Smart, the brand formerly known for its tiny city cars, is reinventing itself as an EV-only maker of stylish and spacious crossovers. After unveiling the Smart 1, a small SUV that will go on sale in Europe later this year, the company has now revealed the Smart 3, a larger and sleeker coupe SUV that will join the lineup early 2024.
The Smart 3 made its world debut at the Shanghai auto show this week, and it will be shown to the public at the Munich auto show in September. It is based on the same Geely SEA platform as the Smart 1 and Zeekr X, but it is longer and classified as a compact rather than a small crossover. It competes with other coupe-SUV EVs, such as the Skoda Enyaq Coupe and the Citroen e-C4.
The Smart 3 is powered by a single electric motor that produces 268 hp and sends power to the front wheels. A more powerful version with two motors and an all-wheel drive is likely to be available in the future. The battery capacity is 66 kWh, which should give the Smart 3 a range of around 300 miles on a single charge. That's less than some of its rivals but still enough for most drivers' needs. The Smart 3 can also charge up to 150 kW, which means it can go from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes with a fast charger.
