​Smart has given us a tantalising glimpse of its new #2 concept car that’s going to be revealed later this week at the Beijing motor show. 

The company says that its aim is to preserve the “essence of the beloved urban two-seater” but “boldly re-envisioned for the now”.

The teaser images show us a two-tone car in gold and matte white, which has been jazzed up with some leather flourishes and buckles that will be less likely to make it through to the final production model. 

We know that the new Smart will be an electric car, but what we don’t know yet is what size battery the #2 will get and how far it will get on a full charge, which could be important when it comes to the success of the car. The old Fortwo had an electric version that could only manage around 70 miles before it needed charging, so at least the bar for success is low. 

We’ve already seen a test version of the car in action, where Smart has hacked up an old Fortwo and put its new powertrain underneath to put some miles on it. The new city runabout has already been put through its paces at locations around the world. 

Smart is jointly owned by Chinese carmaker Geely and German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, and the new platform it has developed using knowhow from both outfits is called the Electric Compact Architecture.

Everything we’ve seen so far of the new Smart #2 suggests that the car will be as bold as the Nineties original, though clearly without the bright visuals of the car that started it all. 

The concept version of the next Smart #2 will be revealed this week – this sketch is all we have to go on so far. Definitely has wheels...