buy a Car service, with savings currently at up to £5,300 on the #1 and £3,500 on the #3,
Why isn't the plug-in hybrid Smart #5 coming to the UK?
Despite all the advantages the hybrid #5 is claimed to offer, when Auto Express asked about the possibility of it coming over here, the brand told us: “At Smart Europe, we see individual mobility powered by combustion engines, and hybrid drives in particular, as a transitional technology towards purely electric driving.
“From 2025 onwards, with the #1, #3 and new #5, Smart will have the largest and broadest portfolio of purely electric vehicles in the company's young history in Europe. A model with other drive technology is not planned for Europe."
So it would appear Smart remains committed to being an all-electric brand in Europe, despite the likes of Volvo – another brand owned by Geely – and Mercedes both backtracking on plans to go EV-only by 2030 due to slower than expected uptake of EVs.
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