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Car2go kills all-EV fleet in San Diego, replaces it with gas cars

The all-electric car sharing Car2go fleet started with a bang in 2011. The mood was positively sunny, with then-CEO of Car2go North America Nick Cole telling me that these small, short-term rental EVs were, "a realistic alternative to traditional car ownership." Despite the rapid acceptance of the zero-emission runabouts by thousands of local users, things have turned sour. After updating the fleet to newer EVs last year and even providing incentives to users to charge up when they were done driving, Car2go has announced it will get rid of all of the electric Smart Fortwos and replace them with gas-powered cars. Car2go is laying part of the blame on the Department of Energy, which had a plan to install 1,000 charging stations in San Diego by the end of 2011. There are only 400 installed around the city today, and only 126 are inside the Car2go Home Area. That's why, "we've all been left with inadequate EV charging infrastructure in San Diego that makes it very difficult to maintain an EV fleet," Car2go says in an email. For the rest of the year, Car2go San Diego is dropping its prices to just 19 cents a minute (the usual price is 41 cents). San Diego city councilman Todd Gloria told The San Diego Union-Tribune that, the announcement is "a lesson to all of us that we have to work harder to build the infrastructure necessary to support electric vehicles and other transportation modes." The company's headline on the email announcing this change? "Want to go father for less? Of course you do!" You can read the whole thing below. Related Video: Want to go father for less? Of course you do! When we launched car2go San Diego in 2011, we were excited to make San Diego the first city in America with a fully electric (EV) carsharing fleet. Our bold decision to go 100% EV was based on the Department of Energy's commitment to install 1,000 Blink charging stations through a company called ECOtality by the end of 2011. Unfortunately, that just didn't happen. Not even close. ECOtality went bankrupt in 2013, and despite efforts by the City of San Diego to encourage additional charging stations, we've all been left with inadequate EV charging infrastructure in San Diego that makes it very difficult to maintain an EV fleet. For that reason, as of May 1, we are replacing our San Diego EV fleet with the same internal combustion smart fortwo car2gos used by hundreds of thousands of members in our 12 other North American locations.

Next-gen Smart ED will use LG Chem battery

LG Chem will be the battery maker of choice for the two-seat Smart ED electric vehicle starting next year. LG Chem says the contract gives the Seoul-based company the prestigious title of the world's largest automotive-battery supplier. In 2016, LG Chem will be making batteries for more than a dozen of the world's largest automakers. The news is a little more fortuitous than some of the more recent times LG Chem and its lithium-ion battery production activity showed up in these pages. LG Chem built a factory about 30 miles outside of Grand Rapids, MI in 2012 to make batteries for the Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle. Unfortunately, the plant sat idle for months even though the feds committed more than $300 million combined in funds and tax breaks for the factory. Those factory lines officially cranked up in 2013 and are going to make packs for the next-gen Volt in the near future. For now, you can take a look at LG Chem's press release for the Smart agreement below. LG Chem to supply EV batteries to Daimler Group Seoul, Korea - Mar 31, 2015 – LG Chem, Korea's leading manufacturer of advanced batteries, has been selected by Daimler AG (Daimler) as the supplier of lithium-ion batteries for Smart EV that will be newly launched in 2016. Based on the results of mass supply contract, LG Chem will be providing battery cells to Smart EV and the cells will be installed into packs by Daimler. Smart is a brand of Daimler that manufactures and markets micro cars such as Smart Fortwo and Smart Forfour. Despite the compact size of the vehicle, Smart is renowned for agility on city roads, secured safety and differentiated design. It has a steady sales record of more than 100,000 vehicles annually. LG Chem had been invited to the 'Supplier Day' hosted by Daimler in Stuttgart, February. LG Chem was the only lithium-ion battery maker invited to participate at the event and had the chance to discuss core strategies with numerous automotive partners of Daimler Group. Based on such experience, LG Chem plans to supply a battery that can cope with the prestigious name value of Daimler brands with the best specification and highest output of energy - a battery that has the best driving performance while running through electric motor. With the advent of 'Benz Patent Motor Car' in 1886, Daimler gave birth to the first automobile in the world.

Smart #1 electric crossover shown in production form for the first time

Smart will keep a promise it made several years ago when it releases its first entry into the crossover segment. Previewed by the Concept #1 design study unveiled in Munich in 2021, the pocket-sized soft-roader will be called #1 when it makes its debut later in 2022. Let's quickly address one point: Smart didn't reveal whether the model's name should be pronounced "number one" or "hashtag one." "Pound one," maybe? We suppose it ultimately depends on when you were born, and how many hours you spend on social media. What's almost certain is that the company's future models will follow this naming structure, so it's reasonable to assume that a #2 is coming up soon. With that said, the #1 shares several styling cues with the design study that previewed it. It's characterized by thin LED headlights connected by a light bar and an air dam that takes up most of the space on the lower part of the front bumper. Its overall proportions haven't changed much in the past couple of months, and it looks like the two-tone roof will make the leap from the show floor to the showroom floor. The #1 is bigger than the Fortwo, but it remains relatively small, and these dimensions limit the size of the battery pack that Smart can offer. Engineers consequently went to considerable lengths to lower the crossover's drag coefficient in a bid to maximize driving range. While technical specifications haven't been released yet, we know that they fitted door handles mounted flush with the body (and remembered to include an ice-breaking function), and active grille shutters, for example. China-based Geely handled most of the engineering work while Mercedes-Benz took care of the design; Smart has been jointly owned by the two companies since 2020. Smart will introduce the #1 later in 2022, and sales will presumably start shortly after. Production will take place in China, but there's no word yet on whether the model will be sold in America, a market that Smart left in 2019, or if it will exclusively be offered in global markets. Related video: