Smart #2 revives the electric Fortwo with 290 km of autonomy for €19,990

Smart is back in the two-seater business. The joint venture Mercedes-Benz and Geely today presented the all-electric Smart #2 at the Paris Motor Show, with a 35.8 kWh LFP battery, up to 290 km (180 miles) of WLTP range and a starting price of €19,990.

That’s more than double the range of the latest Smart EQ Fortwo, which never had DC fast charging. The first orders open tomorrow in Europe and deliveries begin in 2027.

The Fortwo formula, with the problems of electric vehicles solved

Smart chose the same Paris show where it revealed its first two-seater concept 30 years ago, and didn’t mess with the recipe. The No. 2 is 2,746 mm long, about 5 cm longer than the old EQ Fortwo. The wheels are still pushed to the corners and the two-tone paint and split tailgate are back.

The turning radius is 6.95 meters from sidewalk to sidewalk. Tiny.

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The big change is below. Smart developed a new platform for the car, which it calls Electric Compact Architecture (ECA), with the battery in the floor and a 60 kW motor driving the rear wheels with 130 Nm of torque. The company also claims that the number 2 has the first five-link rear suspension in its class.

Here’s how it compares to the car it replaces. The power is identical. Almost everything else is not:

On a DC fast charger, Smart says the number 2 goes from 10% to 80% in about 20 minutes. The base Pure version has a 7.4 kW single-phase on-board charger, which takes approximately 5 hours for the same session, while the other versions get 11 kW. There is also a vehicle-to-charge option, but you need to purchase an adapter separately.

Inside, there’s a bench-style seating arrangement, a 10.1-inch center display, an 8.8-inch driver’s display, and an eight-year connectivity package. Smart’s adaptive cruise control with stop-start and Pilot Assist are standard on all trims.

Four versions, from €19,990

Here is the German price that Smart published this afternoon. It says that the starting price of €19,990 also applies in France and Italy:

• Pure: €19,990
• Pure+: €20,990 (11kW AC charging, heated driver’s seat)
• Premium: €24,490 (glass roof, heated synthetic leather seats, Sennheiser 7-speaker system)
• Couture Edition: €25,690 (limited to 999 units in Europe)

Wolfgang Ufer, CEO of Smart Europe, said: “The time is right for the next chapter of the smart two-seater.” Smart will sell the car first through its retail partners and place orders online in the first half of 2027. The company notes that the number 2 is still undergoing EU homologation, so specifications could change before deliveries.

The timing makes sense. Mercedes handed over half of Smart to Geely in 2019 and turned it into a Chinese-made electric vehicle brand, but until now that has meant crossovers like the No. 1, No. 3, and Model Y No. 5. The #2 is the first new-age car that looks like what people think of when they hear “Smart.”

The Twingo problem

The obvious rival is Renault’s new Twingo E-Tech, which also has a starting price of 19,990 euros in Germany. The Twingo gets a 27.5 kWh LFP pack, up to 262 km of WLTP range and 50 kW DC charging.

Thus, the Smart wins on paper with 28 km more range and faster charging. But the Twingo has four seats and five doors for the same price.

And if you’re in the United States, don’t get your hopes up. Daimler pulled Smart out of the U.S. and Canada in 2019, and a Chinese-made car with connected services has no path to the U.S. market under current rules.

Electrek’s opinion

We like this car. The original electric Fortwo was a great idea held back by its battery. With 133km of WLTP range and no DC fast charging, it was a city car that you couldn’t take out of the city and would have to think twice about buying unless you had a home charging situation in the city. Smart never solved that after launching the 17.6 kWh Fortwo electric motor in 2016. The number 2 finally does, with twice the battery and a really fast charging port.

But the price puts it in a difficult situation. €19,990 is now the going price for a small European electric vehicle, and at that price Renault offers you a four-seat hatchback. The argument for the two-seater has always been parking. In Paris, Rome or Amsterdam, a car less than 2.8 meters long can fit in places where no one else fits, and that is a real advantage. It’s also a niche.

So the number 2 will live or die by how many urban buyers value a small footprint over a back seat. The old Fortwo showed that the market exists, but it was never huge. And the Volkswagen ID. Each one is supposed to cost around 20,000 euros in 2027, just when number 2 begins to be delivered.

Still, this is the most attractive Smart in years. It’s a car with a clear purpose, which is more than we could say about the brand’s lineup of crossovers.

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