Electric car Smart #5: First pictures from testing

At the Beijing Auto Show in spring 2024, Smart already showed that it no longer has anything to do with subcompact cars. Launched 30 years ago as a comprehensive traffic concept to relieve congestion in city centers, the brand's original focus is now completely gone with the arrival of Geely. With a length of 4.75 meters, the Smart #5 Concept has the dimensions of a full-blown mid-size SUV and the kind of performance that was recently reserved for sports cars.

Smart describes the #5 as a contemporary adventurer. The design is also correspondingly striking and bullish. The photos of the test drives of the Smart #5 show that the production model comes quite close to the concept shown in Beijing. Under the camouflage foil, you can see the light strip consisting of LED segments and the LED lines of the "time-capsule headlights". At the rear, the design features of the study's LED light peek out from under the cover. The angular box silhouette with the angular wheel arches and the underguard are reminiscent of an off-road vehicle.

The counter-opening doors of the study will not be carried over to the production model. The interior is also not quite as futuristic as the concept with its very specific outlook on the actual Smart #5, as it is due to be launched on the European market in early 2025. In addition to the digital instrument display, the Smart will have two other large monitors and an infotainment system with plenty of computing power. The individual seats in the rear are likely to give way to a conventional rear bench. With a wheelbase of three meters, there should be plenty of space. During the test drives in China, observers claim to have spotted a lidar that suggests autonomous driving functions.

Powerful even in the basic configuration

The Smart #5 will presumably be available in five power levels: two with rear-wheel drive with 250 or 267 kW. The two all-wheel drive versions have an electric motor at the front with 165 kW each. The weaker version has an additional 267 kW at the rear. The system output is then 432 kW. In the top version, 310 kW is released at the rear axle, giving a total output of up to 475 kW.

The top speed is 200 km/h, the top version 210. In China, it has already been leaked that the rear-wheel drive variants are equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP), while the all-wheel drive models are to be fitted with nickel manganese cobalt batteries (NMC). The capacity corresponds to the 100 kWh that was also specified in the study. However, there will presumably also be a battery with less energy content. The maximum range should be around 700 kilometers according to the Chinese CLC cycle and around 550 kilometers in the WLTP. Thanks to the 800-volt architecture, the energy storage units should be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 15 minutes under optimum conditions.

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