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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.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive gets official US launch

It's finally time to plug in the first production Mercedes-Benz-branded electric vehicle in the US. The Daimler division, which also sells a few of its battery-electric Smart ForTwo vehicles here in the states, has officially launched sales of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED. Even better, the US will be the first market in the world to give the general public access to the new plug-in. As with many other EV debuts, the flyover states will have to wait a bit. Mercedes-Benz is only selling the B-Class ED in 10 coastal states, including California, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Maine, and hasn't said anything about when a broader release might happen. Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy rated the B-Class electric with an 87-mile single-charge range, which is comparable to that of the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3. The other shoe dropped, though, when it was revealed that the model has an 84 miles per gallon equivalent rating, which is about 30 percent less then both of those other EVs. The culprit for the model, which puts out 177 horsepower and has a base price of $41,150, is its heavier curb weight. Check out Autoblog's "First Drive" impressions here.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.