Non-Non Ye

“Finally, the world has caught up with the footsteps of science fiction,” wrote James Gunn in the opening of Interworld in 1975. Forty years later, he added, “The world has finally caught up with science fiction, but science fiction is no longer there.”

Fantasies often arrive in the future ahead of time.

Smart’s foresight has always been ahead of its time.

In the late 1980s, Heiko One was busy promoting his watch empire and thinking about cars everywhere. He realized that if one day in the future, small and flexible micro-cars would occupy super cities, would urban life be more convenient, environmentally friendly, and beautiful?

This development plan based on the concept of “future urban cars” has officially begun, and what finally emerged from it was the boldly conceived two-door and two-seat model of the smart.

You can often hear it say: “Everything can be smart.”

Therefore, it is not surprising that for more than 20 years, with its unconventional classic design and innovation, it has amazed people, making them exclaim, “Is this what a car can do?”

For example, it grasped the youngest group of car consumers, with an average age of 27, by the earliest versatile color matching, modifiable attributes, and the pioneering of online car sales.

For example, it placed a display case of more than ten meters of glass next to the shopping mall, where colorful cars were displayed one after another. From afar, you can see a row of colorful and personalized smarts. This is probably the prototype of many car brands opening experience stores in shopping malls today.

For example, it emphasizes that almost all parts’ raw materials are environmentally friendly materials. The steel chassis is a powder coating rather than conventional paint, so there is no solvent, no paint pollution, and no wastewater discharge.

It also has various imaginative car models.

“Smart forrail.” A smart forfour modified into the world’s smallest train, with four wheels replaced by four 22-inch solid steel wheels, finally pulled a locomotive weighing 70 tons nonstop for ten miles.

Smart K exclusively for neon. At that time, in order to meet the government’s weird standards for K cars, the width was even reduced, and the fender was modified to become the smallest smart in the world, even more interesting than ordinary smart cars.

Whether you think these imaginative ideas are useful or not, Smart believes that any fantasy is valuable, and any fantasy may come true.##

The birth of Smart was meant to break the established frames of traditional cars of the last century and revolutionize the trend of small city cars.

It is said that “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Building a reputation means developing your worldview and forming your own connotations. Breaking your own mold is about toppling barriers and venturing into a broader world. Clearly, destroying your own walls is more valuable and harder to accomplish.

This time, Smart broke down the walls it had built for more than 20 years.

On April 25th, the all-new Smart Fortwo #1 subcompact car hit the market and ushered in a brand new era for Smart. The new car offers two trim levels: Pro+ and Premium, with prices ranging from 190,000 to 230,000 yuan. From now on, Smart will no longer just be a two-seater micro car that can park horizontally into the side parking space, but also a pure electric compact SUV that can definitely accommodate five people.

Clearly, there’s more that this car wants to achieve.

It’s like when in 2000, Pu Shu sang in his song “New Boy,” “The road ahead will no longer be painful, and our future will be so cool.” Two decades later, young people have indeed witnessed such a cool future that is more open, independent, and diverse, where they can say no to labels on themselves…but the openness, independence, and diversity of this era are actually a gift for everyone.

There are always those who are truly young while their generation may have aged.

This is also true for the renewed Smart. It goes from small to large, from bigger to more luxurious, and from more intelligent to better accommodate the current trend of consumption.

So, this is a more tolerant Smart.

Efficient use of space is like a gene deeply rooted in every Smart car.

Back in the days of the first Smart model, the brand began to contemplate urban and travel space. Today, Smart Fortwo #1 is inspired by the concept of “Reshaping Future Space.” Its dimensions have suddenly increased to 427018221636mm, and the wheelbase has reached 2750mm, exceeding some compact SUV models.The rear seats of smart #1 support 4/6 fold-down and front-back movement. By sliding the seats, the cargo space in the trunk can be expanded from 323 L to 411 L, and it can reach up to 986 L with the second-row seats folded down. Thanks to its pure electric platform, smart #1 also has a 15L front trunk space, which undoubtedly makes it more practical.

In addition to its eye-catching appearance, the all-new smart #1 has a fresh design.

The design philosophy of this new car is called “sensibility and agility”, which comes from the Mercedes-Benz global design team.

For example, the cyber light-shadow permeating LED matrix headlights and the flowing particle grille below it are just a few strokes but they express the car’s sensibility and charm. The floating roof is perfectly compatible with 11 body colors and 4 interior styles. The hidden electric door handles, frameless doors, and immersive panoramic sunroof are all elements that are extremely attractive to young people.

Smart #1 is also infinitely inclusive of its target consumers.

On the smart APP, there is a topic called “#IHaveOrderedMySmart#”. From the posts that have been released, there are young people who have just graduated and started working, newlyweds, and parents who are buying a car for their daughter.

I remember that the average age of smart’s European customers was 27 years old. I think in China today, this number may be magnified or reduced.

