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Proton Going Hybrid?

Italdesign Giugiaro, working with the Malaysian automaker Proton, is creating a new design for a family of small, hybrid cars. The first prototypes, known as the 5porte and the Country, will be shown at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show.

Conceived as a low-impact city car, the four-seat 5porte claims to offer the same interior space as a D-segment car with the footprint of an A-segment car. The floor of the car has been raised to fit the hybrid drivetrain's batteries beneath it and the seats have been placed at the same level as an average person's hips to make entry and exit as easy as possible.

The plug-in hybrid system employs an electric motor powered by either the lithium-ion battery or an onboard 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine designed by Lotus to work as a generator running on gasoline, ethanol or methanol (click here to hear an explanation oh how hybrid cars work). Like the Chevy Volt, the gasoline engine never directly powers the wheels, they are powered by the electric motor only through a one-speed transmission. When not in use, the car can be plugged into any wall outlet to charge the battery, though the car's range before the generator kicks on hasn't been announced yet.