B for Blistering: Smart #1 Brabus previewed in Malaysia - First in ASEAN, est. RM 250k, up to 400 km range

Much like everything else in the German tuner's back catalogue, the 2023 Smart #1 Brabus is an electric vehicle (EV) with anger issues – and it's finally officially showcased in Malaysia, the first market in the ASEAN region to receive the model at that.

Being a tarted-up variant of the regular Hashtag One, it has more power, differentiated looks, and an estimated RM 250,000 pricetag; roughly RM 50k more than the base #1 Pro. Note that the its full official launch will take place later this year.

Exterior

Building from the Premium variant, the #1 Brabus comes with the standard CyberSparks Matrix LED headlights, sequential turn signals, illuminated front grill and door handles, as well as logos on the C-pillars.

There's also a panoramic roof with an electric sunblind flanked by a set of roof rails, as well as a powered tailgate with hands-free access.

The differentiator then is the Brabus aerokit, bringing with it a set of 'nostrils' on the hood, an aggressive front bumper with an integrated lip, a longer rear spoiler, and 19-inch 'Dynamo' wheels with red brake calipers hiding behind them.

Brabus, along with black badges, complete the look. Six two-tone and one single shade colourways are available:

• Meta Black (Radiant Red roof)
• Laser Red (Eclipse Black roof)
• Cyber Silver (Radiant Red roof)
• Cyber Silver (Eclipse Black roof)
• Digital White (Eclipse Black roof)
• Atom Grey Matte (Radiant Red roof)
• Atom Grey Matte (same colour roof)

Interior

The cabin only comes with the sole grey/red combination (with red seatbelts, of course), but it's peppered with Brabus-specific details namely the 'B' embossed on the headrests, red stitching, microfibre seat upholstery and an Alcantara/leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Also read: Proton mulls CKD Smart vehicles, emphasizes RM 32 bil investment to turn Tg Malim as EV hub

Kit inside is based on the Premium, so the driver and passenger get electric seats with heating and ventilation, an ambient lighting system to jazz it all up, a 9.2-inch digital instrument cluster (with a head-up display as complement), dual-zone automatic climate control, and a 12.8-inch infotainment touchscren that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

There's wireless charging as well, a cooled central compartment, a panoramic roof with powered sunblind, and a 13-speaker, 640-watt Beats sound system.

Practicality wise, the flat-folded rear seat creates a 986-litre storage, while a movable rear bench (with 130 mm of adjustment, allowing for boot space to range between 323 litres to 411 litres) adds flexibility to allow for more legroom, less boot space or vice versa. There’s a 15-litre front trunk too.

Powertrain

The star of the show then is what's under the hood: a dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain propels the car. Maximum output is 428 PS and 543 Nm, good for a 0-100 km/h time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 180 km/h.

A 66 kWh nickel-manganese cobalt (NMC) battery provides the juice, equating to 400 km of range per the WLTP; slightly shorter than the 440 km the regular #1s get.

Charging wise, the Brabus #1 has 22 kW AC charging; enough to charge the battery from 10% to 80% in three hours. DC fast charging goes up to 150 kW, equalling a 10% to 80% state of charge in just 29 minutes.

Also read: Closing gap with Tesla, Smart launches Pilot Assist 2.0, new version to be released every year

Aftersales, deliveries, model range

With the official preview of the Smart #1 Brabus, it completes the trifecta of the range here, which now stands as follows: the Pro, the Premium, and the #1 Brabus, ranging from RM 200,000 to RM 250,000.

Customers interested in the range can contact their preferred authorised Smart dealer, or download the Hello Smart app. There's also an early bird perk in the form of RM 1,001 in charging credits.