2009 Smart Fortwo Brabus on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Smart Ready for Rent, MOIA comes to US in 2018

Daimler is launching its "Smart Ready to Rent" service in Europe. Beginning this month in German and French cities, the rental scheme bridges the gap between short-term Car2go rentals and longer leases. Customers book the Smart model of their choice – including the emissions-free Electric Drive and the hotter Brabus versions – for a period of one day up to three months. As such, Smart Ready to Rent is useful to those who live outside of an urban center. Users can book a car online or through a dealer, and vehicles are collected and returned at the dealership. Read more at Green Car Congress. Volkswagen will launch its MOIA mobility arm in the US in 2018. The recently announced brand will take on public transportation as a competitor with services such as ride hailing and car sharing. VW is looking into forging partnerships with the likes of technology and ride sharing companies. The automaker also expects to show an electric shuttle-type concept in 2017 for pooling services, but will use the three-row VW Atlas crossover in the meantime until that concept reaches production. Look to see MOIA emerging in major cities along the US coasts. Read more at Automotive News. A new report from Lux Research suggests that most EV batteries are better off being recycled than reused. Once lithium-ion batteries have outlived their usefulness for automotive duty, some automakers (BMW, Nissan, and Toyota included) are looking at ways to use their remaining capacity, such as for stationary energy storage. The new report, though, says that reusing batteries offers "questionable returns on account of reduced performance." Better to be like Tesla, and just recycle them. Read more at Hybrid Cars. Related Gallery Smart ForTwo ED: Paris 2016 View 12 Photos Related Gallery 2018 Volkswagen Atlas Unveiling View 43 Photos News Source: Green Car Congress, Automotive News, Hybrid CarsImage Credit: Copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / AOL Green smart Volkswagen Green Automakers Transportation Alternatives Electric recharge wrapup

Bibendum 2014: Daimler studying China for Car2go expansion

Despite a recent setback in the UK, Daimler's carsharing company Car2go remains in expansion mode. The company is currently studying the scene in China (and other countries) to see where the next batch of blue-and-white Smart Fortwo cars will land. "We are looking at the opportunities and doing a lot of market research about [China]." – Moovel China's Su Shasha Su Shasha, from Moovel China's business development department, would not confirm that Car2go would one day be available in China, but did tell AutoblogGreen, "We are looking at all kinds of locations and opportunities worldwide, and China is definitely one big market with many populated cities. We are looking at the opportunities and doing a lot of market research about it. We don't have any concrete plans for the details of the launch yet." Su wouldn't say how long Daimler has been studying China as a place to expand Car2go or when the results of the internal study would be made public. Car2go was on display at the 2014 Michelin Challenge Bibendum in Chengdu, China. Su said that the purpose of the cars on display was to gauge interest from the people attending the event. She did say that people were interested in the exhibit, so that's a start. Daimler is looking for more workers to bring Car2go to China. An online job opening for a "Trainee as Financial Analyst for Car2go China" says that the new hire will be responsible for "continuously refining the car2go China business case," supporting "the local management with business analysis on achieving the growth targets and the refinement of the business model based on the planned roll-outs" and making sure the Car2go plan doesn't run afoul of any local laws. Sounds pretty serious to us.

Smart ForTwo Brabus Electric Drive is a black and green upgrade

If given the choice, we'd grab the keys to an all-electric Smart ForTwo way before its gasoline-powered sibling, if for no other reason than it would mean we wouldn't have to put up with that horrid automated manual transmission. But such faint praise isn't really fair to the Brabus Electric Drive. After all, it's got 80 horsepower on tap, which is plenty for the little urban runabout, and its 100 pound-feet of torque ought to be available from zero rpm.
Brabus has also seen fit to lower the Smart ED 10 millimeters closer to the pavement, which, along with the 16-inch front and 17-inch rear monoblock wheels, should improve the way it handles. Less convincing an upgrade is the onboard sound generator... though perhaps one strategically pulled fuse might make short work of that oversight.
Feel free to peruse the press release below, but not before checking out our high-res image gallery of live photos from the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.