2025 Smart #3 Brabus review

The halo model in the ‘reimagined’ Smart brand’s lineup delivers sporty style, a sense of fun and a different take on EVs.

A front angle view of a two-tone dark silver with red accent Smart #3 Brabus on the road

When older readers see the name ‘Smart’ they’re likely put in mind of the Fortwo, a two-seater micro-car designed for cramped urban driving in the busiest metro cities that debuted back in 1998. Mercedes-Benz marketed the Smart Fortwo in Australia between 2003 to 2015, with a single specification, the Pulse, starting at just under $20,000. Merc pulled the Smart brand from Australia in 2015 and, when it sold half its stake in Smart to Geely in 2019, the world was a different place. Electric cars had become synonymous with urban commuting, so a complete rebrand and rethink was in order. One thing to emerge from this new co-ownership was the Smart #3, which debuted in Australia in 2024.

How much does the Smart #3 Brabus cost?

The Brabus sits atop the Smart #3 model range, which starts at $57,900 plus on-road costs for the Pro+. The mid-spec Premium costs $61,900 plus on-road costs, while there’s a big jump to the Brabus driven here, which retails for $70,900 before on-road costs.

Rivals with comparable performance to the Brabus include the Tesla Model 3 Long Range ($64,900 plus ORCs) and Polestar 4 ($78,500 plus ORCs).

The Smart #3 Brabus comes with a five-year/150,00km warranty on materials and workmanship, while the battery gets an eight-year, 150,000km warranty. Servicing on the Brabus is $3900 over five years – pricey for an EV.

What is the Smart #3 Brabus like inside?

The interior design is all about curves – there’s not a straight edge anywhere. The sports seats offer figure-hugging support without obstructive bolstering or excessive firmness, while a suede-inlayed steering wheel, suede-appointed upholstery with buttons and red stitching, and red seatbelt webbing provide a sense of luxury and fun.

Like many of its EV contemporaries at this end of the market the Brabus has a large 12.8-inch infotainment screen and just about everything is customisable if you spend enough time snuffling through menus. For example, the screen mascot can be a fox or a cheetah, the interior mood lighting can be any colour you like (or two colours at once), you can choose how weighty the power steering is, what faux engine noise it creates as you accelerate, and so on. You can also program driver profiles so the car is just how you like it, although, annoyingly, this requires downloading and signing into an app or scanning a QR code (and the latter, for us at least, didn’t work).

The Brabus is surprisingly spacious for what appears externally to be a smallish car. Its 4400mm length and 1844mm width translate to loads of leg room front and back and you can get two adults and a kid across the rear pew, where there is more suede, red stitching and buttons. Rear passengers also get six speakers, one USB-A and one USB-C charging port, plus air conditioning vents. The fold-down centre armrest has drink two holders. The 370-litre cargo space isn’t huge though, one thing that makes the Brabus feel like a metro car.

Minor quibbles aside, few cars in recent memory have offered such an appealing and cohesive package.

— Kris Ashton

1/3

How safe is the Smart #3 Brabus?

The Smart #3 was awarded a five-star ANCAP rating in 2024. Standard safety equipment includes dual frontal, side and centre airbags, autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assistance and lane departure warning, and a speed alert system with speed sign recognition.

What powers the Smart #3 Brabus?

The Brabus version of the Smart #3 has twin electric motors, one on each axle, powered by a 66kWh battery. These motors develop 315kW and 543Nm, while the Brabus has a theoretical range of 415km. At the end of our 250km test drive the trip meter showed energy consumption of 15kWh/100km, which suggests the theoretical range would be achievable in real-world conditions.

Claimed charging time using a 150kW DC charger is 0 to 80 per cent in under 30 minutes. Getting the battery from 0 to 100 per cent using regular AC wall current will take 18.5 hours.

What is the Smart #3 Brabus like to drive? 

Smart’s key fob is like a little UFO and ties in with the brand’s ‘cute’ theme, although it’s far from the most convenient or ergonomic design. It’s impossible to tell by feel which button is lock and unlock and if you’re at all hard of seeing, looking at it won’t help much, either.

The Mercedes-style gear shifter – located where most right-hand drive cars have an indicator – will continue to be controversial, but once you become accustomed to it you can appreciate its economy of movement. The large touchscreen has well-ordered iconography that encourages you to explore the myriad menus and sub-menus, although when connected to Apple CarPlay we found the screen would on occasion go black and nothing short of turning the car off and on again would resolve the issue.

With twin electric motors, the torque on tap when you put your foot down is impressive (especially in Brabus mode), although it doesn’t have the endless well of power you get in the higher-end dual-motor EVs. As such, acceleration tapers off noticeably once you reach 100km/h - but it deals with that task in 3.7 seconds claimed.

Grippy tyres and sporty handling ensure the Brabus is loads of fun on-road. Linear steering offers plenty of feedback, and like just about everything else in the Smart #3, the steering weight is customisable. Put the Brabus into a corner and active anti-roll tech keeps it flat and composed. The 1910kg kerb weight comes into play if you really push it, and it doesn’t quite have the nimbleness of a sports car or the endless lateral stability of a dedicated hot hatch – but it still feels controllable and never really gets out of shape. As a bonus, the suspension is supple and forgiving over road irregularities – something the typical Smart owner is much more likely to encounter.

Elsewhere, the regenerative braking defaults to the middle of three settings, which offers moderate resistance. It’s a good midpoint for those who want some energy recuperation but don’t like the single-pedal driving the highest setting allows.

Taking a leaf out of Hyundai’s book (not to mention several others), the Smart #3 Brabus has an active speed alert system which bleeps as soon as the car exceeds (what it thinks is) the posted speed limit. Its sound is less annoying than Hyundai’s, but it’s far from infallible. For example, upon merging onto a 110km/h motorway, it picks up the 60km/h off-ramp sign and starts pinging at you even though you’re cruising at 100km/h in the left lane.

What equipment does the Smart #3 Brabus come with?

While $71k is quite a lot for a smallish SUV, the Brabus comes armed with every imaginable feature, such as 20-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, two-zone climate control, a wireless phone charger, head-up display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, heated steering wheel, 13-speaker sound system, panoramic sunroof, cooled storage box, LED matrix headlights and puddle lights.

Should I buy a Smart #3 Brabus?

Minor quibbles aside, few cars in recent memory have offered such an appealing and cohesive package. The Smart #3 Brabus is that rarest of creatures – a car that feels like it was designed with a clear purpose and engineered precisely every step of the way.

While the 415km claimed range limits its practicality as a road trip vehicle, as a fun and generously equipped metro car that can also pick up its skirts and zip from corner to corner on a winding country road, the Smart #3 Brabus has few peers.