• Smart previewed the styling of its #2 electric car through commissioned murals in cities around the world.
• The #2 marks a return to the company's roots and maintains similar proportions and personality to the Smart ForTwo, which was discontinued in the United States in 2019.
• The #2 will be officially revealed in October at the Paris auto show. It won't be sold in the United States.

Forget online ads and social media marketing—Smart is launching a new tiny two-seater through murals painted by local artists in urban hotspots around the world. The bite-sized #2 will debut globally later this year, but don't get your hopes up on seeing them buzz around town. The United States hasn't gotten a new Smart car since 2019, and it won't get this one either.

The fully electric car is meant to spark joy, Smart says, and playful, ultra-compact styling remains a focus with the #2. Smart previewed the #2 with a concept at the Beijing auto show earlier this year, and while its general footprint remains as expected, the murals show a more practical, subdued design.

Each mural is made in a style unique to the artist, so it's fair to assume they aren't a perfect representation of the new design. Key details, however, like the wheels and grille, seem pretty set in stone, or rather, paint. New for the #2 is a sleek, swooping front end and a body-colored grille with thin, horizontal holes. Teardrop-shaped headlights give the car a friendly-looking demeanor, and the front bumper is flanked by a thin vertical trim piece on either side. The concept fitted these panels with pixellated LED screens that displayed "#2," but it appears the production car will be skipping that feature.

The wheels appear to feature a four-spoke design outlined in silver, which leans into the car's stubby design language. The concept's door handles appeared to be made of leather, but have been swapped out for traditional pull handles in the final version. At the rear, bulging circular taillights sit on an otherwise simple hatchback topped with a small spoiler.

Powertrain details don't exactly mesh well with vibrant murals, so there's no new information there. At the concept reveal earlier this year, Smart said the #2 would be able to charge from 10 to 80 percent in less than 20 minutes and would have around 186 miles of range.

The production model #2 will be revealed in October at the Paris auto show. Smart commissioned murals in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Berlin, and Paris, which are all urban areas well-suited for the tiny two-seater. Missing from the list, however, are any U.S. cities, as the #2 won't be sold here.