Photo: Daimler AG
The smart fortwo has never been a “do-it-all” kind of car for obvious reasons, most of them revolving around the fact that we're talking about one of the smallest production cars on the planet.
Daimler doesn't seem to agree necessarily, so the tiny fortwo has just become a parcel drop-off point in Germany, sort of.
Currently in beta stage, the so-called “smart ready to drop” is an innovative project born out of smart's in-house think tank, a newly established branch that was implemented “to accelerate the development and implementation of creative urban mobility projects.”
In layman terms, the “smart ready to drop” is a project that transforms the lilliputian smart fortwo into a delivery drop-off point to make online shopping even easier than it already is.
As a cooperation between DHL Paket and smart, the project will enable parcels to be safely delivered straight to the trunk of your car instead of your house. For the moment, only seven German cities will take place in the beta test, and all the smart owners that want to participate will need to have their cars retrofitted with a so-called Connectivity Box at the dealership.
Starting this fall, a smart fortwo ready to edition will come equipped with the tech by default, along with some other standard features.
In short, the DHL delivery drivers will be given one-time keyless access to the trunk of the drop-off car through a special smartphone app, which was developed by smart. After making an online transaction and placing an order, the smart customer generates a transaction number in the app and enters it in the “c/o” field of the delivery address. All he or she has to do then is to park their car near their home address and await delivery of the ordered goods.
“'smart ready to drop' is the beginning of our next drive to further enhance the quality of urban life," said smart boss Dr Annette Winkler. “This is our way of staying true to our pioneering role in urban mobility. A lot of other services that make city life easier are also in the works.”
smart owners who live in Stuttgart, Cologne, Bonne or Berlin and are interested in taking part in the project can apply from September 2016. More information is available from https://www.smart.com/de/de/index/ready-to-drop.html (German language). They should keep in mind that, for the time being, only the current and previous generations of the smart fortwo can be retrofitted with the Connectivity Box, along with the current forfour.
Currently in beta stage, the so-called “smart ready to drop” is an innovative project born out of smart's in-house think tank, a newly established branch that was implemented “to accelerate the development and implementation of creative urban mobility projects.”
In layman terms, the “smart ready to drop” is a project that transforms the lilliputian smart fortwo into a delivery drop-off point to make online shopping even easier than it already is.
As a cooperation between DHL Paket and smart, the project will enable parcels to be safely delivered straight to the trunk of your car instead of your house. For the moment, only seven German cities will take place in the beta test, and all the smart owners that want to participate will need to have their cars retrofitted with a so-called Connectivity Box at the dealership.
Starting this fall, a smart fortwo ready to edition will come equipped with the tech by default, along with some other standard features.
In short, the DHL delivery drivers will be given one-time keyless access to the trunk of the drop-off car through a special smartphone app, which was developed by smart. After making an online transaction and placing an order, the smart customer generates a transaction number in the app and enters it in the “c/o” field of the delivery address. All he or she has to do then is to park their car near their home address and await delivery of the ordered goods.
“'smart ready to drop' is the beginning of our next drive to further enhance the quality of urban life," said smart boss Dr Annette Winkler. “This is our way of staying true to our pioneering role in urban mobility. A lot of other services that make city life easier are also in the works.”
smart owners who live in Stuttgart, Cologne, Bonne or Berlin and are interested in taking part in the project can apply from September 2016. More information is available from https://www.smart.com/de/de/index/ready-to-drop.html (German language). They should keep in mind that, for the time being, only the current and previous generations of the smart fortwo can be retrofitted with the Connectivity Box, along with the current forfour.
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