The new Green Party mayor of Tübingen Germany is fully in support of the city's "10% less CO₂ by 2010" policy and he's got a new ride to demonstrate it. Boris Palmer has selected the Smart ForTwo MHD as his official ride when on city business. The MHD version of the Smart features micro-hybrid drive, which essentially an automatic start-stop system. The Smart MHD is the most fuel-efficient gasoline-powered Smart averaging 54.7mpg (U.S.) on the New European Driving Cycle. That's an improvement from the 50mpg achieved by the conventional gas unit. Carbon dioxide emissions of the Smart MHD are only 103g/km. The micro-hybrid turns off the engine whenever the car comes to a stop and automatically re-starts whenever the brake pedal is released. Although the U.S. market won't be getting the diesel-powered Smart anytime soon, we probably will get the micro-hybrid in a year or so.

[Source: Daimler]

At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Smart has officially launched the micro hybrid version of the ForTwo. Like the mild hybrid system developed by General Motors, this belt-alternator-starter system is primarily an automatic start-stop system for when the car is not moving. Unlike the GM system, the Smart doesn't provide any power boost in motion or do regenerative braking.

The start-stop system will initially only be available with the 71hp gasoline engine and the automated manual transmission. When the vehicle comes to a stop the engine switches off and the clutch disengages. When the driver releases the brake, the engine automatically starts back up. The micro hybrid system is claimed to provide a fuel efficiency improvement eight percent from 50 to almost 55 mpg. Carbon dioxide emissions drop from 112 to 103g/km. The Smart ForTwo micro-hybrid goes on sale in October in Europe and the press release is after the jump.


[Source: Smart]