smart continues its mobility concept further: market launch for the smart escooter in 2014

PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart – smart will launch the escooter on the market in 2014. For smart, this is the next logical step in implementing its comprehensive concept for future urban mobility.

"The decision in favor of the escooter has been made," announced Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars, on the sidelines of the international dealer meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "With this step, we are adding a further important component to our smart mobility concept for urban mobility in the future," he added.

Back in 2010, smart unveiled a comprehensive portfolio of electric products for urban transport at the Paris Motor Show. In addition to the smart fortwo electric drive as a coupé and a convertible, it includes the smart ebike and the escooter. smart is now consistently turning this concept into reality: the smart fortwo electric drive will be launched on the market in summer 2012, and delivery to customers of the first ebikes is just beginning. The fully electric escooter will be premiered within the next two years. The design of the escooter study is being developed and refined further. With its many innovative and trendsetting features, the new product will be unmistakably a genuine smart. Just like the ebike, the escooter will also be available for customers who (as yet) have no driver's license for cars as a smart on two wheels.

"Anyone who thinks of urban mobility has to think of smart," says Dr. Annette Winkler, the head of smart. "We offer the perfect zero-emissions vehicle for every requirement, and with our products, electric travel is a lot of fun too."

A number of external studies and the awards that the brand has recently won illustrate how much the ideas from smart are in tune with today's demands for individual urban mobility.
"We are especially proud that the ebike received the red dot award, and that our comprehensive mobility concept won the 2012 iF product design award," Dr. Winkler added.

The judging panel for the red dot awards gave the coveted "best of the best" predicate to the series production version of the 2012 smart ebike. This year, the iF product design award, which has been internationally recognised since 1953, singled out the smart mobility concept, consisting of the smart electric drive, the smart ebike, and the smart escooter, as an excellent overall concept for urban mobility.

Renault Twizy EV goes on sale in U.K. for a cool $10,000*

Renault's Twizy city electric vehicle went on sale in UK showrooms Friday, and the French automaker saying a less-powerful version will be available for sale starting next January.

The 17-horsepower Twizy, which has a top speed of about 50 miles per hour and can be recharged in less than four hours, starts at 6,690 British pounds ($10,600 U.S. at today's exchange rates). That low price is offset by the fact that buyers must also rent the car's battery for 45 British pounds a month under a three-year contract that allows for 4,500 miles a year of driving. Other options include £545 for "scissor doors." The Twizy is 92 inches long, or about a foot shorter than the Smart ForTwo.

To promote the Twizy, Renault has partnered with DJ David Guetta. The car appeared in his "Where Them Girls At" video and is now showing up in the promotional clip for the song "Alphabeat." Independent drivers are also taking test drives in Ibiza. You can see videos of both down below.

Next year, Renault start sales of a 5.3-horsepower version of the Twizy that will have a top speed of 28 miles per hour. That car – should we still call it that? – can be legally driven by people at least 16 years old, even without a drivers license, because of the vehicle's light weight.


Source: Autoblog Green

Car2Go will add 100 Smart ForTwos to Vancouver fleet

PRESS RELEASE

car2go Canada Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, announced today it will expand its Vancouver, B.C. operations to meet the growing needs of its more than 10,000 members. Beginning in mid-April, 100 car2go edition smart fortwo cars will be added to the car2go carsharing network, the car2go Home Area will expand, and new car2go parking spots will be secured, including eight new spots on the University of British Columbia campus.

"The car2go program in Vancouver is growing exponentially," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go Canada Ltd. "In less than a year we have built up a network of more than 10,000 members who share our 225 smart fortwo cars daily. This is a great accomplishment for car2go, and it's a great representation that Vancouver residents have high levels of awareness and demand for smarter urban transportation solutions."

Cole went on to say: "We have listened to the needs of our members, and we are pleased to introduce additional cars, expand our Home Area, and add new dedicated parking spaces. This expansion will undoubtedly provide a new level of convenience and flexibility to the carsharing community in Vancouver."

Expanding the car2go Network
car2go launched in Vancouver in June 2011 with 225 cars, 2,000 members, and an average of 1,500 trips per week. Today there are more than 10,000 car2go members in Vancouver, and the number of trips per week has increased to more than 8,000. To meet the demands of this increased utilization, an additional 100 car2go edition smart fortwo cars will be added to the Vancouver network and will be available for members to use collaboratively, beginning in April.
Additionally, car2go will begin a pilot with several smart fortwo electric drive vehicles to determine further development of electric carsharing in Vancouver.

The New car2go Home Area
Beginning in mid-April, the car2go Home Area will extend beyond its existing boundaries, South to 49th and East to Renfrew. Members will be able to pick up and drop off car2go anywhere within this 70 square kilometer space. To see the new car2go operating area, please visit: car2govancouver.com/VancouverHomeArea.pdf

car2go members will continue to receive the benefit of free parking. Free curbside and dedicated parking spots are conveniently located throughout numerous specially marked locations in the car2go Home Area; and several additional car2go parking spots will soon be available for members to use. For the entire list of car2go parking spots, please visit: car2govancouver.com/VancouverDesignatedParking.pdf.

Each car2go vehicle is now equipped with a GPS system that includes all car2go parking spots as points of interest. Members can simply touch the icon on the screen and they will be provided with directions to the nearest dedicated parking spot.

