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2014 European Car of the Year finalists revealed. Could the Mercedes S-Class win?

Could the 2014 Mercedes S-Class (pictured) win the Car of the Year? We’re at the end of 2013, so the time has arrived to take a look at the finalists for the 2014 European Car of the Year award. In the last few years, despite Europe producing some of the most impressive luxury and performance cars on the planet, the Car of the Year Award has gone to much more prosaic machinery.

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.

Toyota Prius plug-in hits UK

The Toyota Prius plug-in arrives in the UK The next step in the Toyota Prius story is the plug-in Prius, which adds some Lithium-Ion batteries to the mix and the ability to plug the Prius in to the mains to get a usable kick-start to your day’s motoring, with an electric only range of up to 12.5 miles – around double the range a regular Prius can manage when fully charged. Toyota announced plans to get 500 Prius Plug-in Hybrids on the roads in 2010 back in September last year to evaluate their real-world performance before the plug-in gets a proper release – probably in 2012. Toyota are leasing 20 of the Prius plug-ins to a handful of public and private businesses in London as part of their plan to develop the Prius plug-in, and reduce the company’s overall CO2 levels – something which is sadly required by legislation.