The all-electric Smart #2 city car has started road tests in the latest progress towards its world premiere next year.

The successor to the dinky Smart Fortwo, the #2 reinvents the original urban mobility pioneer and marks a return to the A-segment for Smart, now run by Geely and Mercedes.

It’s underpinned by Smart’s new Electric Compact Architecture (ECA), which delivers an “all-new proprietary architecture and technological platform”.

The new platform is currently being validated through “rigorous testing” in China using car bodies of the existing Smart Fortwo – confirming the #2 will stay true to the original’s ultra-compact dimensions.

The #2 will also retain the Fortwo’s two-door, two-seat configuration, rear-wheel drive dynamics and signature wheels-at-the-corners stance.

But the design will get a complete overhaul with a fully redesigned interior and exterior from the Mercedes-Benz design team that will “present a new vision while preserving the essential DNA of the Fortwo”.

Smart also promises advanced safety and an urban driving experience “that is unlike anything else”.

The all-electric Smart #2 remains on schedule for its world premiere in late 2026, when it will join the existing #1 compact SUV, the #3 electric coupé-SUV launched last year and the soon-to-be-launched #5 SUV.