smart celebrates going 100% electric with konstantic grcic-designed collector's edition

giving a step towards a more sustainable future, german car manufacturer smart is saying goodbye to combustion engines for good. starting in 2020, the company will become the first automotive manufacturer in the world to have switched its entire portfolio to electric drives. and to celebrate this rite of passage, it has teamed up with konstantin grcic for the final 21 combustion-engined smart fortwos, marking the beginning of a new era and 21 years of hands-on pioneering spirit.

for the launch of the final collector’s edition, designboom joined smart and konstantin grcic at the unveiling event in berlin.

all images © daimler AG unless otherwise noted

limited to 21 cars, smart’s final collector’s edition has been created by brabus and german industrial designer konstantin grcic. the brief asked to create a contemporary work of art for the road while at the same time marking the beginning of a new era in the history of the automobile, and the design surely portrays this. with a painting job that goes from smart’s iconic brilliant yellow into a matte black, the car looks as if a bucket of paint was poured into it — an effect we were told was quite difficult to achieve.

‘well, I think I always try to avoid too much of interpretation into the design, and in the end, you make a lot of choices to create the most beautiful thing,’ grcic, a smart car driver himself, told designboom. ‘but, if you look at the car, the yellow going into black illustrates a form of transition, where the car goes through a certain barrier, passing from one thing to another.’

known to provide innovative solutions to make life in the city easier and more attractive, smart’s move makes sense not only for the company but for the times we’re living. ‘obviously, you’re talking to a believer, so we are very, very clear that the future of mobility for smaller cars is electric,’ daniel lescow, head of brand and product management at smart told us. ‘that is not just because we’re smart. but that is something that we have been believing since quite a while. you know, we started 2007 already with it and a lot of people actually say maybe we could have done it earlier. but I think now is the right moment. and for the industry, I believe that a small car is really the case to go electric, because you don’t drive long distances. and normally, it’s not the only car you have for many people. so you have often the chance to charge outside.’

image © designboom