I visited the Mercedes-Benz palace at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane for the launch of the 2024 Smart #1 and the swoopier Smart #3. We had a good introduction to them and drive them to Byron Bay for the reveal of the new Smart #5 off-roader. Let’s see how I got on with the Smart #1!
The Smart #1 is a fully electric small city SUV created by the Mercedes-Benz design team and built in China by the same company that runs a number of other European brands such as Volvo, Lotus and Polestar (and the company that makes the famous London black cab taxis). It's a funky-looking, premium EV!
Designed with the reborn Smart brand's design principles of “LOVE, PURE, and UNEXPECTED”, there are some surprising little details throughout the car as I look around it. The lush door handles are branded as you pop them out; it is very cute!
To open the boot, you press the centre of the ‘a' in ‘smart,' although it did take me a little while to work it out!
There are also some lovely little graphics on the windows. These are just some little details I loved finding through the car.
The interior is beautifully designed, with a large central media screen at the heart of the car. This screen controls everything from turning the child lock on to the cheeky fox avatar you can befriend and use for voice controls. Kids will love it!
It has Apple Car Play and Android Auto, so you can access your phone's navigation, music, podcast and messaging apps safely while driving.
The Smart #1 comes in three variants, starting at $54,900 for the Pro+, $58,900 for the Premium, and $67,900 for this top-spec Brabus, which has been given the full Brabus treatment, so it has the Brabus branding, seats, red and black colours, design, and performance (Brabus is know for its VERY fast, VERY expensive versions of Mercedes-Benz cars).
The Smart #1 has a battery range of 400-440km, which is a great amount for weekly family usage, school drop-offs, commutes, etc.
As a family car, the #1 is surprisingly spacious inside! The rear seats are split 60:40 and slide back and forth to distribute legroom and boot space as needed.
There are ISOFix anchors in the two outer rear seats; they are within plastic guides and are easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seats. They are clearly labelled but not within plastic guides. I found them easy to connect to through the boot.
I bought one child seat to try in the Smart #1 today, and it was lovely and easy to fit. There is definitely room for a second child seat, and I look forward to testing with a range of child seats and seeing if a third will fit when I test the Smart #1 with my family.
The flat rear footwell gives excellent access and legroom for rear passengers. The headroom is excellent here, too.
The doorways of the Smart #1 are nice and large, and they open really wide, too, which is good for access.
There is an aircon vent in the back of the central console for rear passengers so you can keep little ones comfortable while driving.
The Smart #1 has a large glass roof with 99% UV protection.
Round in the boot, there is plenty of underfloor storage which is great for popping the kids' dirty beach gear etc. I have the Thule Spring one-handed folding stroller with me today and that fits nicely in the boot of the Smart #1 with room around it for shopping etc. I look forward to trying the Thule range of prams in the boot of the Smart #1 when I test it with my family soon.
Driving the Smart #1, it has very fast acceleration (especially the Brabus) making you confident to pull out at junctions and changing lanes in traffic. The ride is lovely and quiet and you are cocooned from a lot of outside road noise like a proper luxury car. The large windows give great visibility and the ride is smooth and very enjoyable. The turning circle is very good, making it easy to park and manoeuvre, and the cameras are excellent, which helps, too. There isn't an ANCAP safety rating for the Smart #3 yet but Euro NCAP rated it five stars with 89% for child occupant protection and 96% for adult occupant protection.
I have loved driving the Smart #1 today and I look forward to having it for a longer test with my family and putting it through our full BabyDrive testing with more child seats and Thule prams.
To learn about Smart #3, click the link here.
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