Smart #5 (2025 – ) review

We won’t know how much the #5 will cost in the UK yet, but looking at the pricing in Europe expect it to compete with larger electric SUVs like the VW ID.4, Mini Countryman Electric, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and others like them. While most #5 models are powered by a sophisticated battery and offer huge performance for the money there’s also the option of a more affordable model with slightly simpler tech if you like the look but are less fixated on the numbers for range, charging speed and horsepower promised by the others. Other than that, it’s the usual story of cheaper running costs if you can charge at home, run it as a company car or buy through a salary sacrifice scheme. Unfortunately, given the likely pricing we’d expect all #5 models to be hit by the ‘expensive car supplement’ adding several hundred quid a year to your annual tax bill , at least for the first five years of ownership.

While always associated with Mercedes, Smart as a brand has had several partnerships along the way, this latest with Chinese megabrand Geely too new to have any meaningful reliability data as yet. Given Geely’s tech also powers Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, and the parent company’s resources, we’d hope for the best.

Consider this a holding score for the fact Smart was upfront about the fact the cars we tested still had some glitches to sort before sales start, and many of the niggles we experienced were related to safety tech either not working as it should or just being a bit annoying! Suffice to say, we soon learned not to trust the semi-automated lane changes to ‘catch’ the car before it crossed the white line onto the hard shoulder while the eye-scanning attention monitor told us off even when we were looking where we were going. The car scolding us to slow down for tight corners when trundling at town speeds was also infuriating. If it all works as it should when the #5 reaches customers the range of safety aids should mean a top score here, though. We’ll report back!

The Smart’s promise of Mercedes quality for Chinese pricing more or less plays out in the interior and its combination of 70s sci-fi style with (mainly) decent materials. It’s a big car as well, the flat floor and legroom in the back meaning it will be great for rear-seat passengers of all sizes with a boot big enough for all their stuff and a usable ‘frunk’ under what would usually be the bonnet for stashing charging cables and the like. You feel the benefit of that Mercedes influence in the ride quality and refinement as well, which is a lot more polished than many Chinese-built rivals. At sensible speeds the weight and response of the steering is confidence inspiring, the suspension strikes a good balance between body control and comfort and the notable lack of wind or road noise makes motorway cruising very relaxing indeed. A great place to rack up the miles, in short.

In an age where buying habits have changed car manufacturers have tended to simpler ranges to make choosing the right model easier, especially if you’re going the finance or leasing route. Smart seems to have missed that memo, and the #5 line up is somewhat confusing given it starts with a base model with a different battery from the rest and then progresses through various rear- and all-wheel drive options up to the top of the range Brabus we drove. Without getting too bogged down in what that all means all but base Pro and Pro+ get the distinctive double-screen dashboard, the passenger getting their own on which they can watch streaming services or play games on the move. In theory the second screen should detect if the driver is stealing a glance at it, but that didn’t happen on the pre-production cars we tried. Smart assures us it will but a neater solution would be the clever coating used by other manufacturers preventing the driver from seeing what’s on the screen without it having to switch itself off. There’s an awful lot of tech on the car as well, and much of it is very impressive. But, like other Smarts and, indeed, others within the wider Geely family, you’re forced by the lack of buttons to use the screen. But the interface is far too fiddly, with tiny icons that are difficult to read or use safely on the move. Doubly frustrating, given the huge screen means they could easily be made bigger.

Exactly what is the point of over 600 horsepower in a family SUV? Having driven the top of the range Brabus version we’re still not sure, but here we are and if you want to pummel your passengers’ heads into the seats every time you hit the accelerator this fastest #5 will do it all day long. Or, at least, until they throw up into their laps. Impressive as it is it doesn’t feel like the rest of the car has been engineered to cope with this much power, and after a couple of exploratory bursts of hard acceleration we soon dialled it back into the calmer driving modes and settled into a more relaxed cruise. Where, unsurprisingly, the #5 feels much more in its comfort zone. Based on that experience we’re keen to try one of the less powerful versions, which still look quicker than most rivals by the numbers but have a more meaningful and relevant level of performance for a car of this type. Range and charging speeds are, meanwhile, very impressive on the versions with the fancier battery, most models capable of well over 300 miles while if you can find a powerful enough public charger you’ll be able to top up in as long as it takes to grab a coffee.