Following its parent example, Smart is targeting a future where cars will be used by multiple clients, sharing just a mobility instrument. Daimler Group knows this is the direction and is preparing a future where cars will be shared. Including smart vehicles.
During this year Frankfurt Motor Show they will unveil the smart vision EQ fortwo which provides a new vision of urban mobility.
With the electrically powered smart vision EQ fortwo, smart is presenting a concept vehicle from the relatively recent product and technology brand EQ at the 2017 Frankfurt International Motor Show. More than ten new electric cars are set to go into series production at Mercedes-Benz Cars by 2022, from the smart to the large SUV. smart took the first step back in 2007 with the smart electric drive and today optionally offers all its models with an electric powertrain.
The smart vision EQ fortwo is also a car in which all of the individual fields of expertise that make up the CASE corporate strategy are combined, allowing users in the city intuitive access to individual mobility. CASE stands for the strategic pillars of connectivity (Connected), autonomous driving (Autonomous), flexible use (Shared & Services) and electric drive systems (Electric).
The smart vision EQ fortwo is a new vision of car sharing. Because transforming "urban traffic" into "city flow" in future will not only benefit the users but the public at large too, cities and municipal authorities are also a target group for future car sharing concepts from smart. Currently, a car2go vehicle is hired somewhere in the world every 1.4 seconds. At present car2go has over 2.6 million customers worldwide – and the number is growing all the time. The latest studies predict that the number of users of car sharing schemes worldwide will have quintupled by 2025 to 36.7 million.
The smart vision EQ fortwo concept vehicle demonstrates how autonomous driving could make future car sharing even more convenient. Thanks to swarm intelligence and autonomous driving, users do not have to look for the next available car – it will find them and collect the passengers directly from their chosen location. And thanks to swarm intelligence and the resulting predictability of demand, it will probably already be nearby, making the journey to pick up a "hire car" a thing of the past.
The interconnected vehicles are always on the road. Utilisation increases and at the same time the amount of traffic and the number of parking spaces required in urban areas are reduced.
