Smart #1 review: swapping city smarts for SUV style

March 14, 2025 Matt Allan

Is a city car brand’s reinvention as an SUV maker a smart move? I’ve driven the Smart #1 to find out

Let’s get this out of the way immediately. The Smart #1 is not a Smart car like they used to be.

The original Smart was a tiny, tinny, two-door city car with not much in the way of creature comforts. Great as that was for city living, a lot of buyers want a bit more from their cars and the real demand (and profit) is in the compact SUV segment, so that’s where Smart has, cleverly, decided to head.

So yes, the Smart #1 is a lot bigger than a Smart ForTwo or ForFour, but it’s still very much a B-segment SUV competing with the related Volvo XC30, Kia EV3, Jeep Avenger and Peugeot 2008. So how does it stack up against those rivals on price, performance and range?

Design, interior and technology

Smart cars have traditionally been an odd blend of boxy and blobby and the #1 carries on some of that. It has a familiar SUV stance with a tall upright body but softens that with gentle curves around the lights and bumpers and the flowing roofline that’s emphasised by the two-tone paint finish. The gentle lines give it a friendly soft appearance and mean it doesn’t look too bulky on the road.

That’s also because at 4.2m long, the #1 is shorter than rivals like the EV3, Elroq and Peugeot 2008, although it is bigger than the Fiat 600e and Jeep Avenger.

A short body doesn’t mean a cramped interior though. The #1’s wheelbase is actually longer than the EV3’s and almost as long as the Elroq’s, and the upright shape means there’s acres of headroom. That means decent space for four normal-sized adults, although the Smart does sacrifice some rear legroom to give more front-seat range than the Kia. It’s also not as wide as rivals, so the rear really is only suitable for two. And although Smart says the boot is 411 litres that’s with the rear bench slid forward. In an everyday seating position, it feels smaller and less usable than rivals.

Like the exterior, the #1’s interior is all about soft, organic lines that flow from the high centre console into the dashboard. The curvy shape was emphasised by our car’s gloss white finish that extended from the console and dash to the doors and even the headrests. It’s a very welcome change from the sharp angles and sombre colours of so many rivals.

smart-#1-premium-interior — The Smart #1’s interior is stylish and comfortable but let down by a poor infotainment system

Most of the materials are at least a match for those rivals too. Apart from some thin lids on the centre console the overall feel is pretty good and strikes a good balance between robust and attractive.

There’s not much in the way of physical controls apart from steering wheel buttons, and that proves to be a problem. The #1 features a 12.8-inch centre touchscreen through which everything – from heating to your wing mirrors is controlled – and, on first impressions the interface is far too fussy and complicated.

The main screen is an explosion of colour, cartoonish graphics and movement – not what you want when you’re driving. So many functions that should be quick and simple take a frustrating number of screen presses, even if you use the handful of permanent shortcut keys beneath the screen. In a Kia EV3 or Skoda Elroq you can deactivate the lane assist and speed limit warnings with two simple button presses. In the Smart, it takes seven prods at the screen to fully deactivate the inaccurate and unhelpful nagging. Even more unforgivable and potentially dangerous, you have to put the car into drive before you can even attempt to do this.

Smart #1 battery, motor and performance

So the user interface is hateful, which is a shame because the rest of the Smart #1 is pretty likeable, including the way it drives.

Smart’s engineers have managed to strike an impressive balance between comfort and drivability. The #1 does an great job of soaking up bad road surfaces and is commendably quiet even at high speed. But it doesn’t fall apart when asked to tackle twistier routes, and there’s a pleasing weight and responsiveness to the steering. Calling it sporty is probably a stretch but I was nicely surprised by how well it coped with a range of driving conditions.

Every version of the Smart #1 apart from the twin-motor Brabus comes with a 268bhp rear-mounted motor that delivers 0-62mph in 6.7 seconds. Entry-level Pro cars get a 49kWh battery, while Pro+ and our Premium grade come with a 66kWh unit and 150kW DC charging.

smart-#1-side view — The #1 blends comfort and composure well (Photo: Matt Allan)

The base-spec Pro car manages 193 miles from the smaller battery, while the Pro+ manages 260 miles. Our Premium car ekes out the 66kWh battery further, offering up to 273 miles on a charge. Official consumption is 3.7m/kWh and I saw a reasonable 3.25m/kWh during cold weather and quite a few short runs.

There are three brake regeneration levels, plus single-pedal ‘S-pedal’ but they are all disappointing and let down an otherwise impressive driving experience. Every option feels poorly calibrated and inconsistent, and over a week’s driving I could never get comfortable with anything other than the lowest setting.

Price and specification

The Smart #1 range starts at £31,950 for the Pro trim level, rising to £43,450 for the twin-motor 422bhp Brabus. Our Premium grade car sits just below the Brabus, and costs from £38,950.

Every version gets a huge panoramic sunroof, ‘Cybersparkle’ LED lights and 19-inch wheels, plus a powered tailgate. The Premium model adds adaptive dimming for the headlights, gesture control for the tailgate and a unique wheel design, plus illuminated pop-out door handles and a heat pump.

It also gets (some) real leather on the seats in place of fake stuff, air filtration and a head-up display, plus a Beats sound system, although every model gets heated powered seats, dual zone climate and the irritating 12.8-inch infotainment system.

Smart #1 verdict

The Smart #1 feels like one of those cars that is nearly great.

It looks brilliant, offers decent space and equipment levels and is overall really nice to drive. It perhaps isn’t as practical and doesn’t have the range of the class-leading EV3 or Elroq but it’s some way ahead of many other rivals in everything from looks to quality.

It’s just a shame then that some dodgy regen calibration and a poorly executed user interface let it down.