The third generation Smart ForTwo is being previewed by the German carmaker with a beautiful series of concept cars: after the Smart ForSpeed roadster was unveiled earlier this year, at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show, it is now time for the Smart ForVision concept to be shown to the world, at this month’s 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.
This new concept from Smart is a two-seater car that combines a simple design with extravagant shapes, but the company’s official are a little cheap with details and we don’t know too much about the concept’s design. What we can see are the headlights and taillights that have a more clean look than the current generation and even though the car’s dimensions are still reduced, the concept car looks great.
The Smart ForVision concept is based on the same “Tridion” steel safety shell which is also found on the current ForTwo, but this time it features a two color combination for the exterior and has also received a lot of improvements. For example, the wheels are made of a special plastic and weigh 3.3 kg (7.2 pounds) less than conventional aluminum or alloy wheels, but still manage to keep these materials’ strength.
The concept’s doors are made of a carbon fiber reinforced epoxide resin, which means the total weight is 50 percent lower than if it was made of steel ad 30 percent lower than aluminum. And it looks like that’s not all and Smart has more surprises, because the company partnered with BASF chemical products expert company.
As for the powertrain, the Smart ForVision is an all-electric car, but it’s not like “conventional” electric cars that feature an electric motor powered by a battery pack, because besides these, it also features roof-mounted solar cells. Unfortunately, Smart hasn’t yet revealed what these solar cells exactly do and if this technology will soon be used in production. Power from the electric motor is transmitted to the rear wheels, and the concept car’s rear wheel drive technology is part of a new platform, developed in cooperation with Renault Nissan and which will also be used on the upcoming new generation Renault Twingo.
That’s about all the details we have so far about the new Smart ForVision concept, but we’re very eager to see the concept live at the upcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and especially to get extra details from the German carmaker, because from what we saw so far the future really sounds good for Smart.