Hasta La Gadget!

Automatic, the smart driving startup that builds an accessory for just about any vehicle, is expanding its list of retail partners beyond Apple thanks to a new deal with Amazon. That means the car will be available to a whole new group of customers, thanks to a distribution arrangement with the world’s largest online retailer.

Automatic’s Link plugs into a car’s ODB-11 port, which is generally going unused on any vehicle between service spots, but which essentially provides access to the car’s central nervous system and can relate back a huge amount of information about your vehicle and its travels, including fuel consumption, detailed information about “check engine” and other service lights that appear on your dashboard, and can also detect crashes and send automatic calls for help.

The deal for Automatic means retail presence that could help it become more than just a niche product for tech enthusiasts. And that could be good news for the connected car space in general: Our own Chris Velazco reviewed the product and found that it helped make him more conscious of his own driving habits, which could in turn lead to a number of other use cases for that new awareness and newly unearthed information. With other accessories feeding from the pipe Automatic provides, we could see all kinds of different incarnations of intelligent driving accessories, but first Automatic’s Link needs to reach critical mass.

Now that Smart’s second-gen Fortwo Electric Drive EV has gotten its year of time on the roads, the company is ready to announce its successor. For 2013, the car has received some mild tweaks to its design, but the real news is about what’s hiding inside this rear-wheel driven EV. For the first time, you’ll have to option of owning one outright, rather than being limited to a four-year lease at $599 per month. It’s thanks in part to an improved battery, which is now rated for an average lifespan of 10 years. The car has also received a massive power upgrade to 47 horsepower (up from 27 previously), along with an extra boost if you floor the pedal — this courtesy of a beefier engine and drive-train that gives it about 50-percent more power. Put it this way, this EV will get you from 0-60 in about 11.5 seconds, with top speed of 78MPH. Sadly, there’s no concrete word on what kind of range to expect, but it should be well more than the 87 miles of its predecessor. Beyond that, Smart’s added in GSM connectivity, allowing you the abilities to pre-start the car and keep track of its vitals remotely, among other features.

A quick drive around Brooklyn also confirmed how peppy and smooth the car was in use, however, not exactly on-par with our experience in Audi’s A3 e-tron — but it is considerably less. As our friends at Autoblog detail, the base model coupe is set to sell for a $25,000 MSRP plus fees, along with your choice of two chargers, which can cost up to $2,200 with installation. Here’s the good news, the car itself actually works out to just $17,500 thanks to a federal tax credit. All in all, this currently makes the cheapest full-on EV you’ll be able to get your mitts on. If you’d prefer to spice it up a bit, Smart will also offer a spruced up cabriolet variant for an extra $3K. Check out our chat with Smart about the car and the press release after the break for all the details.

Continue reading Smart unveils third-gen Fortwo Electric Drive EV, we take it for quiet and speedy spin (video)

Smart unveils third-gen Fortwo Electric Drive EV, we take it for quiet and speedy spin (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cars that drive themselves aren’t new, and with our phones getting smarter, we don’t see why our cars can’t get smarter either. Researchers at the University of Michigan have announced that they will be launching a year-long test program of what they are referring to as smart car technology. Basically the goal of this technology is to help reduce the number of accidents on the road involving unimpaired drivers by up to 80%! That’s certainly a lofty goal and we hope that they are able to achieve it. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Smart Car transforms into a food truck, A car has feelings too, you know,