The revival of the Smart marque continues apace, albeit in a much bigger way than the 1998 original model, the tiny two-seater advertised for the novelty of it fitting in a standard parking space on the perpendicular rather than the parallel.
Now an exclusively electric offering, Smart launched in Ireland with the #1 model, and now comes the bigger coupé, the #3 (and yes, you do say ‘hashtag 3’).
Originally built as a partnership between Mercedes- Benz and the Swatch watch company (Smart derives from Swatch Mercedes art), it now is a joint venture between M-B and the Chinese car-making giant Geely, which also owns Volvo and Polestar, so it has long experience in electric car design and manufacture.
The entry-level price pf the #3 here is €38,714 for the Pro trim version, which is rearwheel drive and has a smaller battery and, consequently, range of a more modest 310km. That’s only around €1,300 dearer that the Smart #1 SUV.
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