Smart abandons all-EV plan with plug-in hybrid Smart #5

Smart has announced it will offer a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid version of its inbound #5 SUV.

The Chinese-German-owned marque said way back in 2020 it would be pursuing an all-electric future, however that plan has now clearly changed according to Autocar, with a hybrid variant of its flagship SUV set to join the range later this year.

The PHEV system in question will comprise an 82kWh turbo-petrol engine with a 160kW electric motor and a 19.1kWh battery pack thought to be capable of covering more than 1420km on a full fuel load.

It’s the same system used in the Galaxy 7 EM-I and should return fuel consumption figures of 3.8L/100km.

Leaked details suggest the Smart #5 will also be available with a more affordable 400V, single-motor battery-electric set-up, outputting 250kW and sustained by a 76kW battery.

A 310kW dual-motor powertrain meantime gets a much larger 100kWh battery and more advanced 800V architecture.

The single-motor will cover around 570km, while dual-motor variants should drive as much as 740km on the European WLTP test regime.

No timings have been released for the new hybrid Smart #5 and it’s not known which markets will get plug-in hybrid power, but the #5 EV has already been confirmed for Australia with the flagship Tesla Model Y rival set to join the #1 and #3 compact duo in the second half of 2025 with pricing tipped to range from $70,000 to $100,000.

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