Smart 3 vs Subaru Uncharted

What's the difference?

Smart is back.

Not with the classic ForTwo two-seater city car, oddball four-seater ForFour hatch or dinky Roadster targa top. Those were yesterday’s cars.

Today, Smart – as a 50/50 joint-venture between Germany’s Mercedes-Benz (the brand’s originator) and China’s Geely – is all about SUVs. Electric SUVs.

The boxy #1 (pronounced “hashtag-one”) is a small SUV and the sleeker #3 is the coupe-esque performance crossover version. Both are made in China and use Geely technologies.

We take a long, hard look at the range-topping #3 Brabus, the speediest, sexiest and exxiest of the lot. Let’s go.

Subaru is entering uncharted territory.

The Uncharted is the brand’s first electric small SUV and a bold new direction, as the Japanese maker enters one of the most hotly-contested and now sought-after new segments in the Australian car market.

There is no shortage of new options calling out to Australian buyers and with a broad range of price-tags, designs and on-board tech it’s never been a more difficult time to enter this space.

So what does the Subaru Uncharted do differently, and is it worthy of your consideration? We took one for a week to find out.