Smart Vision EQ Concept fortwo, the future of shared mobility

Mobility in big cities is going to change completely in a very short time, and Smart is already prepared for it. The success of car2go, a carsharing company whose offer is based on the Smart models, proves it right, and that has led the microcar brand to consider an even smarter vision of its models. The result of this thinking is this Smart Vision EQ Concept fortwo, which the brand will unveil in mid-September at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE, the S stands for sharing). This is what the EQ Concept Fortwo that Mercedes Benz will present in Frankfurt under the EQ brand will be like. Mercedes plans to put into series production 10 new electric models in 2022, from the small Smart up to the largest SUV in its range, and this EQ Concept fortwo is the first of all of them.

“The EQ fortwo is our vision of future urban mobility, the most radical shared car concept of all: fully autonomous, with the highest communication capabilities, friendly, fully customisable and, of course, electric,” says Annette Winkler, CEO of Smart.

The EQ Concept fortwo is a two-seater model measuring 2.70 m long, 1.72 wide and 1.54 high, which offers remarkable interior space despite its very compact dimensions. The car has no driving controls, meaning it cannot be driven in the “old-fashioned” way because it has no controls for doing so. The vehicle’s various functions are controlled through a personal mobile device or by voice commands. The instrument panel has been replaced by a large 24-inch screen. At either end of the dashboard, two small screens of barely 4 inches transmit messages to the occupants (e.g. “Welcome” when the doors are opened).

The car’s seats are upholstered in high-quality artificial leather in white and have been specially treated so they are very easy to clean, something to consider given the sharing (shared) concept under which the car was created. The cabin is designed to carry two passengers on board very comfortably. It features a single bench seat in which a fold-down armrest can be installed in its central area for greater comfort for its occupants. The interior also has numerous smart spaces to store small objects during the journey, most of them equipped with fixing elements to prevent objects from moving or shifting.

The group’s designers have worked especially hard on developing the car’s exterior. Its look is as original as the shapes adopted by the doors, wheels and other elements of the car. The doors are almost circular in shape, and their opening mechanism is certainly elaborate to make it very practical. The side windows have hexagonal conical shapes in doors of an almost circular appearance that open by pivoting like a wing on the rear axle of the car, which greatly facilitates access to the interior and considerably reduces the risk of collision with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists when the door is opened.

Likewise, the car’s front is also spectacular. Besides its large glazed surface, the LED screen located in the area of the grille stands out in particular, which allows the car to communicate both with its users when picking them up or dropping them at their destination, and with other road users, especially pedestrians, indicating its direction, manoeuvres, etc.

To propel itself, the Smart uses the energy stored in a 30 kW lithium-ion battery pack, sufficient to operate in urban centres every day, where it will also enjoy all the advantages of fully electric vehicles.