Microcars may have defined the Smart brand of old.
But as the German-Chinese marque moves into a new era shaped both by full electrification and more premium positioning, it has taken a decisive step away from its past with its largest car to date yet: The Smart #5.
Teased for quite some time now, the car was officially unveiled in Brisbane on Wednesday evening (28 August 2024) during an international launch event that saw members of the media from all over the world - including China, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore - in attendance.
Two variants of the #5 have been confirmed thus far: The #5 Premium+, and the more-rugged #5 Summit Edition. The latter is equipped with an "Adventurers' Collection" package, consisting of a roof light bar, and additional roof rack, side steps, a side bag and ladder, and extra underbody protection.
With the design of the #5 handled by Mercedes-Benz and its engineering, by Geely Group, the fact that its launch was held in Brisbane, and not somewhere in Germany or China, might seem puzzling at first. Still, Smart says there's good reason for this. Australia was chosen as the launchpad thanks to its rich road-culture since it matches "perfectly with the model's adventurous soul and ability to cater to the free-spirited and the brave".
It's not hard to see how Smart has made those claims when one looks at the #5.
Referred to as the brand's most spacious and versatile car to date, the car officially enters the mid-sized SUV segment, and stands longer and taller than any Smart before. Specifically, it stretches out at 4,705mm in overall length - or a fair bit longer than both the #1 and #3. To put things into context, that makes the #5 larger than the Audi Q4 e-tron; it's almost approaching the BMW iX3 in size, in fact.
The #5 also gets a generous wheelbase of 2,900mm. That, coupled with its boxy shape and tall roofline, gives it the genuine potential to excel even more as a family-hauler than its smaller siblings. It's also excellent when it comes to cargo-hauling, with its 72-litre frunk, and its boot space expandable to 1,530 litres with the second row folded away.
But size aside, it's also the unprecedented styling of the #5 (within the family at least) that will make an impression. It's no surprise that the SUV leaves its earliest predecessors like the ForTwo and ForFour in the dust, but what's particularly striking is that it deviates even from the styling of the #1 and #3.
Forget svelte silhouettes and curved light signatures; the #5 embraces its boxiness in full instead, and does so with a rather unique approach. With full-length light strips becoming more common these days, Smart's designers have instead given the car distinct oblong-shaped light signatures.
Still, the #5 retains a good number of distinctly Smart-like hallmarks. Note the way the head and taillights mirror each other, as well as the retractable door handles and the unusual placement of the brand's logos. As with the #1, the latter are found on the #5's D-pillars, but again, come with their own advanced touch: Illumination.
Returning now to the interior, the #5 also fleshes Smart's premium positioning out with remarkable confidence - while scaling new technology highs for the firm.
Powered by an AMD V2000 high-computing-power chip, its dashboard is a screen fest, dominated most notably by twin 13-inch AMOLED 2.5K displays. This means that - yes - the #5 joins the growing fray of cars to spoil the front passenger with his or her own screen. These are complemented by a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 25.6-inch augmented reality head-up display.
Smart also states that the #5 will be equipped with newly-developed, state-of-the-art generative AI, which will make communicating with the on-board virtual assistant even more intuitive than before. Continuing the firm's amusing anthropomorphic obsession, a new animal avatar is also landing in the system: A lion, named Leo.
Other features in the interior befitting of the firm's premium claim include zero-gravity front seats upholstered in leather, with a recline angle of up to 121 degrees. There are also bits that tip their hat towards parent Mercedes-Benz: Seat adjustment controls affixed above the door cards, and a lovely oak wood trim. The #5 gets circular electronic door release buttons, too.
Given that the #5 seems to be targeting the camping (or glamping) crowd, its electric range should naturally be one of the key priorities - and the car also promises to deliver on this front.
Powered by a massive 100kWh battery, Smart states that the #5 can travel up to 740km on a full charge by the CLTC-cycle. As the first model from the brand to be built using 800-volt architecture, the SUV will also support super fast charging that will see its battery's state-of-charge go from 10 to 80% in just 15 minutes. (The exact maximum charging speed has yet to be revealed.)
Beyond these impressive figures and features, Smart also took the chance at the #5's unveiling to announce a trio of new partners - all of which lend serious credibility to the firm's positioning of itself as a premium brand.
The first will probably Sennheiser, firstly, which helped craft the #5's 20-speaker, 2000W Sennheiser Signature Sound System.
Then there are also the two outdoor brands Smart has joined hands with: German brand, HEIMPLANET, which has created a #5-inspired version of its innovative 'THE CAVE' tent; and American cycling brand, Trek, which now has a custom road bike in collaboration with Smart called the 'Project One'.
That's not where things end.
You get the sense that the Smart team really had fun putting together the car together with a couple of optional features found on the #5.
Firstly, the car offers an in-built projector - embedded within its front bumper - that can project images and videos between two to seven metres away from the car, and at a size of up to 230 inches. No need for additional vehicle-to-load (V2L) adaptors, then, if you want a movie night under the stars.
Secondly, with its new Sennheiser tie-up, the #5 can also be equipped with a dual-function portable speaker. Leave it in the car and it's integrated with the rest of the sound system; unplug it when you're going camping, and it becomes your own boombox.
To be clear, it's not that we haven't seen this tech in the car world - but it remains fascinating nonetheless, given that this is coming straight from a brand itself.
With so much of the #5 that glitters, there is one important thing that Smart hasn't revealed yet, though: Its powertrain(s).
For all of its heavy off-road-branding, it's more likely than not that the #5 will come in a dual-motor all-wheel drive setup - especially since Smart states that the car will come with both on- and off-road driving modes, including Adaptive, Sand, Snow, Mud, and Rock. Still, as we've seen from SUVs from other premium brands, single motor variants shouldn't be ruled out entirely either.
It remains unclear when the #5 will arrive in Singapore, given that left-hand drive markets are slated to be the first to receive the car. For now, Smart Singapore states that it is gearing up for the #3's launch in September. Arriving less than a year after the #1 on our shores, the #3 marks the second production model in the revitalised Smart lineup.
