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RCA team helps develop all-electric London taxi proposal

The Royal College of Art's Vehicle Design program and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design have collaboratedwith Turkish car manufacturer Karsan to develop a proposal for the first all-electric London taxi. An RCA team – co-led by Professor Dale Harrow and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design's deputy director Rama Gheerawo – has been working with Karsan and its consultancy Hexagon Studio for over a year and to develop a public transport vehicle to suit Londoners of all ages and abilities. The team analyzed a current London taxi in a ‘co-creation workshop' and conducted interviews with taxi drivers, which showed many are over 65 and frequently spend the entire working day inside their cabs.

Toyota Hybrid-R Concept – a Yaris with 400bhp – teased for Frankfurt

The Toyota Hybrid-R Concept (pictured) is a 400bhp Yaris Hybrid heading for Frankfurt We’ve always believed that the best use for hybrid powertrains is to get extra performance without the penalty of increased fuel consumption. Toyota, on the other hand, have primarily used their impressive – if complicated and expensive – hybrid powertrains to yield improved economy and emissions from more prosaic cars like the Prius, Yaris and Auris. But now it looks like Toyota are ready to show us what hybrid technology can offer in the way of performance too, with a tease for what Toyota are calling the Hybrid-R Concept, which appears to be a Yaris with more than 400bhp on tap.

Maserati Ghibli

Maserati has unveiled the first images of the 2013 Ghibli ahead of its official debut next week at the Shanghai Auto Show. While the Ghibli badge has previously been reserved for coupés – both Giugiaro's 1967 original and Gandini's Biturbo-based 1992 Ghibli II – this is a four-door sports sedan to sit below the larger Quattroporte revealed in January at the North American International Auto Show. It's the first time the carmaker has built a car for the E-segment since the 1994 Quattroporte IV and is set to challenge high end of the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-series in AMG and M5 guises respectively.