smart is making a comeback and it's all-electric. The quirky microcar brand that bowed out a decade ago is back, thanks to a 50:50 joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely. The most affordable product in this new era is the smart #1, a sleek and small SUV crossover built in China, rocking Geely tech and engineering. And although the original smart cars were all about personality, the new smart #1 adds a welcome injection of sensible design and real-world usability.

How much does the smart #1 Premium cost?

The car on test costs $58,900 excluding on-road costs, making the 2025 smart #1 Premium a circa-$63,000 proposition once on-road costs are factored in.

For that money you could buy a lot of Toyota or Hyundai or Mazda metal, but smart is pitching its new EV at trendy young professionals, spruiking it as a youthful, fashionable and ultra-modern mode of transport.

The smart #1 range comprises three model-grades, Pro+, Premium and Brabus, in order from cheapest to most expensive. The latter will cost you just over $70,000 by the time the tyres kiss the tarmac, while the base grade #1 will fetch around $58,000 once on-road costs are added.

Rivals? Think Kona Electric, a bit cheaper, and Volvo EX30, a bit more expensive.

What equipment comes with the smart #1 Premium?

Every smart #1 comes with luxury essentials like a panoramic glass sunroof (with sunblind), wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, LED headlights, a powered tailgate and sleek 19-inch alloys, powered and heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

Step up to the 2025 smart #1 ‘Premium’ grade we’re testing here and you can add plush leather seats, adaptive matrix LED headlights, a head-up display and a banging 13-speaker Beats audio system to the equipment list.

Power-operated door handles extend outward to greet occupants which is a neat party trick but seemed a little recalcitrant to pop out on a couple of occasions.

It also gets an efficiency-boosting heat pump for an extra 20km of range and a faster AC home charger for quicker battery top-ups.

All smart cars sold in Australia come with a solid five-year/150,000km warranty and the battery is covered separately with an 8-year/150,000km guarantee.

Pricing and Features

How safe is the smart #1 Premium?

The 2024 smart #1 nabbed full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating and comes with plenty of safety gear, including seven airbags, autonomous emergency braking (it even spots pedestrians), blind-spot monitoring, and front/rear cross-traffic alerts to keep you in the clear.

For parking, there’s an excellent 360-degree camera system complete with a very good reverse-facing camera plus front and rear parking sensors.

Lane-keep assist with lane departure warning manifests as fairly good autonomous steering on the freeway, and a driver fatigue monitoring system will annoy the heck out of you until you turn it off.

What technology does the smart #1 Premium feature?

This electric car embraces a tech-forward approach, evident in its feature-packed cabin. However, most of the 2025 smart #1 Premium’s functions are controlled via the large 12.8-inch infotainment screen, which can be a blessing and a curse.

While the operating system is super responsive, intuitive and very powerful thanks to some powerful back-end hardware (Snapdragon processor) and clever software development, relying on the screen for simple tasks like adjusting the volume or wing mirrors can be frustrating.

This could get annoying for passengers, who lack alternative controls outside of the screen, where the driver has redundancy via the audio controls on the steering wheel.

It would’ve been pleasing to see more physical switches for essential functions to improve usability but the colourful, vibrant visuals and fairly sensible menu structure mean that once acclimatised, the touch-screen tech works well.

GPS sat-nav and most other systems are as sleek as anything on the market right now while the 10-inch digital driver’s display is slim and ultra-modern. The futuristic optics might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I like the video-game-inspired visuals. If that’s not your thing, there’s also a more traditional (and excellent) head-up display.

Smaller touches like the AQS (Air Quality System) are welcome, keeping you clued in on air quality both inside and outside the car via a PM2.5 detector, AQS sensor and a multi-layer filter. There’s also a three-minute, one-touch deodoriser system to blast pollutants out of the cabin.

What powers the smart #1 Premium?

This EV rolls with a single e-motor tucked between the rear wheels that generates enough power to keep things fun – 200kW and 343Nm to be precise. It’s not slow, with a hot hatch-like 6.7 second 0-100km/h sprint time, but if you’re craving next-level sizzle, you’ll want to check out the Brabus version – it’s unhinged in the best way possible.

The power gets delivered through a single-speed reduction gearset and the motor is fed by a reasonably-sized 66kWh lithium-ion NCM battery (that’s nickel cobalt manganese for the tech nerds out there). On a full charge, it’ll cover up to 440km, which is solid for its class.

How far can the smart #1 Premium go on a charge?

Range-wise, the 2025 smart #1 Premium is claimed to eke out 440km from a full battery charge but real-world use suggests a more realistic 400km. Still, that’s solid for daily driving.

When it comes to charging, the 2025 smart #1 Premium is decent, but not top-tier. Maxing out at 150kW, it cannot recharge as quickly as some EVs (which are pushing 350kW and 400kW) but it holds its own.

