Smart Has Finally Revealed Its Awesome City Car Prototype, But As Smart’s Biggest Fan, There’s One Thing That Makes Me Really Sad

This week, the Smart #2 (that’s the Hashtag Two for you adult-sized children snickering in the crowd) showed off its heavily camouflaged curves for the first time. The little car is shaping up to be a great successor to the old Fortwo with decent range for a city car and a reemergence of Smart’s trademark quirks. As Smart’s biggest fan, I was stoked. Now I have a frown on my face, but it’s not the car’s fault.

The old Smart Fortwo died quietly in 2024 without much fanfare or celebration. At the time, Smart’s weird city car wasn’t even a proper resident of Hambach, France, anymore. When Mercedes-Benz sold off half of its Smart subsidiary to Geely in 2019, Smart’s home factory for its two-decade existence was handed over to Ineos, which proceeded to build the little car under contract. The Fortwo became a guest in its own home.

Smarts are now built in China, with Geely offering platforms and production and Mercedes coughing up engineering expertise and design. Those cars? Three electric crossovers and a hybrid sedan. Smart also sort of reinvented itself. Gone was its iconic slogan of “Open Your Mind,” gone was the emphasis on visualizing safety as a design element, and even Smart’s Saturn-esque plastic panels were thrown in the trash bin of history. But Smart is correcting course somewhat. Smart’s city car is coming back! It’s going to be weird, too.

Smart says it will unveil the production version of the Fortwo’s replacement, the #2, at the Paris Motor Show in October. The news cycle on the car has been rapid: first came a doodle, then a shadow, a development mule based on the old Fortwo, and then finally, a concept car. Smart was finally back to its roots. While Smart fans are still chatting about the concept car, Smart hit us with its first images of the Smart #2 prototype as the car undergoes durability testing, and it looks great.

But a part of me is sad. Smart left America in 2019. I recently just realized that, if Smart ever did try to come back, winning the hearts of Americans might be harder than I thought, even with this sweet new car.

The Prototype Is Here

As it turns out, I was right on the money. The #2 prototype follows the overall shape of the concept.

But it’s also a real car. It doesn’t have comically oversized wheels, it doesn’t have a grille that looks like it’s eating a briefcase, and, look at that, it even has real door handles.

Smart has also kept the two-box shape that was introduced in 2014 with the third-generation Fortwo. Here, check out my 2016 Smart Fortwo Edition #1:

This design still somewhat divides Smart fans today, as many, including myself, still prefer Smart’s old-school one-box design. But Smart claimed that there was a practical reason behind the look, and it’s that the two-box design made the Fortwo look grown-up and sporty. I suppose it does make the car look bigger without actually increasing its size.

Personally, I think it’s still cute, like a pug!

I also like how Smart has kept with tradition and added a little kink at the end of the doors. In the past, the kink was a sort of functional design, as that’s where the door handles were. That isn’t the case here, but it’s still a neat throwback.

The rear end looks like a lot of fun, too. Smart has had these tall hatchback rears since the beginning, and this is just an evolution of it. There’s a cool little spoiler, a prominent bumper, and circular taillights.

If you zoom in on the image of the rear, you’ll also see that it seems like Smart is honoring its past in another way, too. See the huge panel gap between the tailgate and the bumper? Every Fortwo from 1998 to 2024 had a split-folding tailgate where the glass went up, and the gate went down. It looks like the new car is getting it, too.

Still unconfirmed is whether the bench seat that was recently unveiled in Rome will make it to the production car. Smart likes the idea of a bench seat to make the interior feel more inviting. I like it, too, because I can picture myself driving around with my wife by my side, just as we do in pickups with bench seats.

As I said in an earlier update, the seat is actually two independent seats linked through a center section, which allows the two occupants to set their optimal seating position. The center section is a console that has the car’s window switches and locking switches.

