Smart is raising the price of its new Smart #1 electric vehicle, which will not enter the Chinese market until September.

Smart Automobile, a joint venture between Geely and Mercedes-Benz, introduced the Smart #1 electric crossover at the end of April and has been taking orders ever since. As it turned out, the first customers were lucky - they will receive cars at lower prices than those who apply after August 2.

Company announced price increase for Smart #1 through Weibo, a popular social network in China. For example, the Premium version of the car will rise in price by 5,800 yuan (860 US dollars) "due to rising prices for raw materials."

Smart #1 is available in three versions: Pure+, Pro+ and Premium, priced from 194,200, 209,200 and 239,200 yuan ($28,750, $31,000, $35,420) respectively. Notably, the price tags for the cheaper Pure+ and Pro+ models have not changed.

Billed as an all-electric compact crossover, the Smart #1 is the largest model in the history of the Smart brand. The length of the car is 4,270 mm, the width is 1,822 mm, the height is 1,636 mm, and the wheelbase is 2,750 mm.

The model is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 66 kWh. Claimed range in the Chinese CLTC certification cycle is 560 km.

In the first day, Smart China received more than 10,000 orders for Smart #1.

Source: Cnevpost