Still looks like a Smart , but it couldn't be more radical. The Vision EQ Fortwo dispenses with the driver, predicting a fully autonomous future sometime in 2030.
Unlike current cars, the Vision EQ Fortwo is not a car for personal and private use, becoming part of a car sharing network.
Is this the “public transport” of the future?
Smart believes so. If on the outside we recognize it as a Smart, on the inside we hardly recognize it as a… car. There is no steering wheel or pedals. It takes two occupants – fortwo -, but there is only one bench seat.
There is an app for this
Being autonomous, we don't need to drive it. An application on the cell phone is the means by which we call it and inside we can also use the voice to command it.
As in other applications, we will have a personal profile with a series of options that allow us to customize the interior of “our” Smart. This will be possible thanks to the dominating presence of a 44-inch (105 cm x 40 cm) screen inside the vision EQ fortwo. But it doesn't stop there.
The transparent doors are covered with a film, on which the most varied information can be projected: when unoccupied, information about local events, weather, news or simply telling the time can be viewed.
On the outside, its dimensions do not differ from those of the fortwo we know with enough visual references to identify it as a Smart.
It features a grid reminiscent of current Smarts, but it becomes one more way of communicating with the outside world, integrating various messages, from indicating that you are on the way to greeting your next occupant.
The front and rear optics, which are now LED panels, can also serve as a means of communication and adopt different lighting formats.
Annette Winkler, CEO of SmartThe smart vision EQ fortwo is our vision for the future of urban mobility; is the most radical concept of car sharing: fully autonomous, with maximum communication skills, user-friendly, customizable and, of course, electric.
electric, obviously
Smart is the only car manufacturer that can claim to have a 100% electric version of all its models. Naturally, the vision EQ fortwo, anticipating a future 15 years away, is electric.
The concept comes with a lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity of 30 kWh. Being autonomous, when necessary, the vision EQ fortwo will go to a charging station. Batteries can be charged “wirelessly”, ie by induction.
The vision EQ fortwo will be present at the Frankfurt Motor Show and also serves as a preview of the electrical strategy of Daimler, the group that owns Smart and Mercedes-Benz. The EQ brand, debuted last year through the Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ, should be the first electric model to reach the market, in a total of 10 that will be launched by 2022. And there will be everything, from a small city like the Smart even a full-size SUV.