Additionally, car2go has worked with the University of British Columbia to bring more flexible on-campus parking to students. car2go designated on-street parking will be available in select locations on the UBC Campus, starting April 1. The parking spots are located on campus directly across the street from the Northern Bus Loop and can accommodate up to eight car2go; and off campus at Wesbrook Village where an additional eight cars can be parked.
To stay up to date on all car2go news, please follow @car2goVancouver on Twitter or become a fan of www.facebook.com/car2go.Vancouver.

About car2go
A wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, car2go Canada Ltd., offers an innovative mobility solution redefining individual transportation in rapidly growing urban areas by offering a network of several hundred environment-friendly smart fortwo vehicles for rent. It provides an innovative mode of "on-demand" transportation, which complements existing public transportation alternatives by bridging the gaps commonly associated with the "first and last mile" of a public transit commute.

car2go is currently operational in nine cities: Austin, Texas; Vancouver, British Columbia; San Diego, California; Ulm, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Vienna, Austria; Lyon, France; and Dusseldorf, Germany. In November 2011, car2go launched the world's largest all-electric vehicle carsharing network in the cities of San Diego, California, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the deployment of 300 car2go smart fortwo electric drive vehicles in each city. In March 2012, car2go will launch in Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon; and in April 2012, car2go will launch in Berlin, Germany. Currently there are more than 70,000 car2go members worldwide.

The innovation and environmental sustainability of car2go has earned international acclaim: In February 2012, car2go was named the "Best Carshare of 2011" by the Vancouver Courier. In September 2010, car2go was recognized by the Austin Chamber of Commerce with the "2010 Greater Austin Business Award" for its positive impact on traffic in the city. The same month, car2go received the "Clean Tech Media Award" in the category of "Mobility" in Berlin. In May 2010, car2go was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its prestigious "2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award." Further information on car2go is available at www.car2go.com and www.media.daimler.com/ms/car2go/e.

Smart For-Us brings truckness to the urban jungle

The Smart team looked to none other than actor/comedian/SNL-alum Jon Lovitz to introduce its pickup truck concept. We're not sure what is stranger: the other J-Lo at an auto show press conference or a Smart with usable bed space.

The Smart For-Us concept features a 75-horsepower electric motor that twists up 98 pound-feet of torque. The battery is a 17.6 kW/h lithium ion battery pack, which is more juice than a Chevrolet Volt. Smart promises zero to 60 times in the range of five seconds and an 80 mph top speed, which isn't bad for a green machine with a bed. Smart claims that the battery pack can go from 20 percent charged to 80 percent in 3.5 hours, while a full juicing takes place in eight hours.

The For-Us boasts a smallish but undoubtedly handy 11.6 cubic feet of space. Smart no doubt isn't interested in going toe-to-toe with the likes of the F-150 and the Silverado, but it's still difficult to see such a concept model ever making its way to production.


Source: Autoblog Green

Electric Smartcar in June? Not Likely

If you’ve ordered an electric Smart-car and don’t live in Germany, chances are you’re going to get it a little later than expected. But Daimler apparently isn’t worried about the delay if it means they’ll retain the high quality they’ve already promised.

The problems are part of the supply chain – specifically the batteries. The parts for the batteries and the battery cells are made by several different companies (mainly Daimler subsidiaries), and one of them is citing trouble with its supplier.

Li-Tec, a subsidiary of the energy company group of Evonik and Daimler, can’t ship the battery cells because, it says, one of its suppliers isn’t delivering the parts it needs to produce them. Having been on both sides of the retail counter, sometimes a supplier issue is actually a supplier issue (they can’t make them fast enough, their supplier is out, they’ve sold your parts to somebody else) and sometimes they’ve screwed something up and are desperately trying to salvage the situation.

Regardless of which is behind Li-Tec’s delay, Daimler insists that the company finish the cells in order to keep the quality high, and that there is no problem with the batteries themselves (would that announcement fuel rumors of battery issues or quell them?). The finished batteries will eventually be produced by Accumotive, another Evonik/Daimler subsidiary.

The German market, which Daimler regards as its most important if the electric Smart is going to succeed, will get its cars on time in June 2012; Daimler has specifically denied rumors that delivery would be pushed back from June until September. Production in Hambach, France is also reported to be totally on schedule.

Source: Gas2.0

Three Axles = Extra Miles for Mini Electric Commuter Cars

Swiss manufacturer Rinspeed has a prototype all ready to go at the Geneva Motor Show next year – the Smart Dock+Go. The firm’s CEO Frank Rinderknecht usually shows up with some kind of new concept, and this year’s offering is a way to make a little city commuter even more practical.

More Room, More Range

The two-seater can be fitted with a dockable “backpack,” which rolls along on an additional single axle (does this mean the extra axle costs more at the toll booth?). The top of the backpack basically acts as extra storage space – for luggage, camping equipment, you name it.

Rinspeed uses the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive as the displayed base for the backpack prototype, as seen in the image below.

More Range, More Power

The Dock+Go isn’t just a glorified enclosed trailer, though. It’s also a new type of range extender. The “energy pack” includes a combustion engine with either batteries or fuel cells. The third axle backpack is then able to not only help propel its mini-car forward but also simultaneously recharge its electric batteries. The prototype is called a “vario-hybrid” (by Rinderknecht), the first of its kind, and it allegedly adds “significant” miles to the range of its mini-car.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Dock+Go is Rinspeed’s claim that it’s not just compatible with the Smart, but with any mini-car. A product like this addresses the limited-range issue with mini electric cars, and helps it approach the flexibility of a traditional car. The question is how well it really works.

Source: Gas2.0