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April Fools' Day brings Jeep Sedan, Hyundai N Roadster, Toyota Yaris pickup and more

There is one day out of the year when public relations professionals have permission to lie to journalists and to the public: April Fools' Day. Manufacturers release details about wild, weird and wacky new technology, concept vehicles and services. Some take it to obvious outlandish extremes (Jeep Sedan anybody?), while others plot to mislead with products that are just outside the realm of possibility. Check out all the "jokes" below. BMW Motorrad BMW doesn't want to exclude anybody from experiencing the thrill of high-level racing, so it is introducing 'iRace" autonomous programming on its S 1000 RR sport bike. It includes beginner, sportsman, advanced and unlimited driving modes, and stores GPS information for all Superbike world championship tracks. Hyundai Hyundai is wrong for this. The Hyundai N Roadster is the work of South Korean designer Yeonjoon Park and features a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, rear-wheel drive and a hard convertible top. Hyundai says this is a "concept (for now)," but we think it'd make a seriously great Mazda Miata competitor. Honda Honda wins the award for the best interactive gimmick, as its press release for the '90s-inspired special-edition Pastport includes a live hotline number with a message from Fred Savage. Call 1-833-PASTPORT for more information. Jeep Put the Jeep Cherokee face on the Chrysler 300's body, and voila! The 2019 Jeep Sedan is born. We can't decide if the name or the rendering is better. Land Rover Accessibility to charging ports is of major concern to anybody with a plug-in vehicle. So, with the recent launch of the Range Rover P400e and Range Rover Sport P400e, Land Rover is putting forth an effort to install more stations around the globe. First up is Scotland's Isle of Skye. Adventurers need juice too! Lexus Australia Lexus expands its Encore service to include doggos. The new service, called Enpaw, will take pups to luxury boarding kennels in style. Toyota U.S. Toyota created the Yaris Adventure pickup for "those who want to tell their friends they own a truck but never veer off pavement." It's part Mazda 2, part RAV4, 100 percent ute and it looks ... great? Creating a new segment might be all fun and games to Toyota, but Ford is reportedly considering a Focus-based ute in a similar, albeit larger, style. Toyota Australia Toyota is launching a new HiAce van, and it's already getting a limited-edition variant called the PieAce.

US buyers show little interest in big hybrids

The idea of producing large, luxury-vehicle hybrids is turning into a "what were they thinking?" exercise in futility, USA Today reports. General Motors is discontinuing hybrid versions of the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs, while Mercedes-Benz and Toyota's Lexus division are doing the same with their S-Class hybrid and LS hybrid sedans, respectively. The culprit? Big price increases for fuel economy improvements that border on the unimpressive. Granted, the Escalade hybrid gets 31 percent better fuel economy than the standard version, but that still maps out to a combined fuel-efficiency rating of just 21 miles per gallon. That can be seen as a worthwhile increase, if it didn't cost over $8,000 extra. The 2014 Escalade Hybrid, for example, starts at $74,425 while the non-hybrid can be had for $66,295. Meanwhile, the Lexus full-size hybrid costs $6,000 more than the regular version but only gets 1-2 mpg better combined fuel economy. The result of all these high costs? Low sales. Through April, GM sold 82 of its hybrid SUVs and pickups, down from 541 a year earlier. And the LS hybrid sales were in single-digit territory for April. That isn't stopping Lexus from promoting its hybrids as the right solution (with the wrong facts), though. There are still automakers giving big hybrid vehicles a shot, though. Nissan's Infiniti division is selling a hybrid version of its QX60 and says an impressive 10 percent of QX60 buyers choose the hybrid, which costs just $3,000 more. Looks like money talks. Featured Gallery 2015 Cadillac Escalade: First Drive View 35 Photos News Source: USA TodayImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Brandon Turkus / AOL Green Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Hybrid lexus ls gmc yukon mercedes-benz s-class infiniti qx60 chevrolet tahoe

Recharge Wrap-up: Formula E gets more power, Tesla outsells competition

Tesla sold significantly more electric vehicles than its competitors in 2015. Tesla delivered 50,580 vehicles in 2015. 208 of those were its new Model X SUV, and likely half of its Model S units were sold in the US. By comparison, Nissan sold 17,269 Leafs. For General Motors, through the end of November, Cadillac sold 1,024 ELRs, while Chevrolet sold 15,393 Volts and 2,477 Spark EVs. Ford sold similar numbers of its plug-in vehicles in 2015, compared to Nissan and GM, putting each of those automakers between 17,000 and 19,000 EVs. By comparison, Tesla had quite a year. Read more at Teslarati. Lexus is teasing an "unprecedented" world premiere at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. The automaker is rumored to debut its LC 500, powered by a 465-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8, as well as the LC 500h using a hybrid powertrain consisting of a V6 engine and electric motor. The LC 500h is rumored to produce over 470 horsepower. The Lexus LC will be based on the LF-LC concept that debuted in Detroit in 2012. Lexus has set up a dedicated microsite for its presentation at the Detroit show on January 11. Read more from Hybrid Cars. Formula E will raise its power limit for its third season. According to the newly published FIA Formula E 2016 Technical Regulations, output will be boosted from a maximum 200 kW (268 horsepower) to 250 kW (335 horsepower). While race energy will still be limited to 28 kWh, the battery weight limit has been raised from 200 kilograms (441 pounds) to 230 kilograms (507 pounds), likely to help accommodate the higher output. Meanwhile, overall car weight drops from 888 kilograms (1958 pounds) to 880 kilograms (1940 pounds). Lighter, more powerful cars should make the next season of Formula E even more exciting. Read more at Current E. Related Gallery Lexus LF-LC Concept: Detroit 2012 View 11 Photos News Source: Telsarati, Hybrid Cars, Lexus, Current E, FIA Formula EImage Credit: Formula E Green Motorsports Detroit Auto Show Lexus Tesla Electric Hybrid recharge wrapup