Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept Heads to Frankfurt

Ahead of its world debut on September 15 at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Toyota today released the first official photograph of the new Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept. While Toyota did not disclose any specific information on the car, the Japanese automaker said that in early 2010, more than 150 units of the plug-in version of the Prius will be leased to selected fleet customers as part of an extensive field trial in Europe.

The automaker's main objective with the road-test project that will also be deployed in Japan as well as in the USA is to investigate and further evaluate the technology and performance of plug-in hybrids in real life conditions.

We'll have more details on the plug-in Prius concept car closer to the Frankfurt Show opening.

Lexus LF-Ch: Premium Hatchback Concept with Hybrid Drive Revealed

In the run up to the official debut of the LF-Ch concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show and only a couple of weeks after the release of a teaser drawing, Lexus issued a single photograph of the premium hatchback that is believed to spawn a production model as early as 2010. The five-door hatch targets the C-segment premium market with rivals such as the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series.

"The LF-Ch combines stylish design and full hybrid technology in a practical 5-door compact package to fulfill the needs of the most demanding premium compact segment customers," said Lexus in a statement.

The concept model uses the Japanese firm's Lexus Hybrid Drive and according to the automaker, it benefits from an electric-only driving capability. But that's about all that Lexus will reveal until for now. More detailed information and a full set of photos are expected to go online on September 10 2009.