China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publishes vehicle homologation filings in batches, and the latest one contains the production Smart #2 with no camouflage on it. Any car sold in China has to pass through this registry before it goes on sale, which makes the filing an unusually reliable preview: the images are the approved bodywork, not a rendering or a spy shot.
It matters here because the #2 is a return. Smart spent its relaunch as a Geely and Mercedes-Benz joint venture building compact crossovers — the #1 and #3 — and left the two-seat city car that made the brand's name behind. The #2 goes back to it.
What the filing actually shows
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Length | 2,751 mm (a 2,764 mm variant is also filed) |
| Width | 1,669 mm |
| Height | 1,555 mm |
| Wheelbase | 1,875 mm |
| Seats | 2 |
| Manufacturer of record | Zhejiang Haoqing Automotive |
Under 2.8 metres long is a footprint the old Fortwo would recognise, and the 1,875 mm wheelbase with the wheels pushed to the corners is the same packaging trick: maximise the cabin, minimise everything around it. Smart quotes a turning circle of 6.95 m, which is the number that actually sells a car like this to anyone who parks in a European city centre.
The specs Smart has already put on the record
Ahead of the filing, Smart had confirmed a range of 186 miles — roughly 300 km — and a 10–80% DC charge in under 20 minutes. There is vehicle-to-load capability, so the pack can run external devices.
Battery capacity is not in that list. Neither is price. Both are expected at the Paris Motor Show in October, where the production car makes its world debut, and where Smart is expected to publish the full technical set alongside market availability.
A figure around €20,000 has been widely reported, with deliveries in 2027, but Smart has not confirmed either. Treat both as expectations rather than specifications.
Where it lands in Europe
Europe's small-EV segment has filled out quickly — the ID. Polo, the Renault 5 and Twingo, the Fiat Grande Panda, an electric 208 on the way. What none of them is, though, is a two-seater. Every one of those cars carries four or five seats and the length that comes with them.
That leaves the #2 with a niche nobody is currently contesting, and the efficiency logic that goes with a small, light car is the same logic driving the most efficient Audi ever built: a car that needs less energy per kilometre needs less battery to be useful, and a smaller battery costs less to build.
The complication is where it is made. The manufacturer of record in the filing is Zhejiang Haoqing, a Geely subsidiary, which means Chinese production for a car aimed squarely at European cities. That runs straight into the argument now being had about whether purchase subsidies should be conditional on local content — a position German politicians have been pushing hard. A €20,000 city car is exactly the kind of vehicle that debate will decide the price of.