smart #1 Preview At Setia City Convention Centre, 22 – 23 July 2023
smart Malaysia has planned a series of previews of the smart #1 battery electric vehicle (BEV), including one at Setia City Convention Centre this weekend (22 – 23 July 2023), together with dealer Hap Seng Smart at the Electric Vehicle Expo.
With Mercedes-Benz design and smart engineering, the all-new smart #1 encapsulates smart’s purpose i.e. to design a smarter future, together.
smart had also held exclusive previews at its headquarters in Subang Jaya for fans and owners of electric vehicles. Participants were given insights into the smart brand’s design identity as well as its technologies.
According to Chief Executive Officer of smart Malaysia, Zhang Qiang, smart is dedicated to offering premium products with futuristic design and advanced technology that perfectly suit modern urban lifestyles. Thus, these preview events play a crucial role of not only providing information on the car but also to enhance the awareness of smart’s plans in Malaysia. “By bringing people together, especially the EV enthusiasts and sharing knowledge, we hope to increase awareness and enable participants to explore our product firsthand by providing opportunity to get up close and personal with smart #1,’’ he added.
The participants were also offered opportunities to explore the vehicle’s features as well as its driving abilities on a test drive. 
smart Malaysia is the official importer and distributor of smart vehicles in Malaysia and Thailand, and is planning to launch the smart #1 in the last quarter of 2023. In May, it had appointed a host of dealers as part of its preparations for the brand and product launch, and to ensure it has a network in place.
Besides that, the company has also been working to develop local telematics services to support the vehicle control, navigation (charging map and entertainment functions), and the smart customer app. This is to ensure that Malaysian customers get a seamless and localised experience.
The smart #1 continues to undergo road testing as part of smart’s research and development process, including a 20,000 km adaptive test to evaluate the vehicle’s performance, reliability, and safety in real-world conditions with a particular focus on adapting to the weather and road conditions in Malaysia.
“In addition, we conducted local integration and display head function tests, which included 12,000 test cases and conditions. And on the service side, we have successfully developed our aftersales network and online system. Over the past 6 months, we have extensively tested the service functions to ensure a smooth experience for end users,” explained Zhang Qiang.
“We have every reason to believe that smart will emerge as a leading EV brand in this country. The team is dedicated to ensuring that EV mobility ecosystem is fully prepared before the launch of smart #1 later this year. We will continue to share updates on the significant advancements made along the way,” he added.
