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Car2go introduces four-seat Mercedes B-Class vehicles

Easily identified by its huge fleet of blue-and-white Smart Fortwos in cities around the world, Daimler's Car2go car sharing service is growing in Canada – both in the number of vehicles and the doors that they have. For the first time in North America, the company is renting a model with a usable backseat thanks to a new pilot program bringing 75 examples of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class to Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. The point of adding these hatchbacks to the ranks is to offer an option for those seeking more than the paltry room that the ForTwo offers. Car2Go imagines people using the B-Class to haul extra people in the back or just for the added cargo space. The vehicles wear the same blue-and-white look as the rest of the fleet, but they're specially identified for users in the smartphone app. Best of all, for this pilot program, their rental cost is the same 41 cents per minute as the tinier Smarts. The car sharing service has already started testing the waters of offering the B-Class in Germany. Its Car2Go Black pilot program was announced last year and placed 100 of the hatchbacks in both Berlin and Hamburg. car2go Just Got A Lot More Spacious Carsharing Leader Introduces Four-Door Vehicles For The First Time In North America AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 28, 2015 /CNW/ -- car2go N.A., LLC, the market leader for one-way carsharing in Canada, announced today that car2go will be introducing 75 four-door vehicles to its fleet in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The pilot program, which officially launches today, provides over 300,000 car2go members in Canada exclusive access to the Mercedes B-Class vehicle, a roomy, versatile alternative to car2go's signature smart fortwo vehicle. The new four-door vehicles are also equipped with the latest car2go technology, allowing members the ability to control their entire car2go experience seamlessly through the official car2go smartphone app. car2go will be introducing 75 four-door vehicles to its fleet in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. CLICK TO TWEET: car2go introduces Mercedes vehicles in Canadian markets for the first time http://c2g.cc/Gdscbf "As our members embark on new life chapters – whether moving to a new residence or growing their family – we want to continue providing an affordable and convenient transportation option that allows them to go wherever life takes them," said Paul DeLong, President and CEO of car2go N.A.

Smart electrifying entire line-up, including all-new Forfour Electric

Electric vehicle fans who are also Smart Fortwo fans have had reason to complain these past few years. After all, Daimler thought it was fine to keep selling the older, third-gen ED while the new, fourth-gen Fortwo was still cruising the streets. This is about to end. Daimler announced today that all-electric versions of the all-new Forfour and the cabrio are on the way, making Smart the only company that will have ICE and electric versions of all of its models. Of course, Smart only has three models, so this isn't exactly the same as Mercedes-Benz or Ford offering the same gas and electric options. There's also some good news for American Smart electric fans. The new Fortwo Electric Drive (ED) is going to launch in the US ahead of its appearance in Europe. There's no reason to wonder why Daimler is pushing its electric models here. The company says that "around 25 percent" of all the Fortwos sold in the US in recent times were ED models. The electric Smarts use a battery made by the Daimler subsidiary Deutsche Accumotive and use an electric motor made in Renault's plant in France. While we know pretty much what the new Smart lineups look like - since the gas models preview the changes from the last gen. The electric ForFour and carbio models will debut at the Paris Motor Show in the fall. We've got a review of the gas-powered Fortwo here. Related Video: Under the microscope: the new smart electric drive: Zero-emission driving fun in the fourth generation The new smart electric drive makes opting into electric mobility easier than ever. Soon zero-emission driving fun can be experienced not only in the smart fortwo coupe and smart fortwo cabrio, but for the first time also in the four-seater smart forfour. In future smart will be the only car manufacturer worldwide to offer its entire model range with both combustion engines and pure battery-electric drive. The new electric smart family will be celebrating its world premiere this year at the Paris Motor Show. "smart was designed for electric drive right from start and 'living electric' is our motto as an electric car pioneer", says Annette Winkler, Head of smart. "The launch of the new generation smart electric drive is imminent and, needless to say, for our whole product portfolio, the fortwo, the forfour and our cabrio, which enables electric driving to be experienced particularly intensively.

Smart previews new city cars in teaser clip

Smart has tried its darnedest to diversify. It introduced the Smart Roadster in 2003 and the Forfour in 2004. It even did the Crossblade speedster in 2002. But each of those has fallen by the wayside, leaving the Fortwo as its only product. But that's all about to change.
After a long string of concept cars, the Smart brand is slated to introduce its all-new range at the Paris Motor Show come October. There it is expected to reveal both two-door and four-door versions of its new city car, based on common architecture with the new rear-engined Renault Twingo and with a keen eye fixed on the new Toyota Aygo, Citroën C1 and Peugeot 108.
Whether Daimler succeeds at broadening the Smart brand's range this time around remains to be seen, but in the meantime it has released this teaser video demonstrating the evolution of the design, which we've included below for your urban-transport enjoyment.