Smart Automobile launches #1 Pro+ and Brabus models

smart Automobile, together with official agent Cycle & Carriage, unveiled the smart #1 Pro+ and smart #1 Brabus electric crossovers.

Cycle & Carriage and smart Automobile unveiled the smart #1 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel ballroom on March 28, 2024.

For those who remember the smart of old, the brand was revived as a joint venture between Geely Holding and Mercedes-Benz AG in July 2020.

Representatives from both Smart Automobile and Cycle & Carriage met on this day to cement their partnership with an official signing of their distribution agreement, as both organisations look to establish a foothold in the fast-growing electric vehicle market in Singapore.

The all-electric crossover, like the rest of the future Smart lineup (the firm has also revealed a #3 sports utility coupe on the international stage so far), has seen its engineering and development conducted by Smart's research and development team, while its design is managed by the Mercedes-Benz Global design team.

The Smart #1 (pronounced as "smart hashtag one") will come to Singapore in a Pro+ trim, and comes with features including 19-inch rims, a panoramic sunroof, and the firm's CyberSparks LED head lights. The car has a 66kWh nickel cobalt manganese battery that imparts the car a WLTP range of 420km.

The smart #1 measures in at 4270mm long and 1822mm wide, dimensions that place it just slightly shorter and exactly as wide as this outgoing MINI Cooper S Countryman.

This battery powers a 268bhp electric motor that produces a peak torque of 343Nm, enough to see the crossover reaching 100km/h from a standstill in 6.7 seconds.

A smart #1 Brabus is also being offered. This performance variant delivers a peak output of 428bhp, allowing it to reach 100km/h from a standstill in 3.9 seconds. That's faster than the 4.4 seconds that the Tesla Model 3 in its "Long Range all-wheel drive" specification requires to complete the same sprint.

This power also comes courtesy of a 66kWh battery in the smart #1 Brabus, although this variant gets an additional electric motor at its front axle.

Both variants can charge up at a maximum power of 150kW, although smart states that both variants will take less than 30 minutes to perform a 10 per cent to 80 per cent state-of-charge top up when charging at a power of 130kW.

You'll be able to differentiate the smart #1 Brabus from the regular smart #1 thanks to its rear spoiler as well as the extensive use of Brabus badging that appears on the car's front grille, rear diffuser, as well as on the headrests of its seats.

The Smart #1 Brabus also gets an Alcantara sports steering wheel and special treadplates and pedals in its cabin.

Both cars  make use of a 9.2-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.8-inch centrally-mounted infotainment display in their cabins, although those who opt for the smart #1 Brabus will get an additional 13-speaker Beats premium sound system, plus a wireless smartphone charger.

The smart brand is expected to reside at Level 3 of the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Singapore by the second half of 2024. However, those interested in the brand can catch the car at a series of events, the first of which includes its official launch at VivoCity in April 2024.

A host of pop-ups in popular shopping centres here in Singapore are also planned by smart, and the brand is additionally planning to partner with a host of events which will see it appearing at locations including the Sunset Cinema at Tanjong Beach, Sentosa, as well as at Lasalle College of the Arts.

Those who want to keep abreast of these events are advised to follow smart Singapore’s social media channels including its Instagram and Facebook pages, here and here respectively.

Cycle & Carriage will reveal the pricing for both the smart #1 and the smart #1 Brabus following the official launch of the cars at VivoCity. More information on the brand and the two cars is additionally available via smart Singapore’s website here.

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This article was first published in Torque. Permission required for reproduction.