The Mercedes-designed smart #1 gets top marks in terms of safety.
Electric vehicles from all kinds of previously unseen Chinese car brands have started to pop up in Malaysia. Most feature impressive technology, decent range, and present solid value for money thanks to the current tax incentives. However, many Malaysians will be holding out for what Proton has to offer via their distributorship of smart. And now we have a good idea of just how safe smart’s first electric vehicle is.
Euro NCAP assessed the smart #1 electric vehicle recently and published the impressive results. Adult Occupant safety ratings were at 96%, Child Occupant safety was rated at 89%, Vulnerable Road User safety was rated at 71% while the Vehicle’s Safety Assist systems got an 88% rating. These ratings apply to all variants of the smart #1, including the most basic ‘Pure’ trim level with the 2-wheel drive setup and the full-spec BRABUS variant with all-wheel drive.
In case you’re not aware, smart was founded by the parent company of Mercedes-Benz as a response to BMW Group’s purchase and revival of the MINI brand. Unfortunately, the smart brand never turned a healthy profit despite numerous attempts. In the last few years, Geely had been buying up Daimler stock wherever possible. A deal was made between Mercedes-Benz and Geely – the privately owned Chinese car brand would take on the ailing smart brand.
The product itself features a strong upmarket design and tech from Mercedes-Benz while production will be handled by Geely. Mercedes-Benz Chief Design Officer Gorden Wagener had a hand in the #1’s design. This is evident when you take a closer look at the car’s concealed door handles, frameless doors, floating roof design and other premium appointments like 19″ rims. Proton will serve as the brand’s distributor in Malaysia and may even locally-assemble the smart #1 at their Tanjung Malim plant with local vendors providing some parts.
smart#1 Specifications
Battery Capacity: 66.0kWh
Range: 355km (WLTP)
Charge Type: Type 2 (AC) and CCS2 (DC)
Min Charge Time: 3hrs and 45 mins (AC) and 29 mins (DC)
Max power: 272PS
Max torque: 343Nm
Top Speed: 180km/h
0-100 km/h: 6.0 seconds