A female car owner wrote in a post: The storage space of the all-new smart #1 is very thoughtful. There is a place for girls to put their bags on the side of the front seats, a box for sunglasses and card slots, and wireless charging for mobile phones. The most unexpected thing is that there is a cooling storage compartment in the middle of the front seat that is cooled by air conditioning. It’s also great to have a cold coke in the summer.

Another young dad said that the all-new smart #1 is his fourth car, from French, German, Japanese, to this “heartfelt” one. What’s more special is that this car was chosen by him and his son together, and one car has fulfilled the dreams of two generations.This time, the all-new Smart Elf #1 breaks away from traditional classification of car models, even kinetic classification, age and gender classification… It has grown up and entered a new sub-segment market, targeting more like-minded people who recognize and love its ideas and lifestyle.

This is also the smarter generation of Smart.

With a 9.2-inch LCD instrument panel, HUD head-up display and 12.8-inch suspended central control screen, the sense of technology inside the car is perfectly balanced.

The front seats support 6-way electric adjustment, 4-way electric lumbar support adjustment, ventilation/heating and other configurations, and the car interior provides a heat pump air conditioning and dual-zone automatic constant temperature control system. The head top is a 1.3-square-meter super large immersive sky curtain, surrounded by a Beats sound system, intelligent fragrance system, wireless charging for mobile phones, foot-activated electric tailgate, 3.3 kW reverse charging and other functional configurations.

All of these make the all-new Smart Elf #1 cover all the explanations in a bilingual dictionary: flexible, agile, and smart.

On the software side, the all-new Smart Elf #1 is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 smart cockpit chip, which uses 7nm process technology and an 8-core CPU processor. Its computing power can reach 3.6 million times/second.

Equipped with the “Inspiration Planet” smart OS full-scene digital ecosystem vehicle system, using the geometric line design style derived from the game world’s “Low Poly”.

Many people love the little fox – the Elf Assistant Avatar. It can not only change skin, act cute, but also quickly learn and adapt to the user’s voice habits through AI technology. Some car owners say, “I feel like I will really have a conversation with my car in the future, rather than the machine answering monotonously.”

The all-new Smart also creates a digitized ecological service centered on the APP and the vehicle system, supporting WeChat on-board, and allowing you to enter Smart’s digital world through your unique Smart ID.

This is, of course, a more powerful Smart.# All-new smart EQ Fortwo #1: A Compact Urban Companion of Personality and Sustainability

The all-new smart EQ Fortwo #1 boasts a compact and muscular profile, as well as an energetic powertrain. Both of its unveiled models are equipped with a rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor, which delivers up to 200 kW of maximum power and 343 Nm of peak torque, enabling the car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.7 seconds. In addition, three driving modes and three steering comfort levels are provided to enhance the personalized driving experience.

Moreover, the smart Pilot advanced driver assistance system is equally impressive, delivering Level 2+ autonomous driving functionalities via 23 high-precision sensors.

Apart from the pure EV driving pleasure, the all-new smart EQ Fortwo #1 also delivers exceptional battery performance.

Equipped with a 66 kWh three-element lithium-ion battery, it can achieve a maximum pure electric range of 560 km (WLTP), which surpasses many expectations. Moreover, it can charge at a DC fast charging station with up to 150 kW power and 380 A current, allowing the battery to be charged from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes, the time of a cup of coffee.

The smart EQ Fortwo #1 not only reflects the era’s technological advancements, but also responds to the desires of its targeted generationーa balance between sustainability and joy.

A Personified AQ Fortwo for New Urban Life

The all-new smart EQ Fortwo #1 is positioned as a “personified” compact urban companion for tomorrow.

As seen from its portrayal, the description of “human” features in the car has increased.

For example, it is equipped with the industry’s first “full-scenario custom function.” By DIYing the scenes and function configurations on the “smart car” APP in advance, the smart EQ Fortwo #1 will use its dynamic light and sound show to create a romantic and surprising atmosphere in special circumstances.

Customization has always been a key factor in attracting young consumers, who are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Such sustainability means that the collaboration between automakers and users has just begun rather than ended after the purchase of the vehicle.

Smart wants to create a sustainable user ecosystem.

Last May, Smart launched its trendy lifestyle brand, smartidea. According to the official explanation, it will collaborate with fashion brands, designers, and consumers to create trendy and fashionable items while also building an open co-creation platform.

From joining hands with fashion designers to launching co-branded products and launching creative collection calls for the public, smartidea has actually caught the demand changes of these young people: their consumption starts with novelty, freshness, love for quality, but also loyalty to attitude.

Seeing a car owner from Jinan on the app said, “Some may say that it is no longer the same smart as before, but I want to say that if you want it to continue to exist, you must accept its changes. It is like a child who has grown up, but it is still this person, but it has become better.”

The torrent of changes in the era pushed people forward, and the brand-new Smart bypassed the crowd and took its own path. You can choose to continue to believe in it, just like more than 20 years ago. After all, it has never failed us in terms of urban life.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.