More details of Smart 5 revealed

CITY car specialist Smart is back on the menu for Australia with a range of new Chinese-made fully electric SUVs in various sizes the brand currently in the process of preparing to launch a new, all electric high-powered SUV called the Smart 5 that was revealed in concept form at the recent Beijing Auto Show.

Now a JV between Mercedes-Benz and the Geely Group, Smart appears to have moved a long way from its original path of producing small sometimes tiny cars tailored for European consumption.

The brand had a brief run in Australia under the Mercedes-Benz umbrella offering three models, the ForTwo, the ForFour and the Roadster before pulling the pin more than a decade ago.

Smart’s incoming medium-size 5 will be available with a choice of four powertrains including one with a whopping 475kW.

Details haven’t been officially announced but Chinese automotive media outlets have been able to track down key information through that country’s regulators initially revealing one production version of Smart 5 in AWD.

As Smart goes through the homologation (licensing) process, more details are coming to light from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that recently published the filing of Smart 5 which shows four colour options and four powertrain variants.

Dimensionally, the new SUV is 4705mm long by 1920mm wide by 1705mm high and is on a 2900mm wheelbase.

It is a five-door five-seater rolling on wheels of between 18 - to 21-inch diameter and reportedly tips the scale at 2450kg for the top trim model.

The four powertrain choices are: RWD single motor 250kW, RWD single motor 267kW, AWD dual motor with the front producing 165kW the rear 267kW for a combined 432kW output and finally, the AWD dual motor with the front cranking out 165kW and the rear 310kW for a combined 475kW.

Those figures place the Smart 5 in competition with Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 line-up and, depending on price, possibly the likes of Merc’s EQB and EQC, Polestar’s 3 and 4 and Tesla Model Y.

You could also throw Toyota’s bZ4x and the Subaru Solterra in the mix.

According to leaked information, the RWD versions are equipped with lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries while the AWD models will have a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery pack. Battery capacity hasn’t been published. The top spec’ variant is 210km/h speed limited with the other three at 200km/h.

The 5 is expected to run 800V architecture with 4C-rating enabling a full charge in 15 minutes. The top model will have a 100kWh battery capable of a possible 700km range.

Images show the 5 as a sporty-looking EV along the lines of Hyundai’s new Kona with a chunky looking front, black wheel arches and square guards and is due for a China launch in Q4 this year.

All Smart cars will be produced in China, the brand selling into Europe, Australia and elsewhere but reports say Chinese sales aren’t going so well emphasised by May sales of about 3000 units placing it outside the country’s top 50 brands.