smarter traveling, driving and spending
Getting smart: The first plug-in electric Smartfortwo minicar has been delivered to customers in Berlin, close to the Stuttgart home of its parent company, Mercedes-Benz. The first two owners — an artist and a dental technology company executive — currently own the regular gas-powered Smartfortwo. The compact two-seater is the first emission-free vehicle in the world with
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The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa in Beaver Creek is the first hotel in Colorado to earn the important Silver status of LEED Certification. How difficult is it to get this green travel award? Only nine hotels in the U.S. have earned it, including the Westin Riverfront, which opened early in 2009. To celebrate this
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BMW is unveiling a fully-electric compact coupe at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2010. The concept BMW 1-Series prototype is called the Concept ActiveE. The BMW 1-Series electric concept will have lithium ion batteries, and the packs are placed in the spot a conventional drive train would be in a conventional gas or diesel BMW. Here’s a teaser video:
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Missed connections, misplaced or damaged luggage, an unexpected accident or illness in the family before or during a trip, a strike or work stoppage by airline or train workers, even forgetting your passport for departure or losing it en route — these are all reasons you should not leave home without travel insurance, travel medical insurance,
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Winter driving requires more space between you and the vehicle ahead, more attention to changeable road conditions, more attention to the speedometer, and more time to get to your destination safely. Winter driving also requires less speed on icy or slick roadways, less dependence on technology like anti-lock brakes and traction control, and less trust
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Stay at any of the Kimpton Hotels and help The Nature Conservancy save the rainforest, one tree at a time. That’s the goal of a new partnership between the eco-friendly hotel chain and the environmental group, which has an ambitious Plant a Billion Trees campaign to re-forest and protect 30 million acres of forest in
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The Mercedes-Benz F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell car gets its U. S. debut at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in December. It’s a compact four-door hatchback, built on the B-Class platform which is popular in Europe and Asia, but Mercedes has not yet brought it to North America. The Mercedes F-Cell boasts the equivalent fuel mileage
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The zero-emission plug-in electric Nissan LEAF has started its 22-city North America to eleven U. S. states and one Canadian province. The five-passenger Nissan LEAF goes on sale late in 2010 as a 2011 model, and Nissan won’t even begin taking orders until spring 2010, so this multi-city preview is a great way to introduce the
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The fastest growing segment on the road today is not hybrids or flex-fuel vehicles, crossovers or performance sport sedans. It is drivers 65 and older. According to the according to the American Automobile Association, there are 29 million older drivers on the road today. We all age differently, so it is important to recognize how
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The Mitsubishi MiEV plug-in electric car is not on sale yet in the U.S. yet, but I got the chance to test drive a prototype recently, and loved every minute. I wish you could have seen the smile on my face or heard me giggle as I steered the Mitsubishi MiEV in tight circles around and around
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