After All Those Smarts We Didn’t Buy, Here’s One We Might (but Can’t)

• The cutesy Smart #1 EV crossover combines decent performance with excellent refinement

• The diminutive electric car will be available in both rear-drive- and all-wheel-drive versions, the latter with Brabus branding.

• On sale in Europe and China next year, the Smart #1 won’t come to US.

European automakers clearly have a thing about both unlikely capitalization of model names and attempts to introduce punctuation. Buyers on the other side of the Atlantic can already choose a Volkswagen up! and until recently could have a Kia Pro_Cee’d, although the most recent generation has been simplified to ProCeed. But Smart is breaking new boundaries with the #1. That’s right, this really is the “Hashtag One.”

The name is silly but the car it is attached to, an EV crossover, is pretty sensible—although there seems very little chance it will ever reach the US. Smart withdrew from the States in 2019 on the back of our near total indifference to its miniature Fortwo city car, and we’re told there are no plans for the brand to return. In Europe the Fortwo is also set to die soon, with Smart becoming a joint venture between original corporate parent Mercedes-Benz and Chinese automaker Geely, the same group that owns Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and minority stakes in both Mercedes parent Daimler and, as of last week, also Aston Martin.

The #1 is the first product from this new partnership, sitting on Geely’s SEA pure electric architecture and set to be built in Xi’an in China’s Shaanxi Province. It will be sold in both China and Europe, with Autoweek driving it at the international media launch in Lisbon, Portugal.

At 168.1-inches in length, the #1 is much bigger than a Fortwo, but still at the smaller end of the compact crossover class, being just 2.5-inches longer than the Hyundai Kona EV. And while there isn’t any obvious DNA from previous Smart models in the exterior styling—which has been done by Mercedes—it does look both handsome and distinctive up close. The full-width rear light bar has a definite family resemblance to the Mercedes EQB, though.

All versions of the #1 will use an underfloor battery pack with 64 kWh of capacity, with this turning either a single rear motor or a pair that send power to each corner. The rear-drive version boasts 268 hp and is claimed to be capable of getting from 0-62 mph in 6.7 seconds, while the AWD version—which carries Brabus branding—has a peak of 422 hp and an official 3.9-second 0-62 mph time.

While no previous Smart product has been famed for interior space, the #1 finds an impressive quantity of cabin volume considering its compact dimensions; full-sized adults can sit behind each other without either front or rear feeling cramped. It’s well finished, too, with quality materials and details that include subtle LED illumination in both door panels and even integrated into the metal dashboard air vents. Space efficiency is diminished by the size of the substantial console that sits between the front seats, this incorporating various storage and charging compartments—and also by the tininess of the 11 cu-ft trunk. There is also an even more bijou 0.5 cu-ft frunk under the hood.