Smart’s journey from an idea by the boss of watch firm Swatch – and to be a brand sold under the umbrella of the VW Group – has not been easy. Eventually launched as a sibling to Mercedes, financial problems led to the early demise of the Roadster and ForFour models. You may also remember the CrossBlade, 2002’s short-lived version of the ForTwo with no roof or doors, ideal for Florida and that’s about it. Yet Smart is persisting with the idea and is to reveal the ForSpeed concept at next week’s Geneva Motor Show. This time it features an electric powertrain, and a fully charged battery is sufficient for 84 miles of driving. A ‘quick-charge’ system will take the power cell from zero to 80 per cent capacity in 45 minutes. Revisiting something unsuccessful like the CrossBlade is a strange choice to simply demonstrate a new EV propulsion system. Comparisons with the Crossblade are inevitable because of the way the ForSpeed looks. I can only conclude it plans to build a production version. I’ll learn more next week.
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