New Smart #5 Electric SUV LEAKED – gets up to 637bhp

Smart’s latest model – the Smart #5 – has leaked out ahead of its debut and promising up to 637bhp and four-wheel drive.

It’s hard to keep a secret these days when we all have access to the interwebs, so it’s no surprise that filings by Smart for the Smart #5 to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have been picked up by Car News China, which means we have the photo above and quite a bit of technical detail.

Looking not too far from the Smart #5 Concept we saw in April and about the size of a Volvo XC60 – the production car is tamed down from a rufty-tufty off-roader to a proper boxy urban warrior, and although we have no photos of the interior it’s unlikely to stray too far from the concept.

What is of interest is just how powerful the #5 will be; we expected a Brabus version sporting over 400bhp like the Smart #1 Brabus but Smart has gone much further with the #5.

Despite not appearing to sport Brabus badging on the leaked photo, the range-topping #5 comes with a whopping 637bhp and AWD – likely to mean a 0-62mph in the 3.0-second range – with a slightly less powerful AWD version delivering 579bhp and single-motor RWD version with either 335bhp or 358bhp.

Power comes from a battery likely to be good for 100kW, with RWD cars getting lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, and AWD models nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), and with an 800v electrical architecture for a 10-80% charge in as little as 15 minutes.