Smart Fortwo review

There's pretty good space for two. It feels roomy, too, as the dash is fairly distant and the windscreen big. Behind the seat, a net takes care of general in-cabin detritus.

The boot is 260 litres in the hatch, 190 in the Cabrio. That's probably enough – many expensive two-seat sports roadsters have less, and people go on long journeys in them. The passenger seatback drops forward too – handy for a cellist travelling alone.

It comes with both a public charger cable plus a 'granny cable' with a built-in control box so you can plug it in to a normal home 13A socket. Together they eat a fair bit of the boot. But you don't need to carry them if you home-charge.

In the early days of Smart the cabin seemed pretty funky alongside the dreary baby cars of its era. The shapes on this Mk3 car are still cheery, but material choices are a bit drab.

Ahead of you is a half-moon speedo, with a tennis-ball power/range meter poking off the top of its binnacle. All clear enough. The centre screen mirrors Android phones but not Apple, and its native navigation is slow-witted in the extreme.

Like any EV you can set charging and keep an eye on its systems remotely on your phone.