The EV price wars in Malaysia heats up as smart Malaysia offers huge discounts and more
Okay, yet another example of the ongoing electric vehicle (EV) price wars ramping up here in Malaysia has presented itself. This time, from smart Malaysia. The brand first launched the #1 here then followed this up with the #3 and while both are great cars, there are far cheaper options so they were not extremely popular. This might change soon though.
Why do I think this? Well, as I mentioned earlier, the price wars are heating up and smart Malaysia is currently offering rebates of up to RM35,000 on the smart #1 Brabus EV. The Brabus model is the high performance variant out of the #1 lineup and as such, is the first choice for enthusiasts so this is actually a good deal.
Moreover, the smart #1 Brabus is equipped with a dual-motor setup making it AWD, making 428PS of power and 543Nm of torque. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds, with a top speed of 180km/h. All these are respectable numbers in any regard and given that this car is an EV, these come secondary to range.
powered by a 66 kWh lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, the smart #1 Brabus offers a “meh” range of up to 400km on a full charge. It is certainly not bad, but it isn’t very good either but it makes sense given that the Brabus edition focuses more on power and performance. Well, if one wants more range the other variants will do better.
On top of that, in Malaysia, the smart #1 Brabus is priced at RM249,000. The current rebate of up to RM35,000 brings the price down to just RM214,000, making it an attractive option for those interested in a high-performance EV. Naturally, there are still far cheaper options but the new price is still far more acceptable than the original price.
Potential buyers can also book their smart vehicle through the Hello Smart mobile app, which offers additional benefits such as RM1,001 in charging credits for the first 501 customers.
This kind of convenience is rare in the automotive world and is surely worth something to some buyers. However, is it worth the price difference between competitors’ products? You decide.
So what do you think? Are you as glad as I am that the price wars that were exclusive to China for so long have finally reached our shores?
