Multi-brand dealership group Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON) has opened its first electric vehicle (EV) dealership. EON smart Glenmarie is a 3S centre for the new smart brand, which launched its first model – the #1 – this week.
EON, a wholly owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom, invested almost RM4 million in EON smart Glenmarie, which takes up a portion of EON’s existing building in Glenmarie, near DRB-Hicom’s headquarters. The 4,362 sq.ft. facility’s showroom fits three display cars and one unit for customer delivery. There’s a customer lounge and cafe, discussion lounge, free WiFi and a children’s room.
The 3,716 sq.ft. aftersales area has four service bays. Of this, two bays are for service and repair, one for high voltage service, and one for wheel alignment. There are eight customer parking lots, two 22 kW AC chargers (the smart #1 is one of the few EVs in Malaysia to take in 22 kW max) and one 60 kW DC charger.
“We anticipate our smart 3S dealership will play a pivotal role in meeting the rising demand for smart #1 and making a significant impact on the local EV market,” said Akkbar Danial, head of automotive distribution at DRB-Hicom and CEO of EON.
EON smart Glenmarie’s showroom is open from Monday to Saturday, 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. On Sundays and public holidays, it’s 10am to 4pm. Service hours are 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday, and 8:30 am to 1:00 pm on Saturdays.
The new smart is an EV-only brand owned by Geely and Mercedes-Benz. The smart #1 sits on Geely’s Sustainable Electric Architecture (SEA) but the design was done by Mercedes-Benz, which is pretty obvious actually.
The smart #1 is priced from RM189,000 for the Pro single-motor. The Premium single-motor goes for RM219,000, while high-performance Brabus dual-motor range-topper goes for a reasonable RM249,000. The #1 is powered by a single rear motor with 272 PS (200 kW) and 343 Nm of torque. The Brabus adds on a front motor to make it AWD, 428 PS (315 kW), 543 Nm and 3.9 seconds in the benchmark sprint.
The #1’s battery is a 66-kWh lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) unit providing 440 km of WLTP-rated range (Brabus 400 km). The maximum charge rate is 150 kW DC, which means that if paired to a compatible fast charger, the #1’s battery can go from 10-80% state of charge (SoC) in 30 minutes.
That’s decent, but it’s in daily AC charging that the #1 stands out – with 22 kW AC (most rivals max out at 11 kW), going from 10-80% SoC takes just three hours. This gives added flexibility to the owner – imagine having a long lunch and your EV is fully charged, without paying DC rates. There are many other unique things in #1, such as a thumping Beats sound system, an elaborate song and light show, and even a fox ‘living’ in the touchscreen – walk-around video tour below.
GALLERY: EON smart Glenmarie 3S centre
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