The Smart Fortwo is coming back from the dead for another romp around the world’s cities as a tiny car for easy parking. This time around, it’s going to be called the #2; that’s “Hashtag Two” for those of you snickering in the audience. Smart has finally revealed more details about the car’s bones. If all goes to plan, the street-legal go-kart will have some pretty decent range for a city car. Oh yeah, Smart’s also developing a pickup truck-like bench seat for it, too.
When the Smart Fortwo left this mortal plane in 2024, nobody really knew if it was going to get a successor. Smart itself said that it wouldn’t bring the car back unless there was a market for it. Instead, Smart, which has been 50 percent owned by Geely since 2019, spent its time developing three electric crossovers and a plug-in hybrid sedan. It seemed that the car that started the whole company was old history. Then Smart had some unexpected news. Its market research suggests that city cars are making a comeback, and Smart decided it couldn’t just let other automakers have all the fun.
So, Smart’s iconic two-seat city car is coming back, and this time, it seems like Smart is working hard to build a car that people will want to buy. The Smart #2 concept car made its debut in April. Now, with four months to go until the production #2’s debut, Smart is finally giving juicy details about its ideas for the new car’s interior and platform.
When In Rome
Back when Smart unveiled the #2 concept car, I took note that we didn’t get any interior images. Likewise, the windows of the concept car were too dark to see inside. As it turns out, that’s because Smart’s really milking its city car reveal as much as it can, and waited until the middle of June to show off the interior concept in Rome. As Smart’s biggest fan in America, I’m here for it.
Rome is also a good location to show off the updated concept. Some 600,000 Fortwos have been registered in Italy since Smart’s launch in 1998, and of those cars, around 90 percent are still operating. Italians love to stuff their Smarts in all sorts of nooks and crannies, just like they do with their scooters and motorcycles. Italy’s Smart fans even like to call themselves the “Smartisti.” Italy loves Smart so much that, apparently, you can even find Smart-specific parking spaces there.
Anyway, Smart set up a gallery in Rome that showed off the #2’s interior concept and what inspired it. Let’s start with the interior. Smart has released a sketch of the concept dashboard to complement a video showing very close angles of a dashboard and seat. Obviously, this is just a concept, and Smart is quick to note that the interior is subject to change, but this could be the coolest Smart dashboard in several years.
Smart doesn’t say what inspired the dashboard, but the inspiration is clear to me. Inside the gallery in Rome, Smart brought a taillight from a first-generation Smart Fortwo Cabriolet. Accompanying this random car part is the clock and tachometer from a gas-powered first-generation Smart.
The dashboard of the concept has a flowing S-shape. Weirdly, Smart mentions this basically only in passing with: “The S-shaped cockpit is designed for intuitive operation, clear orientation and maximum space efficiency.”
This dashboard pad is a clear nod to the dashboards found inside of first-generation Smarts. Here is a dashboard from one of my early Smarts:
In the past, Smart did the S-curved dashboard for packaging reasons. The part of the dash that bulges out actually covers the passenger air bag. The fabric-covered dash was practical, but also had a funky design element to it, too. Smart solved the packing constraints in subsequent generations, leading to the removal of the S-curve. So, this is a cool throwback to the past.
Smart has provided just a few images of the physical version of the interior’s concept.
What we can see is an instrument cluster screen and turbine-style air vents. Smart has been obsessed with aviation-inspired touches since at least 2011, and early third-generation Smart Fortwos had taillights that vaguely resembled afterburners. The vents seem to be a continuation of this trend.
It Has A Bench Seat!
Then there’s the wildest part of the interior. Smart was proud to announce that it made a bench seat for its two seat city car. Smart says that the new interior is designed to be efficient, accessible, and pleasant. That bench seat? It’s supposed to break down the traditional barriers between driver and passenger. There isn’t a static center console or bolsters separating you from the other side of the car. This is supposed to create a shared space and make the car feel more open.
Smart’s bench isn’t a continuous piece, and the driver and passenger can slide and adjust their portion of the bench independently. The part that turns these seats into a bench is an extension of the passenger seat. This can fold up to be a center console, or fold down to create the bench.
This concept isn’t new at all. This is exactly how pickup trucks have worked since forever, and was a staple of old cars. You can even get pickup trucks with benches that allow the driver and passenger to adjust their own zones. What is pretty neat is seeing this in a two seat city car. Personally, I adore the bench seat. I could see myself driving with one hand on the wheel and another hand around my wife. I can’t easily do that in any Smart I currently own!
While Smart won’t say for sure, the company seems to be hinting at the idea of the bench seat appearing in the production car. I really hope it does.
The Platform
The other big news is the platform. Smart has said for a while now that, unlike its other cars, the #2 won’t be riding on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture. Instead, engineers are developing an architecture just for the lilliputian city car called the Electric Compact Architecture, or ECA.
In our last update, 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.
That Fiat 500e is also rated for 199 miles of range on the European WLTP combined test cycle. Smart’s target of 186 miles on the same cycle would be neat for such a tiny car. It would also put the Smart within range of vehicles like the larger Volkswagen ID. Polo. The old Smart Fortwo EQ was rated for only 82 miles on the WLTP cycle and a sad 58 miles of range here in America. No matter how you slice it, if Smart can hit its mark, the new car will be more than twice as good at being an electric car.
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.
Smart says it’s still targeting a price of €20,000 ($22,712 at current exchange rates). We do know that the car will be sold in China and Europe, but it’s anyone’s guess where Smart will take it after that. Smart has shown little desire to come back to America, but who knows, maybe that could change one day as politics and policies change. I still think the reborn Smart could make it in America. It has three electric crossovers and a plug-in hybrid sedan that it could make money from. Then it could sell the #2 to weirdos like me.
I’m Amped
We’ll have to wait until Smart’s event in Paris in October before we know any of this for sure. Either way, I’m so pumped. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for the launch of a car that I couldn’t buy unless I lived in an entirely different country.
Honestly, I still have no idea if Smart is right that the world is ready for another city car. Look, I live in the land of trucks and SUVs. But I’m rooting for Smart. Its entire existence has been a wacky rollercoaster ride, and it’s hard for me not to root for it.
Don’t sell cars with known problems to family/friends. I know you told them about the problems, but please reconsider this.
Considering there likely isn’t the width to fit 3 people, I find a bench to be a detriment. I like a seat to hold me in, I don’t want to slide around everywhere.
The interior looks great, I love the fresh all-white look – but how good will that look with regular use?
Just stick a freaking lap belt in the middle and make it a 2+1
Ironically the nameplate that use to share the platform with it could be its biggest rival, the Twingo.
Sits four properly and so far it is cheaper than the projected price for this. And it also has plenty of style.
But guessing that for countries like France and Italy it may make sense. We will see.