smart adds all-wheel drive to the #5 and dresses the whole range in black
A quiet but useful bit of housekeeping
Not every piece of car news is a reveal. Sometimes it is a brand keeping its range fresh, and that is what smart is doing here: adding all-wheel drive to its largest EV, the #5, and rolling out a moody Black Collection across the line-up. Neither is dramatic, but both make the cars a little easier to want.
The #5 gains all-wheel drive
The headline is the smart #5 Premium, now available as a dual-motor all-wheel-drive version. It costs 2,500 euro more than the rear-drive Premium and arrives from 30 July, Italy first with a gradual European rollout to follow. smart quotes 540 km of WLTP range and consumption of 19.9 kWh per 100 km, and the AWD Premium adds a Sennheiser sound system, ventilated front seats with heated rear seats and double-pane glass. The pitch is all-season capability across Europe's varied climates, though smart has not published power or acceleration figures.
The Black Collection
The other change is cosmetic but well judged. A new Black Collection is offered on the #1, #3 and #5 Pro+ for 600 euro, adding coordinated black exterior details across the grille, diffuser, side skirts, beltline and roof bars, plus a black body colour, optional privacy glass and three new interior trims. Each model gets its own black wheel design, from 18-inch Amps on the #1 to 19-inch designs on the #3 and #5. Blacked-out looks sell, and this is smart giving buyers what they keep asking for.
What smart is really doing
This is annual model-year work, the unglamorous but important business of keeping a young range relevant against fast-moving competition. "Relevance has to be earned year after year, and every update is designed to make our cars feel more distinctive, more rewarding to live with," said Xuan-Zheng Goh, smart Europe's director of product, marketing and communications. It is the kind of quiet iteration that does not make headlines but keeps a brand in the conversation.
AutoNext Take
There is nothing here to set the world alight, and that is fine, because this is exactly how a young EV brand stays competitive: small, sensible additions that widen the appeal without a full redesign. All-wheel drive answers a real objection for buyers in colder, wetter or hillier parts of Europe, and a proper blacked-out look is one of the cheapest ways to make a car feel more special. smart is still finding its feet in a brutally crowded EV market, and updates like this are how it earns its way, one useful improvement at a time.
