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Smart Cross Connect app changes how ForTwos get used [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story's been updated with a response from a Smart representative. There are parking spaces, and then there are Fortwo parking spaces. Smart, which is owned by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, is looking for a way for its customers to take advantage of the difference. Think of it as a big thing for really small cars. Smart is working on an app for the redesigned Fortwo called Cross Connect that will be available as soon as next month, says Automotive News, citing Smart chief Annette Winkler. The idea is to connect owners of the diminutive two-seat vehicles to, for example, let them tell each other when there's a parking space that's too small for just about any other vehicle but big enough for a Smart. If you think that's a small thing, think again. The Fortwo is 8 feet, 10 inches long. That's almost six feet shorter than a Toyota Prius, which itself isn't exactly a stretch limo. In fact, the length of a Smart Fortwo is just 10 inches longer than the width of a Ford F-150, in case anyone was having misgivings about parking perpendicular in a parallel spot. Parking has become more relevant, and tougher, as more people move to urban centers. For instance, BMW said earlier this month that it would discontinue its DriveNow car-sharing operations in San Francisco because of the challenge of parking vehicles on that city's streets. Other possible amenities with the Cross Connect app including the enabling of personal car sharing as well as information on car washes that offer discounted rates for Smart Fortwo. Yes, there are some out there, apparently, and we salute them. Michael Minielly, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz, confirmed to Autoblog that the Cross Connect features would be available in November. You can read Autoblog's driving impressions of the 2016 Fortwo here. Featured Gallery 2016 Smart ForTwo: Second Drive View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News-sub.req.Image Credit: Drew Phillips Green Mercedes-Benz smart Technology Smartphone fortwo

Mercedes-Benz engines with 48-volt systems coming in 2017

As part of a big green push announced yesterday, Mercedes-Benz is jumping into the world of 48-volt power. The company will launch a new family of efficient gasoline engines next year and will begin rolling out 48-volt systems with it, likely in its more expensive cars first. Mercedes will use the 48-volt systems to power mild-hybrid functions like energy recuperation (commonly called brake regeneration), engine stop-start, electric boost, and even moving a car from a stop on electric power alone. These features will be enabled through either an integrated starter-generator (Mercedes abbreviates it ISG) or a belt-driven generator (RSG). (RSG is from the German word for belt-driven generator, Riemenstartergeneratoren. That's your language lesson for the day.) Mercedes didn't offer many other details on the new family of engines. There are 48-volt systems already in production; Audi's three-compressor SQ7 engine uses an electric supercharger run by a 48-volt system, and there's a new SQ5 diesel on the horizon that will use a similar setup with the medium-voltage system. Electric superchargers require a lot of juice, which can be fed by either a supercapacitor or batteries in a 48-volt system. Why 48-volt Matters: Current hybrid and battery-electric vehicles make use of very high voltages in their batteries, motors, and the wiring that connects them, usually around 200 to 600 volts. The high voltage gives them enough power to move a big vehicle, but it also creates safety issues. The way to mitigate those safety issues is with added equipment, and that increases both cost and weight. You can see where this is going. By switching to a 48-volt system, the high-voltage issues go away and the electrical architecture benefits from four times the voltage of a normal vehicle system and uses the same current, providing four times the power. The electrical architecture will cost more than a 12-volt system but less than the complex and more dangerous systems in current electrified vehicles. The added cost makes sense now because automakers are running out of ways to wisely spend money for efficiency gains. Cars can retain a cheaper 12-volt battery for lower-power accessories and run the high-draw systems on the 48-volt circuit. The industry is moving toward 48-volt power, with the SAE working on a standard for the systems and Delphi claiming a 10-percent increase in fuel economy for cars that make the switch.

Here are all the new 2022 season F1 cars (UPDATED)

Update: Since this post's original publishing, the rest of this season's teams have revealed their 2022 cars. We've updated the post with all of them, so it now includes every 2022 F1 car on the grid. The updated story continues below. Reveals of the 2022 F1 cars are coming fast and heavy, and at this point, every team has shown off their redesigned cars. This being the case, we figured it was time to provide you all with a place to see all the cars at once. The gallery above holds photos of all the cars, and below you’ll see all them broken down by teams and drivers, along with quotes from the drivers and team leaders that come via F1Â’s official website where the cars were revealed. Mercedes W13 - Lewis Hamilton and George Russel "It just takes you back to being a kid," Hamilton said. "I think itÂ’s always exciting watching, I mean with this new era of car, weÂ’ve never seen such a drastic change, right? "So itÂ’s such a huge change in so many ways, that itÂ’s just been really interesting seeing the designers and everyone coming together to find the best ways of creating a masterpiece." “It feels incredible, obviously Lewis and I have driven so many laps in the simulator of this,” Russel said. “WeÂ’ve seen all the drawings, weÂ’ve had so many meetings and presentations about it, but suddenly seeing it all come together, seeing all of the men and women who have put so much hard work and grit into making this, and coming together here, I think it looks incredible. “And I think the silver [coming] back, weÂ’ve had an incredible livery with the black in the past couple of years – but the silver back on track I think is going to look incredible." Ferrari F1-75 - Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz “I think it looks aggressive, it looks radical, and I think it looks beautiful also Â… I just hope itÂ’s fast,” said Sainz. “ItÂ’s innovative, different, thinking a bit out of the box. I like it because itÂ’s just radical, which is what you want to see when you see a new car.” “Yes, I do [like the livery],” Leclerc said. “I think it fits perfectly. ItÂ’s a bit of a dark red, looks a bit more aggressive, but for a car like this, I think it fits perfectly.