2013 Smart Fortwo Pure on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Car2go launches in Brooklyn, Green Fleet Car of the Year Award announced

The Car2go carsharing service is starting operations in Brooklyn next month. Beginning October 25, the service will offer 400 Car2go edition Smart Fortwo vehicles for point-to-point travel. Members pay a one-time sign-up fee, and are charged by the amount of time the use the vehicle (fuel and insurance is free). Drivers can find a car using the Car2go app or website, and can return the car to any non-metered parking spot within the 36-square-mile Brooklyn Home Area. Car2go is offering free membership and 30 minutes of credit for those who sign up early with a special promotional code. Learn more in the press release below. Renault and the Eco2charge consortium are working to bring better EV charging to France. They are providing research and development aimed at turning simple charging stations into "fully fledged energy ecosystems" through a smart grid. This grid would coordinate charging, consumption and energy storage in a way that increases efficiency and decreases cost. Read more in the press release below. The Renault-Nissan Alliance could source EV batteries from suppliers other than Nissan, according to CEO Carlos Ghosn. This news comes after recent questions of whether or not Nissan would scale back battery production in the US and UK. Ghosn says, "At the moment, we continue to produce our own batteries and we are open to outside sourcing, period." He also denies any plans to shutter Nissan's battery production facility in Tennessee. One source of batteries the alliance will look to is Korea's LG Chem. Read more at Automotive News Europe. The first-ever Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year Awards will be presented at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The presentation on November 20 will be part of the LA show's Connected Car Expo. Nominees are selected by Bobit Business Media, with finalists picked by readers of Green Fleet, Automotive Fleet, Work Truck and Business Fleet magazines. The winners will be chosen based on performance, fuel economy, emissions, safety, capacities and other similar factors. Read more in the press release below. car2go Heads To Brooklyn Brooklyn To Be First To Launch Point-To-Point Carsharing Service In New York City Area On October 25th car2go North America LLC, the fastest-growing global carsharing company, announced today that it will be launching its pioneering carsharing service in Brooklyn on October 25th, marking Brooklyn as car2go's 29th market and the very first in the New York City area.

Smart considering Forfour-based SUV

Can we interest anyone in the idea of a rear-engined SUV? Because that's what Daimler is reportedly considering for its Smart brand. According to Autocar, a crossover could be the next addition to the Smart lineup. It'd be based on the same architecture as the Smart Forfour and Renault Twingo, which are built on a rear-engined platform that gives the steering rack up front more range of motion to provide the vehicle a tight turning radius. Because the Smart and Twingo don't share much with other products in either automaker's stable, they're said to be eagerly looking for ways to make the most of their investment, and spinning off a sport-ute variant could be just the ticket. The resulting crossover could end up a little longer than the Forfour and Twingo, owing to more rugged bumpers, but would likely pack the same three-cylinder engines (in atmospheric and turbo guises) and choice of five-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch transmissions. Whether the platform could be modified to accommodate all-wheel drive as well remains a big question mark, but we'd point out that Audi managed to squeeze its Quattro system into the A1 even though the VW Polo platform on which it was based was never designed for it. Renault could prove eager to get in on the project as well with a version of its own, giving both automakers a worthwhile challenger to the nimble little Fiat Panda 4x4. The bigger question is whether it would ever make its way to US showrooms. Currently the smaller Fortwo is the only Smart being offered in North America, with the Forfour not earmarked for these shores – and Renault of course doesn't market here altogether.

Smart ForTwo outruns police in Phoenix ... well, not exactly outruns

Well, this happened. A man was arrested after he led police on a long chase through metropolitan Phoenix in a silver Smart ForTwo, a car with 89 horsepower and a top speed of 96 mph. Worst getaway car ever? The action, if you can call it that, started Wednesday in suburban Gilbert, where police responded to a call about a suspicious man screaming in the parking lot of a Walmart. Fox 10 reports that the man refused to speak with police, got into his pint-size ForTwo and took off. Officers tried to pull him over, but the driver refused and ran several stoplights. From there, he headed west on Interstate 10, where the station’s helicopter captured nearly 41 minutes of decidedly unexciting footage in which you can see a police SUV briefly giving chase as the suspect drove west on the lightly trafficked freeway, appearing to drive at highway speeds. UPDATE: DPS pit-maneuvered the Smart car that fled Gilbert PD. 1 male in custody. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/YXBdciJPHP — jonathan roy (@JRFox10) April 22, 2020 Police reportedly eventually gave up the chase for unknown reasons. But the suspect was apprehended after police used a pit maneuver to get him to stop. Parent company Daimler discontinued combustion versions of the Smart in 2017 in the U.S. and stopped selling the brand altogether following the 2019 ForTwo Electric Drive. Chinese automaker Geely last year purchased a 50% stake in the automaker. Weird Car News smart