In our tests, DC fast-charging took the battery from 15% to 80% in just under 30 minutes, which lines up with Smart’s official claim, which isn’t too shabby for a compact EV.

Charging the battery from zero to 80 per cent on a 22kW AC wallbox takes about three hours while a more common 7.4kW AC wallbox charger that you might find at the office takes around seven hours.

Owners can also unlock Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality through an over-the-air update. Basically, this lets you use your car as a giant power bank but heads up, you’ll need to buy the cable separately.

What is the smart #1 Premium like to drive?

Charming, charismatic? These are adjectives you wouldn’t usually associate with an EV but the 2025 smart #1 Premium brings a lot of character to the table and is a very good city slicker.

Its compact size, tight turning circle, and stellar visibility all around make this an ideal urban and city runabout. The lightweight steering and snappy handling make navigating roundabouts and zipping through traffic a breeze, which is impressive considering it weighs 300kg more than a conventional petrol-powered hatchback.

The suspension setup is on point, balancing confident cornering with smooth ride quality, even over potholes and across patchwork streets pock-marked with shoddy roadworks. The smart engineers nailed the brief here, delivering a ride quality that’s compliant yet composed.

When it comes to braking or accelerating, there’s precious little nose-diving or wild pitching and in Sport mode, this thing moves. It’s quick off the line and zippy for overtaking and feels like it’s got a bit more bite than the specs might suggest.

At highway speeds the quirky German-Chinese mash-up cruises comfortably with minimal road or wind noise, adding a premium feel to the, um, #1 Premium. However, bear in mind that EVs typically get less efficient at higher speeds and the smart #1 is no exception.

Sure it can go off-road! But whether it survives the ordeal is certainly up for debate. This vehicle is more of a ‘crossover’ than an SUV, a slightly raised ride height more suited to kerb hopping than rock crushing.

It’s fine on nicely-graded gravel roads but those 19-inch alloy wheels (and the accompanying tyres’ thin sidewalls) won’t make friends with bigger obstacles.

What is the smart #1 Premium like inside?

Sliding into the smart #1, the first impression is positive.

The slim but high-def driver’s display, big 12.8-inch touchscreen in the centre, funky flat-bottom steering wheel and super comfy leather seats combine to generate a thoroughly pleasing ambience.

There’s a certain classiness to the 2025 smart #1 Premium’s cabin design, starting with form-fitting front seats wrapped in supple leather, featuring six-way power adjustment and four-way lumbar support, so finding your perfect seating position is a breeze. Plus, the steering wheel has a great range of motion and feels fancy with its white stitching and soft leather finish.

The little details make a big impact: integrated LED mood lighting in the Beats speakers and air vents, soft-touch dashboard materials and a clean, premium vibe. Below the beltline hard plastics creep in but overall, it’s a step up from many Chinese EVs competing in this space.

Practicality is on point too, with plenty of storage options: three lidded cubbies with USB ports, a wireless phone charger, big door pockets, and even a mini cooler to keep your drinks chilled. There’s a massive under-console space as well, plus a good-sized glovebox and even a sunglasses holder.

Tech is on point too, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto leveraging the powerful Qualcomm CPU to deliver wireless phone calls that are clear and with minimal lag, something most cars using wireless smartphone mirroring struggle with (BMW, we’re looking at you!).

Backseat space in the smart #1 is impressive, especially given its sub-4.3-metre length and the frameless windows make the cabin feel light and airy. The seats slide fore and aft for more cargo flexibility, though the low-slung position might not suit everyone.

Air vents, USB-A and USB-C ports, fold-out armrests with cupholders, and thoughtful details like high-quality reading lights and grab handles, not to mention ISOFIX and triple top-tether anchors for child seats are in there.

The power-operated tailgate reveals a reasonably sized cargo area, bigger than a Corolla hatchback, but not by much. There’s no spare tyre either (just a puncture repair kit) and the frunk up front is tiny.

Should I buy a smart #1 Premium?

Beneath its quirky design, the smart #1 offers plenty of substance. It a practical, city-savvy runabout that’s makes daily drives chores feel, well, less like a chore.

If this EV is any indication, the revitalised smart brand certainly seems to be heading in the right direction.

That’s because this is a well-rounded EV that punches above its weight and sure, the cruising range could be longer and the boot larger and price a little lower, but its bubblegum energy and vivacious personality are qualities sorely lacking in a majority of EVs.

If there was a cut-price version in the $40,000 price-bracket, younger buyers would be frothing over this little number.

2025 smart #1 Premium at a glance:

Price: $58,900 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanently excited synchronous motor
Output: 200kW/343Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 66kWh lithium-ion NCM
Range: 440km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 15kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: 5-star ANCAP