2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Cabriolet With 13k Orig Miles on 2040-cars

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Smart Fortwo's off-road chops on display in amusing ad from Cannes

After spending a few days with the recalcitrant mechanism that masquerades as a transmission in the Smart Fortwo, we can admit we've pondered all sorts of ways to prematurely end the car's life. An impromptu hardcore off-road excursion has figured prominently in at least one such scenario. Evidently the marketers behind Smart have entertained similar thoughts, or at least spent some time contemplating the old chestnut that goes something like, "Who makes the best off-roader? Hertz." After all, how else can we explain this 49-second spot?
We kid Daimler's pint-sized microcar brand, but the truth is, this is a pretty brilliant little advertisement. It's honest and plays to the Fortwo's major trump card - its tidy dimensions - while having a good sense of humor. According to Ad Week, this commercial comes from BBDO Germany, and was just shown at Cannes, where it won a couple of Gold Lion awards and had the audience cheering. Check it out by scrolling below.

Recharge Wrap-up: Pikes Peak Honda CR-Z, Tesla's liquid-cooled cable

Honda will race a CR-Z hybrid in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The car will use Electric SH-AWD, which probably means it will be using electric motors to power the rear wheels. Whether the Pikes Peak CR-Z uses the same powertrain as the upcoming Acura NSX or the 3.5-liter V6 with three-motor hybrid system used in the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid is still unclear. The car will also use Acura's Precision All-Wheel Steering (P-AWS) system. The CR-Z will be piloted by Tetsuya Yamano. Read more at Hybrid Cars, or, if you read Japanese, at Response. Tesla has introduced a thinner, liquid-cooled Supercharger cable. While the convenience of not having to "wrestle a good-sized snake into the car," as Elon Musk calls it in a shareholder speech, is wonderful, it could also allow for faster charging in the future. The liquid-cooled charging cable "also has the potential for increased power of the Supercharger long-term," says Musk. A cable able to withstand larger loads could mean shorter stops when it's time for a charge. Tesla has installed the first next-generation cable at the Mountain View Supercharger. Read more at Charged EVs. Smart is offering its Twinamic automatic dual-clutch transmission on more models in Europe. In addition to the 71-horsepower Smart Fortwo, the DCT will now be available in the 90-horsepower Fortwo and the 71-horsepower Forfour. In the Fortwo, the Twinamic DCT adds ˆ1,275 (about $1,437) to the price over the manual transmission, and is an extra ˆ1,425 (about $1,606) in the Forfour. The option of steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters as part of the Sport package makes driving the efficient microcar even more fun. Deliveries of the newly equipped vehicles begin at the end of July. Read more in the press release below. smart extends twinamic range for fortwo and forfour: Even more models with automatic transmission Stuttgart. Following in the footsteps of the smart fortwo with 52 kW/71 hp, the smart fortwo with 66 kW/90 hp and the smart forfour with 52 kW/71 hp are now also available with fully automatic twinamic dual clutch transmission. This costs an extra 1275 euros compared to the versions with 5-speed manual transmission (forfour: 1425 euros). This means that both model series now offer a choice between no fewer than nine engine/transmission combinations. Delivery of the new models will begin at the end of July 2015.

Someone starts a new Car2go carsharing trip every 2.5 seconds

In the fall of 2009, a big idea using little cars got its US start in Austin, TX. That's when Daimler's Car2go carsharing program first came to North America after its global debut in Ulm, Germany. The idea was simple: let people rent a car for just a few minutes at a time, and let them end their rental when they got to wherever it was they were going (within limits). It sure seemed to make sense, but would Americans like short-term rentals in the little Smart cars? Four years later, we thought we'd ask where things stand. Car2go has more than 600,000 members, who have taken 18 million trips total and a new one every 2.5 seconds. Daimler started with a fleet of 200 Smart Fortwos in Austin (and a similar number in Ulm) and has now become, "the largest global carsharing company," according to J. Paul DeLong, the chief marketing officer of Car2go NA. You can now step into one of 10,000 Car2go Fortwos in 25 cities in seven countries (sadly, not all using the same account). DeLong told AutoblogGreen that, with, "more than 600,000 total worldwide members," 18 million trips total and a new trip starting every 2.5 seconds, Car2go is "fast on Zipcars heels." Car2go's push and pull with Zipcar looms big on DeLong's mind. He said that 73 percent of Car2go members in the US are not members of any other carsharing program. "So," he said, "think about how the Car2go one-way model has been able to attract more people to carsharing, because the classical carsharing was not attractive for them to join or not practical for their use. I love this stat, because everybody assumes that Car2go is piggy backing on the existing carsharing companies. It shows also that there is a lot of room for growth without having to engage existing classical carsharing member bases." We've got the breakdown of the membership numbers for Car2go North American locations below. According to DeLong, here are the official membership numbers for Car2go: North America: Austin: +32,000 San Diego: +24,000 DC: +30,000 PDX: +19,000 MIA: +18,000 SEA: +35,000 DEN: +16,000 VAN: +44,000 TOR: +25,000 CAL: +42,000 Minneapolis, Columbus, and Montreal member numbers have not been released. Europe: +320,000 members Three locations have an all-electric fleet with a total of 1,200 vehicles: Stuttgart San Diego Amsterdam Related Gallery Calgary Car2go News Source: Car2go Green smart Transportation Alternatives zipcar car2go austin