So the Smart #5 even puts Mercedes in the shade

The first two decades were for smart as in the ball bath: color -colored, playful and carefree. Because even if the brand has received millions of losses, Mother Mercedes had it granted. But another wind has been blowing for five years. Because now the Chinese large corporation Geely is in charge, the carefree days are over and Smart has literally grown up.

And if you don’t believe that, you will put #5 on the farm for prices from 45,900 euros this summer. With a length of around 4.70 meters, it is not only the largest smart. But above all, he is an all -round grown -up car that competes at the top of the compact class against competitors such as VW ID.4, the Ford Explorer and, last but not least, the Mercedes EQB. The only styling that is beefy and gives the smart and gives the smart to a appearance that is still noticeable in this densely occupied class.

Attack on the big brother with the star

At least in this regard, the #5 stays close to the original, even if the color -coated security cell is also history, and now the wheelbase with 2.90 meters is larger than before is the whole car – the first smart was only around 2.50 meters long. But the Smart also offers more space than ever – and more than with most competitors. Even a Mercedes GLC appears comparatively cramped next to its Chinese nephew, especially for the backbenchers.

While you still sit upright and conventionally – at least as long as you do not fold out the leg edition on the charging station, the backbenchers travel on a heated sofa with an electrically adjustable backrest and enjoy more legroom than in an E -Class. And if you let the passenger seat surf the front with the chauffeur button, you can even hit your legs one step over one another. To do this, Mercedes customers have to switch to a long S-Class or straight to a Maybach.

And no, that is not at the expense of the trunk. It holds no less impressive 630 liters and cannot be expanded to 1,530 liters – the shelter up to 72 liters in size – the filing under the front hood. The space is already impressive and the daughter makes her former mother look even old when it comes to infotainment. Finally, there is a screen for the passenger and a head-up display with augmented reality technology.

In the graphics, an animations such as the Lion « Leo » smile as Avatar, which helps with the new AI-based voice assistant with control of central vehicle functions. And the sound system stages almost as complex as in the S-Class. It is not for nothing that the central loudspeaker rises from the dashboard like a UFO.

Huge battery, a lot of power

But what really makes the Smart is his Chinese platform, which outlines European competitors in this class. With up to 100 kWh, the battery is not only unusually large for this class for this class. With its 800 volt architecture, it also loads faster than the competition. With up to 400 kW, even the new CLA must fit, not to mention EQA and EQB. The charging capacity of 150 kW is rather average on the entry -level model, which has at least 76 kWh and thus comes up to 465 kilometers.

There is also clogging and not spilling when driving: the #5 drives in the rear with a 250 kW/340 hp engine in the base. The top version has 432 kW/588 hp and also all-wheel drive. And if the 4.9 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h are not enough or the 200 km/h top speed, you also get the #5 as a Brabus version with even more power: then there are 475 kW/646 hp, 3.8 seconds and 210 km/h in the data sheet. The smart has more power than most sports cars. But he doesn’t feel like that except for kick-down at the traffic lights. On the contrary, it is coordinated with family -friendly, soil -friendly base shafts iron out and is so easy to steer that the big format can be quickly forgotten again. And the rest takes over half a dozen cameras that help with maneuvering.

Large, beefy, highly motorized, with long breath for long stretches and, depending on the version, even with all -wheel drive for detour to the side – measured according to old standards, the #5 can only be as little as a car. But with rapidly fast charging technology, good infotainment system and a lot of comfort, it is the best Mercedes in this class that the Swabians never built. At a price for which EQA or EQB only exists as a young used. In a completely different way, the #5 is a pretty smart car.