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Smart forspeed electric concept car redefines bonkers

Whoever penned Smart's forspeed electric concept appears to have forgotten a couple of vital things. There's no roof, for a start -- and barely any windows.

Rory Reid
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It looks as if Smart's designers have been at the crazy pills again. Whoever penned the company's forspeed electric car concept appears to have forgotten a couple of vital things. There's no roof, for a start -- and barely any windows.

Instead, Smart's treated all the forspeed's interior equipment to a waterproof coating and installed drainage channels in the seat surfaces and floor to ensure rainwater is channelled outside. Thoughtfully, it's also thrown in a tonneau cover that stretches over the gap where the roof should be, just in case the weather gets all British.

The forspeed is powered by a 30kW (40bhp) magneto-electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack that delivers 16.5kWh of electrical punch. Together, they help the car go from a standstill to 37mph (0-60kmh) in 5.5 seconds. It's not going to worry a Tesla Roadster, but it does have a boost button that provides an extra 5kW (6.7bhp) of power for "a short time" while you overtake pesky milkfloats.

Top speed, meanwhile, is rated at 75mph, so -- if you don't mind getting bugs in your afro -- it could potentially be used for a quick jaunt on the motorway.

Don't be surprised if you don't actually reach your destination or you get lost (or bored senseless) on the way, however. The forspeed has a limited driving range of just 84 miles, and its sat-nav and stereo system -- an iPhone jammed into a dock on the dash -- is located in an instrument cluster on the passenger side where the driver can't see or reach it.

If you do have a co-pilot handy, they'll be able to fiddle with the smart drive app, which allows hands-free calling, navigation and has a Car Finder feature that guides the driver back to their parked car.

It's bonkers, we're sure you'll agree, but we reckon it's a big improvement on the Smart ED we tested a couple of yonks ago. Have a gander through the photos above then let us know what you think in the comments below.

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