I also like the spec sheet. Here’s what I said before:

Smart said that the ECA platform is targeting 186 miles of range, DC fast-charging, the ability to top up from 10 percent to 80 percent in under 20 minutes, and Vehicle-to-Load capability. The concept vehicle measures about 9.16 feet long, or only 3.8 inches longer than a second- and third-generation Fortwo. Smart didn’t reveal anything else at that time.

This time around, Smart says that the new car should have a 35.7 kWh battery. Now, on its own, this battery isn’t all that big. I mean, GM will sell you a truck with a 205 kWh battery system. But 35.7 kWh is pretty hefty for such a tiny car. Consider that the outgoing Smart Fortwo EQ had a 17.6 kWh battery. The Fiat 500e, which is two feet longer than this Smart, has a 42 kWh battery.

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Other good news is that the new model will be able to turn a full circle in only 22 feet, which is exactly as sharp as the third-generation Fortwo was able to turn. Finally, Smart has also confirmed a return of Smart’s famous “Tridion Safety Cell,” which is just Smart’s marketing name for its high-tensile safety cage. Sadly, if the concept car is any indication, the safety cell is now hidden rather than proudly displayed as a design element as it was in the past.

To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’m so happy to be an auto writer during the launch of a new two-seat Smart. As I have written about many times before, I currently own five Fortwos and plan to own at least one of every model of Smart ever built. I’m counting down the days until I can import a Roadster. I’ve been so deeply invested in Smart since 2008 that, at one point, Smart USA planned to make me the star of an ad campaign about how dreams come true. There’s no debate about how much I love these silly cars. I even used to debate haters in the comments of the old site for years.

But then, the more I think about this car, the more that smile gets turned upside down.

Toilet Humor

My first concern is the obvious. Smart previously attempted to sell two generations of the Fortwo in America, and both were unholy failures in sales. In theory, selling the crossovers here would help that. Smart could use the crossovers and the hybrid sedan as cash cows.

Maybe there’s even niche-level interest in a Fortwo-sized car. Our own president recently fell in love with Japanese Kei cars and promoted the sale of them in America. Then, I remember that Smarts are made in China, and that would bring on some baggage, and I don’t just mean tariffs.

But then we get to the name, and I just shake my head like a disappointed parent.

Back when Smart rebooted itself under half Geely ownership, it announced a new naming scheme. All cars will be called Hashtag, followed by a number. At the time, Smart said it was about being a trendsetter, like viral topics on social media. This was already sort of exhausting. Smart’s past names were practical. The two-seater was called the Fortwo, the roadster was called the Roadster, and the four-door was the Forfour. It was simple, and it worked.

These new names were visualized with a “#” sign. To those who aren’t aware of the “hashtag” part ahead of time, or are old enough to have been around since before social media, there are a few unfortunate interpretations. At best, the new names lead to people saying things like “Number One” or “Number Three.” At worst, those of us who were kids once, and I think that’s quite a lot of people, will recall schoolhouse jokes about what numbers are associated with what you do in the bathroom. Some American car publications are already slinging some poop jokes.

Smart’s first production crossover? Ah, that’s number one, or pee. The Fortwo replacement? That’s number two, or a classic, steaming dump. The coupe-like crossover? When I was a kid, the joke was either that number three was going one and two at the same time, or was the result of a bit too much Taco Bell.

Granted, due to cultural differences in toilet humor, this seems to be a mostly American problem. Still, it is just another thing to consider. In theory, this could easily be fixed. Smart could just revert to its classic name scheme for an American return. Other automakers do that all the time.

Still, as much as I am so pumped about this new car, the more I think about it, the more I understand why Smart has shown no plans or interest in coming back here, and that makes me sad.

But the #2 itself is shaping up to be a worthy Fortwo successor. Based on the projected spec sheet alone, the new car is going to be twice as good, but only slightly larger. If pricing projections of 20,000 pan out, it might even be cheaper than the old electric Fortwo was.

Maybe, with some luck, I could be there in Paris in October to witness the birth of some forbidden fruit. Until then, I’m going to be glued to my screen, watching for updates.

Top graphic image: Smart