Leather Sunroof Bluetooth Alloy Wheels Carfax 1 Owner on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Malaysian F1 GP springs hot, humid surprises [spoilers]

In the two weeks since Australia both Mercedes and Ferrari spoke of the improved performance from their respective cars. In Malaysia, Ferrari showed it. Lewis Hamilton still put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position, but Sebastian Vettel got within two whiskers of the Brit, lining up second just 0.074 behind. Afterward, Vettel said Ferrari could win the race if everything went well. But in qualifying we didn't know how much of Ferrari's performance was truly down to the car and how much was down to the wet weather that struck near the beginning of Q2. The rain didn't hamper Nico Rosberg's run – the German said "I just didn't drive good enough" – and he took third spot in the second Mercedes-AMG Petronas. Showing what the Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis can do when the power unit is working properly, teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat grabbed fourth and fifth. Whippersnapper Max Verstappen, in his second race, qualified in sixth with an excellent drive through the rain; just 0.030 behind Kvyat, he said he could have got fifth if he hadn't had a running problem with his brakes. Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley said he wouldn't complain about Mercedes' advantage, but Felipe Massa has spent the whole season so far banging the alarm about Ferrari's pace. He says Williams has lost its straight-line advantage, part of the reason the first Grove car is back in seventh, while Valtteri Bottas is in eighth. Between them was Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, but he got dropped two positions for a pit-lane infraction in Q2, so he'll be tenth. Ahead of him is Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber, who would lead the charge to turn in another surprise for the Swiss team. But the real surprise came from the Scuderia Ferrari, who, on a bright, sunny day proved that they don't need to add water for race-winning pace. While Hamilton got made usual awesome start at the lights, Vettel channeled that other famous German Ferrari driver and immediately cut across the track to intimidate Rosberg, maintaining his second place position into the first turn. Arguably the race-winning move came three laps later at that same turn, when Ericsson plunged in too fast and swapped ends, beaching the rear of his Sauber in the gravel trap. The safety car came out when the recovery truck emerged to retrieve the Sauber, and nearly all of the front-runners took to the pits to swap out of the medium tires. Vettel, however, didn't.

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

Volvo, Daimler, Traton join forces to build electric truck charging network

Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and Volkswagen's AG heavy-truck business the Traton Group announced on Monday a non-binding agreement to build a network of high-performance public charging stations for electric heavy-duty long-haul trucks and buses around Europe. The news was first reported by Reuters. The three major European automakers will invest ˆ500 million (~$593 million USD) to install and operate 1,700 charging points in strategic locations and close to highways. They intend to finalize the agreement by the end of this year and start operations next year, with the hopes of increasing the number of charge points significantly as the companies seek additional partners for the future joint venture. The venture is meant to be a catalyst to prepare for the European Union's goals of carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050. One of the main deterrents for both individuals and freight companies for switching to EVs has historically been a lack of charging infrastructure. By building that infrastructure, Volvo, Daimler and Traton can also expect to boost their own sales of electric trucks and buses. “It is the joint aim of EuropeÂ’s truck manufacturers to achieve climate neutrality by 2050," Martin Daum, CEO Daimler Truck, said in a statement.  "However, it is vital that building up the right infrastructure goes hand in hand with putting CO2-neutral trucks on the road. Together with Volvo Group and the Traton Group, we are therefore very excited to take this pioneering step to establish a high-performance charging network across Europe.” The partnership between Volvo and Daimler isn't unprecedented. In May, the two competitors teamed up to produce hydrogen fuel cells for long-haul trucks to lower development costs and boost production volumes. This latest venture is another signal that major companies are banding together to solve climate-related issues in the industry. European car industry association ACEA has called for up to 50,000 high-performance charging points by 2030. Traton CEO Matthias Gruendler told Reuters that roughly 10 billion euros would be needed to build out Europe's infrastructure to be fully electrified by 2050. According to a statement released by Volvo, this venture is also a call to action for others with a stake in the industry, like automakers or governments, to work together to ensure the rapid expansion needed to reach climate goals.