If there is something more trendy than hybrids in the automotive world that should be the range extended electric vehicles. They seem to combine all the advantages of an electric car (quiet, clean, good acceleration, ease of use etc) without the risk of stuck in the middle of nowhere with empty batteries or wait some hours from then to charge when in hurry. Audi has already show 2 'e-tron' concepts but the 3rd one, this A1 e-tron is the most realistic and also the most clever. It is basically an electric vehicle, powered by an array of Li-ion batteries but there is a small internal combustion engine in the back and it is a one-rotor Wankel unit!.

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Jotto Caspita even if largely unknown is probably the most famous Japanese supercar. It was conceived from Jiotto Design inc. of Japan, a new then design studio and was developed by Dome, one of the most experienced engineering and motorsport companies in Japan. The Caspita would compete with the other supercars of that era in a market that was peaked and ready to collapse.

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This is Porsche's first hybrid racing car. It is based on the latest GT3 R but under the bodywork has some significant changes. Instead of batteries it has a big flywheel for storing energy and the electric motors are separated from the engine and they drive the front axle. Read below for a more detailed overview.

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The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has underway a huge program for land vehicles, light, medium and heavy trucks. In the small category, Lightweight and Light Capability (LLC) the Mercedes G-Wagen is selected. The version that the ADF will buy is using the direct injection 3.0lt V6 Turbo diesel that many MB cars, SUV and commercial vehicles use. There will be different versions of the G-Wagen, a 4WD station wagon, 4WD and 6WD cargo, 6WD dual cab truck and special operations 6WD surveillance and reconnaissance vehicle.

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The new Renault Wind is a small 2-seat convertible small roadster. It is based mechanically on Twingo (itself a derivative of the Clio 2 platform) and it has a very original retractable hard-top. It will be officially presented at the forthcoming Geneva motorshow and it is not a concept car but a production model.

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After many years of service with almost every brand in the Ford group the modular 5-cylinder Volvo engine is replaced from an all new one. It has the quite descriptive name GTDi that stands for Gasoline Turbo Direct Injection. Its first iteration has a capacity of 2.0lt and 203hp of power. It has 4 cylinders and it will be launched under the hood of the S80, V70 and XC60. The new engine has all the state of the art features like direct injection and variable timing camshafts but there is also a world first, a two wall sheet steel outlet manifold that houses also the turbo.

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The new Ferrari Formula 1 car is called F10 and these are its first photos from the webcast of its unveiling. No deep analysis can be done from these first images but one can see the overall design of the car without the details and from what we can see the main areas of interest of F10's design are the wheelbase, the nosecone and the radiator covers.

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Bimota may have a rough time the last decade with financial problems and ownership changes but its future looks now promising. This is the new Moto2 race bike that will compete in this year's championship. Moto2 is a prototype class with a common engine supplied by Honda for all teams (sourced from the CBR600RR). It will replace the GP250 two-strokes and it will slot just below MotoGP class. With the exception of V-Due, Bimota always built bikes with engines from other manufacturers and Moto2 seems a perfect match.

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Supasse-V is a new sports car from the small (and largely unknown outside Japan) company Suzusho. It is a very high-tech effort and a very big step from the kit Lotus-7 clones that Suzusho is currently sells. The Supasse-V is similar in concept with the Lotus Exige. It uses a direct injection turbocharged 2.3lt Mazda engine (from Mazda 3/6 MPS) and has an aluminum frame.

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