The Smart Forease, unveiled at the Paris motor show, is a concept that is mainly about celebrating the brand’s 20th anniversary.
Based on the Smart EQ Fortwo Cabrio, and therefore a concept that can be driven like a production car, the Forease is an electrically-powered open two-seater.
It’s lower than a typical Smart, with a shorter windscreen, and so gains two stubby domes behind the cockpit to protect occupants if the car should roll over.
Inside the major change is the replacement of the two air vents with circular displays, Smart arguing that the open top negates the need for any more fresh air.
The car’s designers describe it as ‘an uncomplicated solution for urban mobility,’ its design brief based on reducing everything to the essentials with a minimalist appearance.
Smart says that the car pays tribute to two earlier concepts, the Crossblade of 2001 and the Forspeed of 2011. But it also ‘affords a preview of the electric future of the Smart brand’.
An all-electric future for Smart
According to the brand’s new head Katrin Adt, taking up her role at the Paris show, the Smart Forease embodies a refreshingly simple form of driving fun in the city. “(It stands for) urban electric mobility without compromise – because, if in doubt, Smart always opts for a consistent approach – the result is a sustainable driving experience built on freedom,” she says.
Smart claims to be the first automotive brand with its sights set on a systematic switch from internal combustion to electric power. Since 2017, it has been selling only electric vehicles in the USA, Canada and Norway and intends to do the same in Europe from 2020, and then expand the programme to the rest of the world.
