The all-new Smart #1 was unveiled with a rear-wheel-drive powertrain and 66kWh battery, but company bosses are already evaluating a technical range extension to broaden the model’s appeal.
The #1 is the first European-bound car to use Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), which underpins the Chinese-market Zeekr 001 Shooting Brake and will soon be used for a compact electric SUV from Volvo.
The flexibility of this platform, according to Autocar, means that future variants of the No. 1 – and other Smart models to come – mean that a range of battery sizes and powertrain configurations are feasible.
On a top-of-the-line four-wheel drive with an additional motor on the front axle, Smart’s head of connected cars and products, Yifeng Tan, told Autocar, “We are definitely looking at the segment, looking at our markets to hear customer feedback, and we’re certainly in discussion about the possibilities of having all-wheel drive as well.
The 001, which uses a slightly longer version of the platform, is available in China with both rear and four-wheel-drive configurations, while elsewhere in the Geely Group’s portfolio, Volvo XC40 Recharge electric vehicles and Polestar 2 are each available up front. and four-wheel-drive forms – but they notably use an unrelated platform.
A four-wheel-drive version of the #1 is unlikely to hit the market with the 536bhp output rivaling the 001’s Porsche Taycan, given the new arrival’s accessible and mainstream positioning, but Getting it north of the 300bhp mark would align the #1 as a rival to the hotter versions of the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Undoubtedly, a second engine would sap the No. 1’s 273-mile range, but Tan also hinted at the potential for different battery sizes, opening up the possibility of longer-legged variants and cheaper, more urban proposals.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-08 09:23:05
