“We are proud to launch car2go in Birmingham,” said Stefan Mueller, CEO at car2go Europe GmbH. “car2go gives you the ability to go where you want, when you want – and in comfort – but without all the costs associated with owning, running and insuring a car full-time. We’re confident everyone will find car2go an easy, cost-effective and environmentally responsible way to get around Birmingham.”

Councillor Tahir Ali, cabinet member for development, jobs and skills, was part of the launch of the 12 month pilot scheme.

“We want to develop a range of green transport initiatives, reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions and encouraging people to think of alternative ways of getting about, said Ali. “I’m pleased to welcome car2go to Birmingham, particularly as they are making the city their UK headquarters, with the associated jobs that will bring. I will be monitoring this pilot closely for all the benefits it is expected to bring.”

car2go will start with a fleet of 250 smart fortwo in an area of 21 square miles in Birmingham.

The car2go zone covers the city area between Oxhill Rd, Pershore Rd, Vicarage Rd, Highfield Rd, City Rd, Grove Park, Stratford Rd, and Aston Park. Within this area people are allowed to park in any Pay & Display bay without time restrictions and wherever it is free to park without affecting private resident or business parking.

Every car2go vehicle in Birmingham is based on the smart mhd – an efficient, compact two-seater which emits just 98g/km of CO2, plus the convenience of automatic transmission, start-stop technology, GPS navigation and the comfort of air conditioning.

Marcus Breitschwerdt, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd, added: “I’m delighted that car2go has chosen Birmingham as its second UK city. Our smarts all have eco stop-start, automatic transmission, air conditioning, GPS navigation, are fuelled, insured and cleaned and are available 24/7. You don’t even have to pay for parking if you park in any pay and display without affecting residents and businesses  – car2go has got that covered too. Of course, car2go is all about making mobility easy, so anyone registered as a car2go member in London or Birmingham can use the service in either city.”

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Daimler is now using the world’s first plastic engine support for its six-cylinder diesel engine installed in the new GL Class.

The announcement was made at the VDI-K Conference “Plastics in Automotive Engineering”, held in Mannheim, Germany.

According to BASF, compared to the previous aluminum support, the plastic part offers improved acoustical properties, better thermal insulating characteristics and a definite weight advantage, while being able to withstand the same load.

The part, which supports the engine with the aid of the engine mounts, is molded from Ultramid A3WG10 CR, a highly reinforced specialty polyamide from BASF that has been optimized for high mechanical loads.

Joma-Polytec in Bodelshausen assumed responsibility for designing the injection mold and producing the plastic engine support.

The torque supports that are already used by various automakers in versions of Ultramid transmit only the tilting moment of the engine.

In contrast, engine supports are subject to a permanent load – the engine’s weight – while absorbing in addition the entire engine torque. To date, they have always been made from aluminum.

To replace aluminum in this crash-relevant application, the plastic must fulfill demanding mechanical requirements, While BASF’s Ultramid A3WG10 CR is very rigid, it was necessary to demonstrate that the material exhibited sufficiently low tendency to creep in the confined space of the engine compartment when subjected to a continuous load.

Furthermore, depending on the installation conditions in the engine compartment, the plastic engine support must also withstand high bending moments.

The good acoustic characteristics are the primary benefit of the Ultramid engine support over its aluminum counterpart. Thanks to the damping behavior specific to plastic, the new engine support contributes to a more balanced sound.

An additional benefit is that the heat conduction of the plastic is considerably less than that of aluminum. As a consequence, the Ultramid engine support provides better protection from the engine’s heat for the natural rubber engine mounts connected to it, increasing their service life.

In the context of the CO2 discussion, a weight savings of over 30% for the plastic part versus the aluminum version is seen by both Daimler and BASF as an additional plus.

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The hybrid version of the Q50 is expected to be displayed. Marking the start of a new-generation of Infiniti Q models, the Q50 for Europe will also include the first fruit of the co-operation agreement with alliance partner Daimler AG.

Technical details of the Q50 for Europe will be announced at Infiniti’s Geneva press conference to be held also on March 5.

“The Infiniti Q50 is a world-class sports saloon with an engine line-up that will clearly demonstrate its intentions to be a major player within the European premium market,” said Bernard Loire, vice president, Infiniti Africa, Middle East and Europe (AMIE).

The Infiniti Q50 marks a new design direction for the Infiniti range as well as a new naming nomenclature – all of which in future will bear a Q for sedans and coupes or a QX badge for crossovers and SUVs.

The Q50 features the world’s first Direct Adaptive Steering technology.

On top of the Q50, Infiniti’s Geneva show stand will feature the LE Concept, Infiniti’s first 100 percent electric car.

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The goal is nothing less than the launch of the “world’s first affordable, mass-market” fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) by 2017. By teaming up, the three companies will split costs equally, and share lessons and efficiencies learned.

Each company will aim to bring its own uniquely branded FCEVs to market based on common technology. Included in this will be the all-important, and up till now cost-prohibitive fuel cell stack and fuel system.

All three – Daimler, Ford and Nissan – already have significant inroads into developing FCEVs, and state collectively they’ve logged over 10 million kilometers in testing of research vehicles.

The companies state that this latest move “sends a clear signal to suppliers, policymakers and the industry to encourage further development of hydrogen refueling stations and other infrastructure necessary to allow the vehicles to be mass-marketed.”

The FCEVs are touted as being complementary to other electrified vehicles, and are not at this point being seen as a next evolutionary step to supplant and render obsolete yet-new battery electric technologies also being developed.

“Fuel cell electric vehicles are the obvious next step to complement today’s battery electric vehicles as our industry embraces more sustainable transportation,” said Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice President of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., supervising Research and Development. “We look forward to a future where we can answer many customer needs by adding FCEVs on top of battery EVs within the zero-emission lineup.”

FCEVs are touted as environmentally friendly, but are not without controversy. One can readily find viewpoints in the main stating FCEVs require more energy to create fuel for than the fuel itself actually provides. This contention, if true, seems not to be something the major automakers are heeding as they team up to bring FCEVs to market.

Instead, FCEV’s benefits of being able to refuel much faster than a present-day EV and emitting only water, and thus no greenhouse gases, are among those regularly promoted.

“We are convinced that fuel cell vehicles will play a central role for zero-emission mobility in the future. Thanks to the high commitment of all three partners we can put fuel cell e-mobility on a broader basis. This means with this cooperation we will make this technology available for many customers around the globe,” said Prof. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

The zero-emissions goals are not entirely altruistic either, but are actually mandated by the American and European governments. As such, automakers have been pooling resources to tackle dauntingly expensive projects such as this, the announcement of a viable fuel cell vehicle inside of five years. 2017 is the beginning point of the ramp up to stricter standards through to 2025 for the U.S. CAFE mandates, and Europe also is bearing down on emissions.

The FCEV development work, say the companies, will be conducted in respective locations around the world.

Although these companies are primarily competitors, putting aside what might otherwise be considered intellectual property secrets and creating an effective brain trust is another aspect of the expedient aside from mere cost sharing.

Perhaps it demonstrates companies are getting smarter, or at least it shows the pressures being exerted by mandates to technologically overcome worldwide problems arising from waning petroleum supplies and global warming.

“Working together will significantly help speed this technology to market at a more affordable cost to our customers,” said Raj Nair, group vice president, Global Product Development, Ford Motor Company. “We will all benefit from this relationship as the resulting solution will be better than any one company working alone.”

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