Last year, we were introduced to the Lumeneo Smera at the Geneva Motor Show. We were impressed by its specifications, which include a 144-volt lithium ion battery pack powering dual rear wheel motors. Its four-wheeled design leans into turns, and keeps the front and rear tracks extremely narrow in order to fit into tight city streets. The Smera is capable of transporting two people for distances of up to 93 miles and can hit a top speed of 80 miles per hour. That’s pretty good, but we hadn’t heard a whole lot since.

Today, we can see a very French-looking video of the Smera in action. This appears to be a promotional video of some sort and there are no words, other than the song in the background. We can see the Smera in its natural habitat, city streets, and on the faster connecting roads as well. We can clearly see that the Smera is loved by small livestock, llamas and attractive women. An odd combination for sure, but whatever. There are Smeras appearing in silver, deep red and white and they all look very cool.

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Brabus was the first major Mercedes-Benz tuner to embrace the smart brand from the start with the first generation fortwo. However, it hasn’t been until now, that other Mercedes specialty tuners were doing the same. Last year we saw Lorinser release a tuning program for the second generation fortwo, and more recently Konigseder has also followed suit. Now the latest Mercedes tuner is Carlsson also for the second generation fortwo model series since 2007.

The Carlsson aerodynamics kit consists of a front spoiler fitted to the stock bumper, electro polished stainless steel grill insert, Carlsson fog lights with a chrome case, rear skirt with diffuser and rear muffler (only for gasoline driven cars with 84 hp / 61 hp and 71 hp: four stainless steel end pipes). Rounding out the package are lowering springs, specially made Carlsson 1/11 Evo BE in 16- and 17-inch wheels, pedal overlays and an aluminum handbrake handle.

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Ironically, New York City seems to be packed with cars and yet it’s probably one of the worst cities in America for them. One of the biggest hassles for people who actually choose to drive in Manhattan is finding a place to park your car when you get where you’re going. Given the typical congestion in Manhattan, the Smart ForTwo is probably one of the cars best suited for that city, and it just got a bit better. SmartUSA has cut a deal for owners of its cars that gives them half-price parking at six of the biggest parking garages in Manhattan. The deal includes garages operated by Meyers Parking at Madison Square Garden, Times Square, the Javits Convention Center and the Empire State Building. The discount runs through December 31 and the SmartUSA press release is after the jump. Thanks to Yash for the tip!

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Tesla would be supplying lithium ion battery packs to Daimler for use in the electric version of the Smart ForTwo. The German edition of the Financial Times today has a story on the expansion of Daimler’s test fleet of battery powered Smarts from London into Berlin and other cities. In the story, it reveals that Tesla will be supplying batteries for the 150 cars that will be deployed in Berlin. Daimler is also teaming up with utility RWE to install 500 charging stations around the German capital. According to a Google translation of the story, the lithium-ion Smart will have a 90-mile range in urban driving. Daimler will eventually expand the test fleet to 1,000 cars. So far Tesla has not replied to a request for comment, but we’ll provide an update as soon as we here something.

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Now your Smart Fortwo can stand apart from all other Smarts in the crowd with its very own custom ink inspired by tattoo legend Ed Hardy. Project Tattoo has taken 100 Smarts apart and rebuilt them with all kinds of custom interior components to make it as pimp on the inside as the seven-layered Ed Hardy® tattoo inspired satin finish paint looks from the out. For a little extra zoom they’ve even thrown in half-a-dozen extra horses and 14 lb-ft of torque courtesy of Doug Thorley headers® featuring twin chrome tips. Included among the other upgrades are a dash and seats finished in leather with embroidered suede inserts, piano black gloss interior accents, and a kickin’ touch screen stereo with integrated navigation system.

The limited edition trinket will be announced today at the “When I Move You Move” lifestyle trade show in Las Vegas. Each car will be numbered and autographed by designer Christian Audigier, the man behind both the trade show and the tattooed Smart. At a cost of over $24,000 for the upgrades (includes the tax but not the donor car), the Ed Hardy® Smart Fortwo is only slightly less painful than a full body tattoo but, of course, there’s always a price to pay when it comes to expressing your individuality through “art.” Check out all the Ed Hardy®-inspired sweetness in the gallery below.

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When the smart brand was initially launched in Europe, the vehicles were featured in some very unusual manners. For instance, towers of smart fortwo cars were placed inside glass containers, which looked sort of like the spinning display stands for watches. These displays made sense considering the idea for the vehicle originally came from Swatch. Now, though, it looks as if smart’s parents, Daimler, have continued the innovative marketing approach with a smart vending machine. As cool as it would be if the vending machine actually offered little cars, it instead dispenses brochures for both the smart coupe and cabriolet.

From what we can tell, this vending machine is from Japan, which isn’t surprising considering how gadget obsessed young people in that country tend to be. We have seen something similar to this in American Mini dealerships, though those displays don’t actually feature a real car inside the glass containe

(Source: Autobloggreen)

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smart car limousine

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