Smart's Tiny #2 EV Puts the City Car Back on the Menu at €20,000

Smart has spent the past few years selling SUVs considerably larger than the cheeky fortwo that made the brand famous. That’s changing. At the Paris Motor Show the Mercedes-Benz and Geely joint venture pulled the wraps off the #2, a two-door, two-seat electric city car that measures just 2.75 metres from nose to tail.

The headline numbers are straightforward. A 35.7 kWh battery pack feeds a rear-mounted 60 kW motor, which Smart quotes at 290 km on the WLTP cycle. Charging runs through an 11 kW three-phase on-board unit, so a full top-up from empty should take roughly three hours — no DC fast-charging figure has been announced yet.

The motor comes from Infimotion, the same supplier behind the drivetrain in Geely’s EX5, a model that has found plenty of buyers in Australia. Smart says the #2 sits on an entirely new compact electric architecture, which leaves room for more small models down the line.

Small Car, Surprisingly Long Equipment List

Despite its footprint, the #2 isn’t stripped out. Inside there’s a 10-inch central touchscreen plus a driver display behind the steering wheel. The Premium trim adds a glass roof and a seven-speaker audio system. Buyers can pick between 15- and 16-inch wheels, and two-tone paint finishes are on the options list.

Chinese regulatory filings previously put the kerb weight at 1,130 kg, which is light by modern EV standards — the kind of figure that tends to translate into nimble handling in tight streets.

Smart hasn’t confirmed a launch schedule for every market. The car has already been approved for sale in China, with deliveries expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Australian availability is the open question; the brand has been drip-feeding hints, including a mural of the #2 painted in Melbourne in August 2026. The next model due locally is the #5 SUV, so any decision on the city car would come after that.

The #2 marks something of a homecoming. Smart built its reputation on the City Coupe, which entered production in 1998, and later the fortwo. After years of upsizing, going small again is a sensible bet — European cities keep tightening their rules on large vehicles, and a €20,000 price tag puts this one in reach of buyers who can’t stretch to a compact crossover.

More details, including final specification and market rollout, are expected in the coming months.