The automotive industry is reinventing itself, and so are brands. From what we know so far as smart, there is not much left because a new stage is announced for the company, which is now embodied in the  smart #1  that we have just met.

The new model of the brand will arrive after the summer and for the moment it had not been seen in United Kingdom. We were lucky enough to see it, touch it, and ride two units that only spent a few hours in London, and the first impression was pretty good.

The new era of smart begins with smart #1

In 2021 we said goodbye to the smart forfour and the smart fortwo is still on sale, but it has an expiration date. Now is the time for the No. 1 smart to come into play  as the first iteration of the alliance between Daimler and Geely  .

This model has little to do with what we know so far. The  smart #1  is not only a new model built around a new platform, it is also a new philosophy that anticipates and  does not arrive alone  .

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When the brand is asked how it is possible for a brand to start a new journey trusting a single model with the risk that this maneuver entails. The answer was clear:  after number 1, other models will come  , even if they did the most difficult and did not want to give up in the future. After all, it was the day to talk about the firstborn.

Going back to the smart #1, we find a car that is the result of the collaboration of two major brands: on the one hand  , Mercedes-Benz took care of the design and the aesthetic part, while Geely is in charge of the technical part.  for the development of electrical mechanics.

Aesthetically, it uses a completely new design language. The smart #1 was born to break with the established but without neglecting its foundations born 20 years ago with the first smart of 1998, although in this case it fits into the  segment of the most modern  and not in that of urban microservices.

In the words of Adnan Cato, the brand's designer, it is a sensual product designed to evoke love, purity and the unexpected. These are still too ethereal concepts but what we find in person is a design that is very pleasing to the eye where the  smooth and flowing lines  carry the weight of the whole thing.

The front is distinguished by a  high nose  , with the bumper very high and a lower part dominated by a large grille where the license plate is hidden and, below, the front radar in a somewhat exposed position perhaps. be.

Above, the headlamp units are set very high and joined by a light strip, while the bonnet gets some bulge above the wheel arches to reinforce that  sexy SUV image  . Another feature of the SUV are the plastic guards around the contour of the body.

Meanwhile, the rear end gets another of the differentiating features with  a very sturdy C-pillar  (another SUV twist), but which is designed to appear to support the roof and let it float above the car. , further lightening the design with a combination of two colors for the bodywork (optional).

At the rear, the design of the optical groups is repeated, with organic shapes united by a band that crosses the center. The bumper guards are raised and feature metallic-looking moldings, as do the striking side skirts that rise diagonally to the rear.

The minimalism that has been given to the model stands out, giving the bodywork an extra point of cleaning when rinsing  the handles  .

Futuristic yet simple interior

If we go inside, smart ensures that the #1 is as spacious as an E-Class. Its electric mechanics allow it to have a very wide wheelbase:  2.75 meters  , rather good for a body of 4 .27 meters long. A  Mercedes-Benz E-Class  has a wheelbase of 2,939mm.

The truth is that the interior is spacious. Going inside, we don't notice that the floor is high, even though the battery is under the floor. The driving position is slightly raised and stands out above all for the  vertical space  and not so much for the transverse space because they have placed a very high central console.

It has an empty lower part to leave objects, but it visually breaks up the space. Also, it has three glove boxes with a lid, where the middle, when closed, is not flush with the back as a small design flaw.

In general, it is a very clean interior where the steering wheel is very smart and precedes a small 9.2-inch dashboard   in a very horizontal format and where the white color predominates, which is very reminiscent of the Ford Mustang Mach -E.

For the infotainment system, an even larger  12.8-inch screen  was chosen which encloses the UI/UX system with a smart fox assistant and other elements such as a 10-inch head-up display , a 360º camera and system audio beats. The brain is signed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon.

The general lines opt for the horizontal arrangement to maximize the visual space, but with absolutely all the contours with rounded ends. The materials are of high quality  and everything is bathed in dim ambient lighting, so we found it to be well finished and very pleasant overall.

Going rearward, the surprise is remarkable seeing how much  headroom continues to stand out  . With 170 cm I have a lot of space, but colleagues 190 and over have also entered without barely touching the ceiling with their hair. A panoramic roof that maximizes the feeling of space.

We must also mention the rear seat, which does not offer much lateral support because they preferred to focus on comfort, but in return it is sliding with an  adjustment of 13 cm  and a 60/40 distribution.

And to finish with the trunk, it must also be recognized that there is more space than you might expect with  a maximum of 411 liters and 323 liters with the bench seat in the rearmost position  . In addition, we must add a 15-litre trunk in the front which works well for storing the charging cables.

272 hp and 400 km range for the smart #1

On the mechanical side, the smart #1 uses a single rear-mounted engine (propulsion) capable of generating  200 kW (272 hp) and 343 Nm of torque  , with which it can reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 6.7 seconds.

Not bad. At this time, we can't tell how fast or emotional it can be as we haven't driven it, but we bet its  approach will be clearly comfort-focused  .

To provide power, it uses Geely's own NCM type battery (lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt oxide), i.e. it does not equip the LFP (lithium iron phosphate) typical. Its capacity is 66 kWh gross, and 62 kWh useful to reach a range of  400 km according to the WLTP cycle  .

To achieve this, it uses an on-board DC charger with a maximum power of 150 kW DC with which it can recharge the battery from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes or approximately three hours of charging at 22 kWh with the ac charger

Direct sale and without price, for the moment

Now that we have seen the new smart #1 and it remains to be proven, it has not yet definitively arrived on the market. Something for which it will be necessary to wait until September, but for the moment reservations of  500 euros  per unit are accepted.

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And the price ? Well, we don't know either  . We insisted several times and the brand told us that they had a fixed price, but that they would keep it under review until September due to possible price changes derived from the logistics crisis and of supply.

It is quite clear that it will be a more expensive model than the smart forfour that it would somehow replace, because its positioning is much higher. It is perhaps a rival for the  CUPRA Born  with greater autonomy, with a list price of 44,770 euros. It will also compete with other less premium generalists such as the  electric Hyundai Kona  or  the Peugeot e-2008 .

There are also new features in the sales format, which will now be a  direct sales model  . The customer will sign the purchase with the factory rather than a distributor, and thus smart guarantees that there will always be the same price for #1 regardless of the agent through which the purchase is made.

This change will also allow to open in September an online sales model with which they guarantee to buy a smart in just six steps. In any case, the first units will arrive in January 2023.