Brand That Looks at Fiat With Envy in the U.S. Previews Its Future

The Smart (“smart,” officially) experiment continues in North America, only now it’s electric. While the Daimler division has never offered anything other than a single, two-seat model on this side of the Atlantic, Europeans have a modicum of choice when it comes to choosing a Smart. You can even get one with a backseat.

After going the all-electric route in the U.S. last year, Smart wants its small legion of global fans to know it’s thinking of the future. Hence, the ForTwo Electric Drive became the ForEase.

Scheduled to be unveiled in Paris next week, the ForEase is a ForTwo-based speedster concept powered solely by electricity, hopefully with a longer range than what its siblings see today.

As it’s just a concept, you’ll likely never have to worry about keeping the rain out of this pint-sized runabout. This open-top, minimalist vehicle previews the future of the brand, Smart claims, drawing attention to the model’s “unconventional beauty, lightness and energy.” Alrighty. Those truncated B-Pillars (chopped and turned into rollover hoops), combined with the vestigial nose added for the model’s third generation, makes this ForTwo derivative the closest thing to a three-box design we’ve seen from Smart.

Maybe it’s just a longer, single box.

As Smart already sells the ForTwo Cabrio, expect this bodystyle to remain a conceptual idea, though some styling cues will likely make their way into future vehicles. After all, the aggressive vents in the restyled front fascia and sporty rear bumper scream “power!” — even if the vehicle’s size shouts “ack, a mouse!”

It’s worthwhile to wonder whether Smart has a future in North America. Appearing on these shores years after going into production in Europe (Smart’s celebrating its 20th anniversary this year), the novel automobile dwindled in popularity as gas became cheaper, vehicles grew larger, and state-mandated efficiency rose by a considerable degree. The early automated transmission was a dismal piece of machinery. Older models proved susceptible to engine fires.

Smart solved both of those problems by going all-EV, but it couldn’t improve on the practicality of a lone, tiny, two-seat vehicle with next to no cargo volume. Over the first eight months of 2018, some 861 Smart ForTwos found new homes in the States. Every single Fiat model outsold the ForTwo in 2018. In Canada, 236 Smarts left joint Smart-Mercedes-Benz dealers, but, like their American counterparts, didn’t drive more than 58 miles before their owners stopped to plug them in.

[Image: Daimler AG]