Peter Lyon
April 22, 2024
Smart’s topical #3 EV debuted yesterday at a rare event—KL’s Car-Free Morning. At the flag-off ceremony, the Smart #3 led three other Smart #1 EVs.
For the record, Smart Automobile is a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely. The Smart #3 is the second model developed by the company and made its global debut at the 2023 Auto Shanghai last year. The #3 is bigger than the Smart #1, with dimensions of 4,440 mm in length, 1,556 mm in height, 1,844 mm in width, and has a 2785mm long wheelbase.
The same single-motor rear-wheel drive system with 272hp and 343 Nm powers the Smart #1 Pro and Premium models. On the other hand, the top-of-the-line Brabus has an all-wheel drive system with two motors that can produce 428hp and 543 Nm.
The #3 Pro has a 66 kWh nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) battery pack that allows it to go 435 km (WLTP). Just brining things back to reality, but such a result translates to around 370 kms in the real world. Meanwhile, the Premium variant’s inverter, which uses silicon carbide technology, allows it to travel 455 km (WLTP) farther. The 415 km (WLTP) all-electric range of the Brabus version may be translated to around 350km in real-world terms.
The Smart #3 is seen as a highly competitive EV as it can be fully charged from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes thanks to its maximum DC charging capacity of 150 kW. By contrast, however, using AC power, the #3 takes around 3 hours to charge from 10% to 80%.
Though it may be still camouflaged in Malaysia, this is the first time the Smart #3 has been seen here, so we are happy to show the full exterior in this article.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
While details are few and far between from the carmaker, we do expect the #3 to debut in Malaysia within 2024. And given that the Smart #1 has done so well so far in the Malaysia EV market, we foresee its bigger brother making waves too, but that will depend on price.
