Smart #1 BRABUS (2023 - 2025)

Remember when a car carrying the smart company badging looked like it had come straight from a weird movie set with its tiny, quirkily-designed two-seaters? Well, things have changed and in the smart #1 BRABUS we have a far more traditional vehicle, but it’s anything but boring.

Back in 2020, smart’s original parent company Mercedes, joined forces with Chinese counterpart Geely to share equal ownership of smart and the first car to be launched following that partnership is the smart #1.

It’s an eye-catching five-door all-electric crossover with a 66kWh battery and single motor driving the rear wheels. There is a choice of trim levels called Pure, Pro, Pro+, Premium, Launch Edition BRABUS (no longer available) and BRABUS.

With prices starting from £29,960 we opted for the smart #1 BRABUS for out test drive in Launch Edition guise. And for anyone unfamiliar with BRABUS, it’s a German company renowned for fine-tuning the performance on models from the likes of Mercedes, Porsche and, more importantly for us, smart. It means the car comes with its own BRABUS driving mode, which we’ll get to a little later. Additionally, it gains an electric motor on the front axle for all-wheel drive.
 

We wouldn’t normally start a description of a car by mentioning the colour, but our smart #1 BRABUS looked absolutely gorgeous adorned with Laser Red Metallic paintwork and a black contrast Halo roof. Factor in the 19-inch Dynamo rims, performance body styling, distinctive lights that are joined by a light bar at the front and rear, a spoiler, plus blacked out windows and you have a clue to this car’s sporty prowess.

Move inside and that race theme continues with seats that feature black suede upholstery, adorned with plenty of red contrast stitching. The same goes for the Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel with red piping, and elsewhere there are metal pedals and bright red seatbelts.

With powered seats and a manually-adjustable steering wheel, it’s easy to find the perfect driving position and both the front seats and steering wheel can be heated against the winter chill. 
Creature comforts are plentiful with a 12.8-inch infotainment touchscreen offering access to a wealth of on-board technology including smartphone connectivity using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, a pitch perfect Beats sound system, sat nav, DAB radio, Bluetooth, front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera, along with an AI-based virtual assistant which includes a slightly irritating fox avatar that keeps popping up on the screen.

Quick access icons offer shortcuts to many features and there is a second drive display screen behind the steering wheel. Despite being really compact, it shows the speed, range and driving mode, which is really all you need. Additionally, a head-up display is included as standard from Premium grade upwards.

The cabin has quite a futuristic, yet premium feel to it with light flooding in through the panoramic sunroof.
 

Powering our high-end smart #1 Launch Edition BRABUS was a 66kWh battery with two motors – one on each axle – for all-wheel drive, developing 422bhp and 543Nm of torque. That translates into some seriously quick performance figures with the 0-62mph sprint completed in just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 112mph.

If that all seems a bit too quick, the other trim levels pull the performance back a little with the 0-62mph dash taking 6.7 seconds, due to just the single electric motor.

However, we were happy with our ‘full beans’ model and, as you would expect, the acceleration through the single-speed transmission is blisteringly quick meaning you will reach national speed limits on dual carriageways in the blink of an eye. Yet, despite the outrageous hot-hatch-like pace, the smart #1 BRABUS is really composed when faced with twisting country lanes, displaying exceptional balance through tight bends.

Drive modes called Eco, Comfort, Sport and BRABUS alter the reactions of the car with the BRABUS mode unleashing the car’s full performance potential for extra engaging handling.
Being an EV, we should mention the range, although we got a little wrapped up in this car’s performance. The WLTP-tested combined range varies from 260 to 273 miles depending on the specification of the car, and for our somewhat more spirited BRABUS spec it drops slightly to 248 miles. 

The all-round visibility is good, but not great in busier town centres, but you can claw back some energy through the regenerative braking with Low, Medium and High settings. We did notice the car was a little unsettled when being driven at slower speeds, but that’s probably due to its stiffer suspension set-up.
 

The smart #1 BRABUS is a five-door hatchback that stretches 4,300mm in length which is 30mm longer than the other versions. It is 1,822mm across, 1,636mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,750mm. 

Designers have made clever use of interior space with ample room for a couple of six footers up front with generous levels of head and legroom. But rather surprisingly, two more adults will fit comfortably in the back too. There is space for a trio of youngsters and the completely flat floor means the centre occupant won’t have to straddle a transmission hump.

While the cabin is deceptively spacious, the boot, accessed via a powered tailgate, is rather a disappointment with space for just 313 litres of kit, which is just about enough room for a good weekly supermarket shop. With the 60:40 split-folding rear seats dropped flat, the capacity rises to 976 litres and there is an extra 70 litres of space beneath the boot floor plus a 15-litre frunk beneath the bonnet.

Additionally, there are plenty of storage options scattered throughout the cabin, including a glovebox, a chilled central cubby, door bins, seat back pockets, a sunglasses holder, front cup holders and a wireless charging pad.

If using a 150kW fast charger, the smart #1 battery can be boosted from 10 to 80 per cent in about 30 minutes, while the charge time increases to three hours via an 11kW wallbox. 
 

While smart cars of bygone days were cheap and cheerful, it seems modern-day smart has grown up quite a bit and there is a price to pay for that coming of age. 

The line-up starts from £29,960 for the entry-level smart #1 Pure model and increases to £44,960 for the range-topping smart #1 BRABUS AWD version. Our Launch Edition BRABUS model is no longer available to purchase, but it was initially also priced at £44,960.

Unfortunately, many of the financial incentives enjoyed by EV drivers over recent years have been reduced or withdrawn completely, with more cutbacks still to come. That means that for the first time, EVs are eligible for road tax. While the first-year fee is a fairly insignificant £10, it increases to the standard £195 after 12 months.

Additionally, the Expensive Car Supplement also becomes a factor for anyone purchasing a vehicle over £40,000. This adds a further £425 to the annual tax bill from years two to six and, once again, is a new charge to EV owners.

For peace of mind, with the Integrated Service Package, smart car owners get a high-voltage component warranty, covering the battery and other parts for eight years or 125,000 miles. The warranty on the car itself is a standard three years.
 

If you’re on the lookout for a beautifully-styled, compact electric SUV, the smart #1 BRABUS should definitely be on your list of cars to test drive. It’s bigger than models from bygone years and the quality has come on in leaps and bounds. Factor in the engaging performance capabilities and it’s quite a compelling all-round package.

And just so you know, the ‘#’ in the smart #1 title is pronounced ‘hashtag’ not ‘number’ – of course it is!