As a result, the #2’s turning circle is absolutely tiny: just 6.95m compared with the 9.4m of the Aygo X and 10.3m of our Small Electric Car of the Year, the Renault 5 (R5). This is possible because the #2 takes the same two-door, two-seat form as the old Fortwo, whereas its rivals all have rear seats.
True, there are two-seat quadricycles like the Citroën Ami, but these models are glacially slow and don’t have to meet the same crash test standards as proper cars like the #2.
There’s no word yet on whether Smart will eventually offer a stretched, four-seater #2 alongside the two-seater, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Similarly, Smart is yet to reveal the car’s interior, although it is promising it will be plusher and more luxuriously appointed than the sparsely furnished Fortwo. We understand you can expect liberal use of leather, as well as a mixture of translucent and gold surfaces.
As for the exterior, the concept’s design very much harks back to the Fortwo – albeit with modern Smart detailing, such as triangular headlights. Picture it without the light grey tyres and leather exterior door pulls, and you’ll have something pretty close to the production #2.
Interestingly, while Chinese brand Geely has been exclusively responsible for the engineering of Smart’s recent SUVs, it co-developed the mechanicals of the #2 with Mercedes; the two companies each own a 50% stake in Smart. This suggests we might see a future entry-level Mercedes that uses the same underpinnings.
Few technical details have been revealed, but the MIIT filings reveal the #2 is powered by a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack alongside an 80bhp electric motor, which is fairly modest but should offer enough oomph for town driving.
