The smart #1 is a new all-electric vehicle, which ticks a lot of boxes. It’s supremely stylish inside and out, loaded with technology and driver assistance systems, is spacious, fun to drive, provides an excellent electric driving range and is also competitively priced. Not only did we give it our coveted Best Buy award, but it also received one of the highest ratings on TotallyEV.
In this article, we will be comparing the trims and giving you our recommendation.
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smart #1 price and warranty
It’s first important to highlight that there are three core trims: the entry-level ‘Pro+’ from £35,950, the ‘Premium’ at £38,950 and the ‘BRABUS’ at £43,450. For a limited time, there is also the ‘Launch Edition’, which costs £39,450 – there is said to be only 1,000 units across Europe with 100 of those examples destined for the UK.
All trims have the same 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating, scoring a whopping 96% in Adult Occupancy, 89% in Child Occupancy and 88% in the Safety Assist tests. A three-year unlimited mileage warranty covers the vehicle, while an eight-year or 125,000 miles (201,168 km) warranty covers the high-voltage 62 kWh battery pack.
smart #1 performance and range
At the time of writing, all the models house the same 62 kWh battery pack. However, there are notable differences between the trims. For example, the Pro+ is the only one not to house a heat pump. This feature greatly aids efficiency in colder climate conditions by repurposing dissipated heat from the vehicle’s electronics. This allows you to safely heat the cabin without utilising extra energy from the battery pack, thus bolstering electric range. Aside from this, there are more features which we will delve into further down in this article.
The Pro+, Premium and Launch Edition all have the same singular rear-mounted motor that outputs 200 kW (268 hp) of power and 343 Nm of torque, giving you a 0-62mph time of 6.7 seconds – power is driven to the rear wheels only (RWD). The BRABUS on the other hand, has two electric motors that output a staggering 315 kW (422 hp) of power and 584 Nm of torque, allowing it to get to 62mph from a standstill in a claimed 3.9 seconds – power is driven to both the front and rear axles (AWD); it’s otherwise similar in its list of features to the Premium spec but has more aggressive styling.
The overall performance of the vehicle does have an effect on the claimed range. The Pro+ sits at 260 miles on the WLTP mixed driving cycle, while the Premium and Launch Edition are at 273 miles and the BRABUS comes in at 248 miles.
As for recharging, the vehicles’ CCS port supports up to 150 kW of input, meaning it’ll take 30 minutes to go from 10-80% at an appropriate charge point. As for the Type 2 port, the Launch Edition, Premium and BRABUS models feature an impressive 22 kW onboard charger that comes fitted as standard, which means these can go from zero to full charge in just three hours. The Pro+, however, has a 7.4 kW onboard charger, which means it’ll take 7hrs 30mins instead.
smart #1 Pro+ vs Premium vs BRABUS
The smart #1 Pro+ is remarkably well-equipped with an extensive range of driving assistance systems, panoramic sunroof, wireless smartphone charger, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), heated seats, 360-degree surround cameras, intelligent voice assistance, 19” alloys, LED lights and a powered tailgate. There’s a 12.8” infotainment system that supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay over a wired and wireless connection. Elsewhere, you’ll find a 9.2” fully digitalized instrument cluster, a six-speaker audio system and an air-conditioned compartment within the centre armrest. There’s 421 litres of boot storage and with the seats folded down, this figure extends up to 986 litres. A 15-litre frunk (compartment under the bonnet) is also fitted as standard.
In addition to these features, the smart #1 Premium offers a punchy Beats sound system, a Head-Up Display (HUD), CyberSparks+ Matrix LED headlights and APA (Automatic Parking Assist). Note that adding the upgraded audio system takes away 10 litres of boot capacity, dropping the figure to 411 and 976 litres, respectively.
The smart #1 BRABUS builds upon the Premium but has more aggressive styling, bonnet vents, unique contrast paint, 19” Dynamo wheels, an Alcantara steering wheel, microfibre suede seats and headrests with BRABUS design stitching alongside red seatbelts and metal pedals. It is worth noting that the BRABUS model is mechanically identical to the other trims – the brakes, pads and suspension system are unchanged.
As for your colour options, all are available with the following finishes, which are available at no extra cost: single-tone finishes include, ‘Digital White Metallic’, ‘Meta Black Metallic’ and ‘Atom Grey – Matte’, while two-tone finishes include an ‘Eclipse Black’ roof and a base colour of ‘Laser Red Metallic’, ‘Quantum Blue Metallic’, ‘Lumen Yellow’, ‘Future Green Metallic’, ‘Cyber Silver Metallic’ and the pictured ‘Digital White Metallic’.
Read next: Smart #1 review: The best new EV?
Which smart #1 trim would we pick?
Given all of the above, we’d recommend the smart #1 Premium, as it adds a much-needed heat pump over the Pro+ trim and provides better range over the BRABUS variant, while still providing exhilarating straight-line performance.
But which trim would you pick? Let us know in the comments section below or via social media; we’re on: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
