City car

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Daimler Extending car2go Car-Sharing Program to Austin, Texas; Ramping Up in Germany

March 27, 2009

Two smart2go units in Austin. Click to enlarge.

Daimler will bring its car2go mobility concept (earlier post) to the US in a pilot phase to start this fall in Austin, Texas with an initial fleet of about 200 smart fortwo mhd vehicles with start/stop functionality. The US introduction coincides with the expansion of the pilot in Ulm, Germany, where the company opens the service to the public on 26 March after the internal test which started last October.

The car2go concept is based on a fleet of smart fortwo vehicles which are available for rent to registered members at any time, 24/7. Whenever a car is needed, it can be rented spontaneously in passing out on the street, or it can be pre-booked via mobile phone or internet. The car then can be used as long as one likes, and can be returned to any unoccupied public parking space within the area of operation.

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Nissan Shows Present and Future of City Cars at Paris Show: Pixo and NuVu EV

October 05, 2008

Nissan’s NuVu. Click to enlarge.

Among its introductions at the Paris Motor Show, Nissan unveiled a new production city car—the Pixo—and a battery-electric concept car highlighting Nissan’s focus on electric drive for the future, the NuVu.

Pixo, built in collaboration with Suzuki Motor in Delhi, India, is a five-door, four-seater featuring a three cylinder 1.0-liter engine. With its lightweight construction, it produces CO₂ emissions as low as 103 g/km with fuel consumption of 4.6 L/100km (51 mpg US) on the combined cycle (NEDC). Pixo is available with manual or automatic transmissions.

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