Smart #2 Brings Back the Fortwo: 82hp Electric City Car, 290 km Range, Under £20,000

Smart is returning to its roots. The company unveiled the new Smart #2 at the 2026 Paris Motor Show on October 12 — a two-seat electric city car that revives the concept of the original Fortwo after Smart spent recent years expanding into larger electric SUVs. Measuring just 2.75 metres long, it is built for the tightest urban streets.

The specs are modest but honest. The #2 rides on Smart’s new Electric Compact Architecture (ECA) platform, developed specifically for small EVs. A rear-mounted motor produces 60 kW (about 82 hp) and 130 Nm, driving the rear wheels in the tradition of the earliest Smarts. The 35.8 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery — chemistry chosen for durability and lower reliance on nickel and cobalt — delivers up to 290 kilometres of WLTP range (preliminary, pending final homologation), with fast charging in about 20 minutes.

Pricing is the other half of the pitch: the Smart #2 will start below £20,000 in the UK, with pre-orders beginning in 2027. That positions it squarely in the growing fight for affordable European EVs, where parking ease, running costs and purchase price decide winners.

Why it matters: the entry-level EV segment is where electrification either goes mainstream or stalls. A genuinely small, genuinely cheap electric car from a brand that invented the category is exactly the kind of product the European market has been asking for.