In the meantime, an upgrade to the batteries of the current electric smart is expected in 2012. By next year, expect the electric variant of this diminutive automobile to be powered by lithium ion batteries made by Deutsche Accumotive GmbH. This company is a joint venture between Evonik Industries and Daimler.

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After more than four years from launching the new smart fortwo vehicle, the car was able to sell over half a million units. This year alone, about 67,073 smart cars has been delivered to customers, a proof that the vehicle is really getting attention from customers.

More than four years after the market launch of the current generation the smart fortwo remains on the road to success. Until today over half a million models of the innovative two-seater have been sold. And sales continue to rise: since the beginning of the year 69,073 smart fortwo have been delivered to customers around the world, 6.6 percent more than in the same period last year.

Source: Daimler

Nicholas Cole, President and CEO of car2go Canada Ltd., and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson made the official announcement to the press as well as to business, political and civic leaders who also took this opportunity to test drive the smart “car2go edition” vehicles and learn about car2go’s unique approach to car sharing.

As most of you already know, car2go was first launched in Ulm, Germany, three years ago, it was successfully rolled out a year later in North America in Austin, Texas. To date, a total of more than 35,000 customers have joined the car2go program in Ulm and Austin. There have been more than 600,000 fully automated rental transactions, averaging between 10 and 60 minutes. car2go was also recently introduced in Hamburg, Germany, and becomes operational in Amsterdam in the Netherlands at the end of 2011. As a city whose mandate is to become the world’s greenest city by 2020, Vancouver was a natural choice for the expansion of car2go in North America.

“We’re very excited that car2go will be making its Canadian debut in Vancouver,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Our goal is to become the greenest city in the world by 2020, and providing cleaner transportation options is a big part of that. We want to ensure that we provide a full range of sustainable transportation options for our citizens, and car2go’s unique car-sharing model is a great fit for Vancouver.”

Starting today until May 29, 2011, Vancouver residents can pre-register for their car2go membership without having to pay the registration fee (a $35 CAD value) at www.car2govancouver.com using Promo Code: VAN, or in person at the car2go office at 45 Water Street in the Gastown area of downtown Vancouver.

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Together with the A- and B-class fuel cell models, the smart electric will play a critical role in Daimler’s future strategy. The electric smart fortwo in its current form had been presented by Daimler at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. Equipment includes electric power steering, power windows, heated and electrically adjustable mirrors and aircon with automatic temperature control.

Powered by a 30 kW magneto-electric motor installed at the rear, this motor provides a torque of 120 Nm which enables the tiny vehicle to accelerate from 0-60 km/h in 6.5 seconds. This is as fast as the gas-engined model.

Charging the fortwo electric car can be done from an ordinary 220 volt outlet. Using a lithium-ion battery sourced from Tesla, recharging the fortwo will take around three hours. On a full charge, the 16.5 kWh battery allows for a range of 83 miles, or 135 kilometers. But you will get this mileage only if you average no more than 18 miles per hour (30 kph). If you engage in stoplight grands prix, your mileage, as the saying goes, will vary.

The car has been converted into a tracked vehicle and painted with a German Army camouflage scheme, with matching insignia. A new front bumper wraps around the tracks so that the overall look is that the tracks are well-integrated into the car. There’s also a serial number for tongue-in-cheek authenticity, as well as a radio antenna, side-mounted ammunition containers and a hatch on the front. Speaking of hatches it can be noted that since the tracks extend the length of the car, the doors would be inoperative, so they were welded shut. Access to the vehicle is through the sunroof. Sporting German number plates, it looks to be road-legal.

This looks like a difficult and labor-intensive modification. Wheels from a light armored vehicle have replaced the rear wheels. These in turn drive the tracks, which extend to the length of the Fortwo. Due to the Fortwo’s short wheelbase, both the track length and suspension travel have been shortened. In the case of the tracks, a few links were removed in order to shorten it. Shortening the supension travel should not be a problem as there’s no way this Smart tank will be going anywhere fast. Speaking of going anywhere fast, the Smart tank can’t probably steer as well. In normal tanks, a special gearbox varies power to the rear driving wheels so that the tank can turn. Such a specailized gearbox can’t probably be sourced for such a small package. So, it probably can’t steer even if its life depended on it, and can go only forward or backwards.

Whatever the case, one would surely be noticed in this – thing – wherever it goes!

Green automaker smart, a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, has announced recently that the London congestion charge won’t affect the fortwo CDI and MHD models. That’s because these newer smart cars meet the Euro 5 emissions standards, and are thus given a full discount on the charge via the Greener Vehicle Discount.

With the softip transmission, the CDI (which is good for 54 bhp) emits a mere 86 g/km of CO2. The MHD (71 bhp), when on the same transmission, gets a relatively modest 97 g/km of CO2. Still, those numbers are more than enough to qualify those smart models for the discount.

The new rules to the Greener Vehicle Discount are applicable on the 4th of January next year.

“This development recognises the importance that smart places on lowering emissions and we are delighted that this total exemption from the London Congestion Charge enhances the already frugal running costs of smart and makes the brand even more attractive for driving in the capital city,” said Mercedes-Benz Cars UK’s managing director Gary Savage.

This means that drivers who want to make the transition to green vehicles can do so at better value. Thanks to this exemption, owners of these CDI and MHD models will shave off as much as £2,500 or $3,900 annually.

If you’re used to driving a compact, then you’re probably surrendered to the fact that your car was built for economy and lightness, and it was designed to do as little harm to the environment possible. That is, if you’re secretly wishing for more power and drivability—something almost forbidden around the ecomodder circle. Well, here’s news for you. Lorinser has just proven that it’s not all engine displacement that serves as basis as to whether a car deserves to be pimped out or not. As long as your compact is cool, then they’re cool with it—as exemplified by their latest creation.

