Daimler subsidiary car2go GmbH and Hamburg-based Europcar Autovermietung GmbH will launch the car2go mobility concept in Hamburg in spring 2011. Initially there will be 300 smart fortwo vehicles for the car2go scheme in the Hanseatic city. The cars being used are two-seater smart car2go edition models equipped with carsharing telematics and a solar roof. The fleet will be further expanded if there is enough demand.
The two companies have established car2go Hamburg GmbH, their own operating company, in which Europcar has a 75% majority stake.
Following pilot launches of car2go in Ulm (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) and Austin, Texas (USA), Hamburg is the first city in which car2go is being introduced as part of the planned international market launch.
Les véhicules Smart ont été revus et adaptés pour un usage d'autopartage. Il s'agit d'une première version sachant que la prochaine génération pourrait être développée à partir de la feuille blanche (ou presque). Quelles seraient les caractéristiques strictement nécessaires à un véhicule en autopartage (performance et surtout TCO – total cost of ownership – minimal !!) ?
C'est bizarre mais dans un système (comme car2go) où le gestionnaire et le constructeur ont intérêt à réduire la consommation EN USAGE REEL (et non uniquement sur cycle homologué), on trouve des solutions …
The smart car2go edition used in Hamburg is the first series-produced carsharing model to be available ex factory. All of the cars are equipped with a consumption-optimized petrol engine, automatic start/stop system, a newly developed telematics generation and a solar roof. At the heart of the smart car2go edition is the new central control panel with a large, 6.5-inch touch-sensitive screen. It also houses the vehicle key and up to four chip cards—for refuelling and entering multi-storey car parks, for example. The telematics unit is networked with the vehicle’s electronic system and can control features such as the immobilizer, depending on the rental process.
The solar roof, which is a standard feature has an output of 100 W. The solar energy produced in this way is used to supply power to the telematics, and also to continually charge the car’s battery. This allows the alternator to be decoupled while driving, thus reducing fuel consumption. In addition, if the vehicle is parked in the sun, solar energy is used to power the ventilation system, which can reduce the temperature in the interior by up to 18 °C. This not only adds to the comfort when a customer gets into the car in summer or in southern climes, but also reduces the burden on the environment, because the air-conditioning system needs to expend considerably less energy to cool the car down, thus reducing fuel consumption.
