The flagship performance-focused smart #5 has also been claimed to pack a whopping 646 PS.
While it was just a couple short months since its was preview in concept form at Auto China 2024 (aka Beijing Auto Show) back in April, smart nevertheless looks to soon to be putting its #5 into production already. And thanks to its filing with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), we now also know more about what exactly is to come with this upcoming mid-sized SUV.
Starting first with that headline-baiting topic regarding its size, the #5 is to come in at 4,705 mm long, 1,920 mm wide, and 1,705 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,900 mm. For context here, this therefore makes it a full 265 mm longer than the #3 that currently stands as the biggest model in Smart’s lineup, and its dimensions are somewhat similar to many other mid-sized SUVs on the market right now, like the new Honda CR-V for instance (albeit with this smart having an 8-inch longer wheelbase than it too).
Touching on the general exterior aesthetics meanwhile, smart has swung in completely the opposite direction now from its svelte #3 to favour a more boxy overall silhouette with this #5. It has also interestingly dropped the rugged look seen on the concept car, to instead go with a visually lower street-style look for its production variants.
It would be remissed to not mention too for this #5 to look a lot like a Kia Niro from the front, which mainly comes from it featuring similar-looking dog-bone frontal LED lighting signature on its bluff nose. Its frontal lighting signature is then to be repeated round its boxy back, with the four squircle holes on its central light bar also making an appearance on its rump as well.
As for its propulsion, the smart #5 will be available in China with four powertrain options. Two of which will be single-motor rear wheel drive variants, while the other pair will feature a motor on each axle that hence drives all four wheels.
The RWD variants is currently claimed to generate either 340 PS or 363 PS from its single rear-mounted motor, with energy will be drawn from a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. The all-wheel drive trims in turn will see for a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery pack to power a 224 PS front-mounted electric motor that is paired with either the aforementioned 363 PS or an even more powerful 422 PS from the rear-mounted unit, which consequently sees for the flagship performance spec to deliver up to 646 PS.
Now smart has yet to provide a detailed breakdown yet on the specific battery capacities for any of its packs, with it only hinting that its longest-range variant should be capable of driving 549 km on a single charge. What has nevertheless been since confirmed is that with an 800-Volt architecture sourced from parent company Geely, the battery pack can be topped up from 10-80% in just 15 minutes.
In terms of its interior appointments on the other hand, there is unfortunately to be no photos yet regarding what the cabin of this #5 will look like. Reports however currently suggest for a triple-screen layout is plausible, with a pair of touchscreen displays for the driver and passenger complimented further by another dedicated driver’s display.
One rather interesting chassis-related quirk too discovered from the prior spy shots of this #5 is for this upcoming model to feature a double wishbone front suspension setup with aluminium steering knuckles, which should certainly see for this smart to handle even better than the already tidy-handling #1 and #3 (that use McPherson struts up front).
smart is currently rumoured to debut the #5 sometime late in the second half of 2024, before it eventually goes on sale in early 2025. There is a high chance too for this SUV to make its way over here before long, but the question will then be whether there is a large appetite for a large smart or not?