Presenting Sportservice Lorinser’s Easybrid. It’s no more than a Smart Fortwo on steroids—electric steroids, that is. The stock electric motor has been replaced with a 30kW retrofit. A little bit of history here, folks. Ferdinand Porsche (yes, the founder of Porsche) was one of the pioneers who tried out placing electric motors around the wheel hubs. That’s why such devices were known to be called “hub motors”. Well, anyway, hub motors were thought to be destined for the failures’ lot, but nevertheless brought back to greatness later on when fuel prices started rising and environmental awareness caught up with everybody.

Anyways, the point is soon there’ll be a whole line of compact cars that will be retrofitted with hybrid drivetrain technologies. Hey, the Fortwo caught Lorinser’s eyes, didn’t it?

Daimler AG is on a major roll in the US, now reporting a 3.1 percent growth for the month of October, selling 19,443 Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles. The breakdown includes 19,076 vehicles sold by MBUSA, while the rest being contributed by Smart. This total includes passenger cars, light trucks and Sprinter vans, and represents a 4.9% growth for October for MBUSA. Meanwhile, year-to-date growth stands at around 20.1%.

Evidently from the figures, Mercedes-Benz’s passengers and light trucks sales are still very much on track. October’s strongest seller was the 9th generation of the E-Class, numbering around 5,568 units and earning a year-to-date total of 50,298 units for a 53.3% growth. Second placer is the C-Class, selling 3,771 units while in third place comes the M-Class SUV selling 2,826 units.

Taking into account the brand’s high end models, the S-Class flagship line grew sales by around 60.4%. CLS sales, meanwhile, are up by 47.5% which again is no surprise. The R-Class crossover listed a 52% growth, while the SLS AMG super sports car sold 59 units, bringing its year-to-date sales to 415.

Year-to-date sales of Mercedes-Benz is now 184,431, registering a 20.1% growth over 2009.

Meanwhile, expect the 2011 Smart Fortwo to makes its debut in LA this November. So stay tuned for updates when they come.

Raising money for an advocacy such as cancer awareness is always a good way to get publicity. And that’s exactly what a certain bunch of celebrities have done with the Smart Fortwo, or something like it. Sitting beside the limited edition Smart Fortwo Pink Passion is a huge patchwork made completely out of fabric, courtesy of donations from the celebrities themselves.

It doesn’t matter whether they donated clothes that are worth more than the average yuppy’s salary. Whatever proceeds that the limited edition Fortwo earns, it’ll all be donated to the Breast Cancer Campaign for the benefit of their breast cancer patient beneficiaries.

Radio 1 disc jockey Sara Cox said in an interview that the square patterns were cut directly from her youngest daughter’s vests, which she has outgrown by the way. Meanwhile, breast cancer survivor and former chat show host Trisha Goddard says she donated her pretty underwired underwear because she no longer has any use for it.

Ryan Giggs, famous for his left-fielder career in the almighty Manchester United, donated his daughter’s doll’s babygro for his part in the fight against the dreaded disease. The rest of the celebrity cast who donated were Russell Brand, June Brown, Klariza Clayton, Twiggy Lawson, Claire Cooper, Cheryl Fergison, Elizabeth Hurley, Zoe LIster, Joanna Lumley, Jane MacDonald, Kym Marsh, Martine McCutcheon, Dawn Porter, Adele Silva, Rachel Stevens, Margherita Taylor and Nina Wadia.

The pink Fortwo is up for auction in eBay. So if you think you’re pretty in pink and have an affinity for small cars, this is your chance.

“As a university and science city Aachen offers an ideal environment for pioneering new mobility solutions”, says Marcel Philipp, Mayor of the City of Aachen, welcoming the commitment of Daimler AG. “We look forward to working with Daimler and hope that car2gether can make a successful contribution to networking various mobility provi-ders.”

The first car2gether pilot project started successfully in Ulm in mid September. “We are registering lively interest in Ulm in the first few weeks and across all age groups”, says Project Manager Michael Kuhn. “Lots of users are testing the system and trying out the different functions. We are in dialogue with them and are evaluating their experience.”

Aachen as a second pilot city

Aachen is the second region where Daimler AG will test the system in real-world everyday conditions together with its Partner Scientific Computers GmbH. All citizens there will be able to try out the ride sharing system. In addition, at the beginning of the winter semester car2gether will be presented to students at Aachen University. The pilot phase serves to test specific individual functions of the system and the acceptance and use patterns of participants. Experience with the system will be gathered in close cooperation with the users. The findings will be incorporated in the further development and optimi-sation of car2gether.
car2gether in detail

If users intend to offer or take advantage of a ride, they have first to register on the car2gether website and create a profile with their photo, mobile phone number and other personal information. There are no fees for registration or for the smartphone software required. Following registration, users can enter the desired starting time and the destination using their smartphone or PC. car2gether brings to-gether rides offered and wanted and sends details of suitable drivers or passengers to the user. Users can then confirm the journey via their mobile phone or PC. Once both parties have agreed to the journey, the journey details will be shown to both participants. Users can also receive text message or e-mail notifications.

The ride offers and searches are also displayed in the form of a “live ticker” on the car2gether web portal. This ticker displays all offers and searches in a short form and is automatically updated every 15 seconds. If interested, users can get further details of the ride from the live ticker and directly opt for it.

Potentials for the future

car2gether is an ideal addition to car ownership and other means of transport. For example, a taxi symbol takes the user straight to the central taxi switchboard in Aachen. For the future there are also plans to include information on public transport stops and departure times on car2gether. This integration is an additional focus of the pilot pro-ject in Aachen.

Furthermore, with its own fan page on facebook and its own Twitter account car2gether is firmly integrated in the virtual world of online communities and in this way promotes communication between its users.