City car enters final stages of development; will be one of Europe’s smallest electric cars
Smart has confirmed it will return to the city car segment with a successor to its signature model, the Fortwo, that is due to arrive late next year.
Smart CEO Dirk Adelmann last year confirmed that the project was in the works, pending a feasibility study. Following the “successful” launch of the #5 (the large electric SUV that forms the other bookend in the brand’s line-up), it has now become viable and has entered the final stages of its design and development.
It will be named #2, in reference to its ancestor and its two-seat configuration, but it will slot into Smart’s line-up below the #1 crossover, as its smallest and most affordable model.
The #2 will be designed by Mercedes-Benz and built in China, most likely at one of several plants owned by its 50:50 joint-venture partner Geely.
Technical specifications remain under wraps, but Smart has confi rmed it will be electric-only. Adelmann previously said the company was working on a new platform bespoke to the model but that the financial case for its development would hinge on finding a partner.
“The [city car] segment is not huge in Europe. The best year for [the] Fortwo was around 100,000 units, and that’s not enough to justify a platform,” Adelmann told Autocar. “If you share this platform with partners – we’re still in evaluation – then you can also share the investment costs and the production site etc, and it starts making sense.”
That the #2 has passed the feasibility stage suggests that Smart has indeed found a partner. But it is also possible that the brand has abandoned this in favour of an existing platform from the Mercedes or Geely portfolios.
The previous Fortwo EQ’s underpinnings are such an option, although one compromised by its origins in a combustion-engined model. Its 17.6kWh battery yielded a range of just 99 miles and it couldn’t charge on a DC connection, capping the rate at 22kW.
Neither figure would stand up to the competition now, but the seven years of battery development since that car’s launch surely have provided significant room for improvement.
Smart could also adapt Geely’s Panda Mini EV to meet the Fortwo brief. That car, sold in China, measures 3.0m long, has a 40bhp front-mounted motor and offers a range of up to 124 miles miles – for the equivalent of around £6000.
Visually, the #2 will do away with the curves of its Fortwo predecessors, favouring a more bluff, angular look. Teaser images published by Smart suggest it will have a Kamm tail-like rear end and a small roof spoiler, most likely to boost aerodynamics and extract the maximum range from the car’s small battery.
