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Lexus HS250h unveiled at Detroit auto show 2009

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 12 January 2009 13:47 Lexus showed off its latest hybrid car at this week’s Detroit auto show 2009: the new HS250h. The new combination of letters and numbers confirm this is a new additional petrol-electric hybrid to sit alongside the existing models such as the GS450h, RX450h and LS600h. It’s shorter than, but as wide as, the Lexus IS and is in the compact executive mould.

Win a signed sketch of the Renault Dezir concept

The new October 2010 issue of CAR Magazine features a beautiful shoot of Renault’s new Dezir, a rear-wheel drive electric supercar concept that will be unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show. And CAR’s editor Phil McNamara has been to Paris early, for an audience with Renault’s design director Laurens van den Acker, and to see the stunning Dezir in the metal. It’s the first of six concept cars from Renault, before we see the new van den Acker-led design language appear on the Clio 4 in 18 months time.

Toyota tests chips that improve hybrid efficiency by 10 percent

Toyota announced on Tuesday that it has developed a new semiconductor, claiming it can boost fuel efficiency in hybrid cars by an impressive 10 percent. The semiconductors manage the flow of electricity through the power-control unit that connects the battery to an electric or hybrid car's motor and generator. The newly developed semiconductors are said to consume only a tenth of the energy of today's chips, while allowing the power-control unit to be 80 percent smaller.