Daimler AG has announced that the second generation Smart fortwo electric drive will go into series production starting in 2012. The announcement was made during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the facility where the electric Smart cars will be built in Hambach, France.

A small number of vehicles will begin production in November of this year as Daimler continues to test the product durability and battery capability. Using a more compact lithium-ion battery pack sourced from U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc., the second generation of the Smart fortwo electric drive doesn’t compromise space and has adequate room for two adults. Power is rated at 30 kW (40-hp) and 120 Nm (89 ft-lbs) of torque, with a range of 135 km (84 miles). The initial vehicles will begin testing this year in cities across Europe and the U.S.

Smart claims the cars can hit 60 km/h in 6.5 seconds (the same as the gasoline models) and are speed-limited to 100 km/h (60 mph).

GALLERY: Smart fortwo Electric Drive

Official release after the jump:

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Chrysler only has one product set to launch in all of 2010 and now one of its 2011 vehicles is in jeopardy. The all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee may be delayed due to a parts dispute with the company’s former owners at Daimler.

Daimler was supposed to supply axles for the new Jeep SUV, but is withholding the parts due to another financial dispute. In that case, Daimler is claiming $80 million in compensation after a Chrysler agreement to purchase diesel engines from Daimler did not go as planned. Chrysler, however, is claiming that all old contracts are now irrelevant as the company’s previous financial matters were settled through bankruptcy court.

In a sign of hope that the Grand Cherokee may  make it to market without much delay, both parties have agreed to see if they can settle the dispute outside of court. Still, the timing is tight as the parts are reported to be needed before the end of the month in order to build prototype vehicles that need at least 6 months of testing.

The axles aren’t the only item in question either, as court documents revealed that Daimler is also scheduled to supply transmissions and steering columns for several future Chrysler vehicles, including the next Dodge Durango, as well as the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

[Source: Detroit News]

With both Honda and BMW already announcing that they will not return to Formula 1 next year, now Mercedes’s involvement in the series has come into doubt. Helmut Lense, a member of the board for Mercedes’s parent company Daimler recently told a German newspaper that the company’s involvement in the world’s top level of motorsports is open for debate. “This discussion will surely continue to heat up in light of BMW’s withdrawal,” he told the Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

Lense has made no secret of where he sits on the issue and was quoted earlier this year, stating that Mercedes might get better use out of its money by dedicating its resources to other projects. He did not, however, specify what those projects might be.

After BMW made its decision to pull from the series after the 2009 season, Mercedes reiterated its commitment to F1. A spokesman for the company said that BMW’s decision, “does not have any influence on our Formula One engagement.”

Currently Mercedes supplies engines to the McLaren racing team as well as the Force India and Brawn GP teams.

[Source: F1-Live.com]

Daimler has just announced that it has reached an agreement with Tesla Motors Inc., that will see the German automaker gain a 10 percent stake in the California-based electric car maker.

Along with an undisclosed amount of money the agreement will help forge a partnership between the two companies as they work to bring electric vehicles to market in increasingly high numbers.

Tesla has already been working with Daimler to equip 1,000 SMART fortwo models with lithium-ion batteries for use in special test projects in Berlin and Italy. Daimler also plans to introduce an electric Mercedes vehicle by 2010.

As for Tesla, it will gain the engineering, production and supply chain expertise available at Daimler in order to move the upcoming Tesla Model S into production by 2011.

“Our strategic partnership is an important step to accelerate the commercialization of electric drives globally,” said Dr. Thomas Weber, the board member at Daimler responsible for research and development. “As a young and dynamic company, Tesla stands for visionary power and pioneering spirit. Together with Daimler’s 120 years of experience in the automotive sector this collaboration is a unique combination of two companies’ strengths. This mark another important milestone in Daimler’s strategy for sustainable mobility.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was equally as enthusiastic about the future partnership saying Daimler is on the “leading edge of sustainable mobility.”

“Daimler has set the benchmark for engineering excellence and vehicle quality for more than a century,” said Musk. “It is an honor and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Daimler would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla.”

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