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Mercedes Vision S500 Plug In Hybrid (2009)

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 11 September 2009 09:55 This is Mercedes’ latest Vision concept car, the S500 Plug-in Hybrid, and it will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show next week alongside an electric version of the company's new SLS supercar. Based on the current-gen but pre-facelift S-class the S500 Plug-in Hybrid achieves over 88mpg but only emits 74g/km, and the company claims the car demonstrates 'the future of Mercedes' modular set of hybrid systems.' All next-gen S-classes are expected to get stop/start technology as standard, while full hybrid and plug-in hybrids will also be offered. Merc is claiming that its S500 Plug-in Hybrid is the world’s first 'three-litre' limo, offering 88.3mpg (or 3.2l/100km), figures that shame the Lexus LS600h (30.4mpg), BMW’s 7 ActiveHybrid (29.1) and even the company’s own S400 Hybrid (35.8).

Nissan BladeGlider EV Sports Car Concept for Tokyo Motor Show

The Nissan BladeGlider EV Sports Car Concept (pictured) will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show Nissan are trying to push the envelope for road-going electric cars with the BladeGlider electric car concept that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show this month and looks – at least in some form – to be heading for production. Inspired by the aero industry – and taking inspiration from Nissan’s DeltWing Project – the BladeGlider gets a very narrow front track and a much wider rear, wrapped in carbon fibre reinforced plastic with an interior that offers a 1+2 seating arrangement. Nissan say the extremely narrow front track reduces drag and enhances manoeuvrability for extreme cornering, and its 30/70 rear-biased weight distribution could give plenty of tail-out fun.

Citroen DS3 at Frankfurt

  Citroen will be bringing the new DS3 to Frankfurt The DS3 – a MINI competitor – is the first model in Citroen’s DS range, designed to be an upmarket range of cars based on their more prosaic ‘C’ siblings. We can expect to see the Citroen DS4 in 2011 and the bigger Citroen DS5 in 2012. The DS3 is based on the new Citroen C3 – which will itself only be launched in November – and is slightly larger all round than the MINI.