Smart driving for the future

The electric motoring business is sparking up with any number of new machines headed for Australian showrooms.

The busiest of electric car makers remains the Chinese, with Zeekr and Chery, amid those with fresh offerings in the light car class.

The Korean-built Hyundai Inster runaround, due early next year, is another promising battery/electric car for urbanites.

Among interesting hybrids – with petrol and electric power – on the way is more Chinese product in BYD’s Shark ute, reportedly at a competitive price to upset traditional one-tonne dual cabs when it arrives, perhaps before 2024  is done.

Now on the scene from Europe, in terms of badge name anyway, is the all-electric Smart#1 and Smart#3 with a Smart#5 to come.

All are so-called SUVs with #1 and the bigger #5 more the hatch-wagon style, and the other #3 a hatch-coupe.

All are products of collaboration between Mercedes-Benz design and China’s Geely battery/electric vehicle platform. “Three keywords are building blocks for the new car: love, pure and unexpected,” says Smart’s head honchos.

So there – well on trend for the  21st century.

The last Smarts seen here about 10 years back were small, combustion-powered, mini cars and roadsters.

Different, for sure, but more suited to Euro tastes and petite folk back then.

This time, with increasing urban emphasis on economical and emission-free motoring (plus parking spaces at a premium), the bigger and bolder electric Smarts from $54,900 may find  more favour.

There are three versions of the Smart #1 with Pro+, Premium and Brabus models at up to 4.3m long, 1.8m wide and 1.6m high.

The first two have 200kw of power supplied by a single electric motor to the rear wheels and up to 440km range for the Premium; the $67,900 Brabus version has 315kW and two electric motors for all-wheel drive.

Smart #3 has similar power and drive arrangements but sits on a slightly longer wheelbase with a slightly wider, more aerodynamic body. So, its driving range is between 435km and 455km and retail prices are up a tad, too: from $57,900 for the Pro+ to $70,900 for the Brabus version.

The 4.7m long Smart #5, which isn’t here yet, is a mid-sized SUV wagon with a promised 740km battery range and a host of add-ons for the adventurers.

This time, the smaller Smarts are brighter, more handsome and more useful than before.

Plus, there is a deal of promise  in the marriage of MB design and Chinese engineering.

This time, the Smart cars will fit four average-sized Australians with a two-metre tall driver allowed decent operating space.

Headroom’s best in the #1, but still fine in the #3. And cabin interiors have a premium feel through top-class design, fit and finish – as should be the case when, as before, the Smarts are sold under the Mercedes-Benz halo and through Mercedes showrooms in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Both #1 and #3 are good-looking machines (though, perhaps the coupe-like lines of the Smart #3 are just that tad more sophisticated) and are armed with today’s usual array of safety, info and entertainment gear.

In a busy, busy motoring world, these Smarts stand out in this particular niche of battery-electric vehicles with a good deal of style and, on the face of it, a decent amount of substance.