Base Spec smart #1 To Use LFP Battery Instead Of NMC and Retail For RM109,000

If you are like me where the main drive to own a car is purely based on design and price, and the soon to be introduced smart #1’s “low” variant would be just the perfect purchase.

A Chinese online media recently reported the the Geely owned smart car brand would be introducing a cost down version of their highly anticipated #1 model. This cost down variant would be powered by a Lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) instead of the ternary Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery.

Up to now, all smart #1 variants are rear wheel powered with exception to the Brabus variant which has motors powering all four wheels. In the new entry variant, all the power would be sent solely to the rear wheels. Furthermore, the NMC battery powered #1 has a range of up to 560KM while the cheaper LFP model could go up to a commendable 400KM.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the base spec smart #1's LFP battery would be 49kWh in size made by Rept Battero and would retail in China for about RMB170,000 (RM109,000). At that price the smart #1 makes for an absolutely bargain of a vehicle with beauty and affordability going for it.

The other variants of the smart #1 powered by the 66kWh battery is available from RMB194,200 (RM124,000) to RMB279,000 (RM180,000). Furthermore, the base model smart #1 would also weigh 20KG less coming in at 1750KG.

With the smart #1 expected to make its Malaysian debut come 4th quarter of 2023 via Pro-Net, a subsidiary of Proton we do wish for this cost down model to be introduced here with a after tax price of no more than RM150,000 to be able to compete with the other offering from China from brands like BYD and GWM.