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World Car of the Year finalists announced

To say the 2014 Geneva Motor Show was packed full of news is an understatement as big as the show's home at the Palexpo convention center. Despite everything that we were able to cover during this year's show, there's still more coming out of Switzerland, including the announcement of the finalists for the 2014 World Car of the Year Awards.
We reported on the original list of finalists over three weeks ago, and now, that initial list has been pared down to three finalists for each of the five awards. The finalists were announced at a press conference by frequent Autoblog contributor and co-chair of the awards, Matt Davis (above).
The finalists for the overall title of 2014 World Car of the Year are the Audi A3, the BMW 4 Series and the Mazda3. The World Luxury Car of the Year will be either the Bentley Flying Spur, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, while the Performance Car of the Year will be awarded to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Ferrari 458 Speciale or the Porsche 911 GT3 (which, um, yeah...).

Well hello, Carice, you Porsche-aping EV cutie

Ah, the joy that comes open-air motoring with the in your hair and the roar of the exhaust behind you. Well, maybe not as much anymore. In recent years, vehicles like the Tesla Roadster have made the concept of the electric sports car palatable. Now, Dutch automaker Carice is following suit with a classically inspired EV speedster called the MK1. The MK1 clearly wears its design inspiration on its sleeve. It would be difficult to look at this styling and not immediately see a Porsche 356 Speedster; It has the same upside-down bathtub shape with big round headlights and likely the tiniest taillights on a production car in years. The Carice is also clearly meant for fair weather motoring because there's no top, just a tonneau cover to protect the interior from the rain while it's sitting. One thing that the Dutch company is definitely getting right is the weight. It claims that the MK1 weighs a dainty 772 pounds, including the battery pack. The low weight doesn't mean the MK1 is going to be lighting quick, though. It's being offered with a choice of three electric motors with 5 horsepower (for 16-year-old drivers in the Netherlands), 20 hp or 53 hp, and there are two sizes of battery pack. Buyers can also opt for a range-extending internal combustion engine. The 53-hp motor allows for a top speed of 62 miles per hour and a 124-mile range with the larger battery. Carice says its also willing to fit larger batteries or more power motors, at the buyer's expense, of course. Carice plans to build an initial production run of 10 cars with prices starting at 22,000 euros, before Dutch taxes (about $30,000). The company hasn't released a press release about the MK1, but you can learn more about speedster on its website; it's in Dutch, though. Featured Gallery Carice MK1 View 9 Photos News Source: Carice Cars Porsche Convertible Electric Performance electric sports car porsche speedster

Porsche Cayenne shows a bit more face, plug-in spotted

Porsche was first rumored to be working on a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Cayenne over a year ago. However, we had never seen it, until now. The new model was caught almost completely undisguised while testing. In another stroke of luck, we got a glimpse of the upcoming facelift for Porsche's SUV (pictured above) as well.
According to the spy shooter, it was windy during the cars' cold weather testing. The cover blew off of the facelifted Cayenne, and there was enough time to snap these pictures before it could be hidden again. The changes are all quite minor but jive with what we saw the last time it was spied. The rear still wears some cladding but is expected to be hiding lights similar to the Macan.
The second gallery shows off the upcoming Cayenne PHEV. It looks nearly identical to the standard model, except for the extra panel on the driver's side of the car that hides the electric port. One image even shows the car plugged in. The new version is expected to use the same supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and 9.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack with a combined 416 horsepower and 435 pound-feet of torque from the Panamera S E-Hybrid. We enjoyed the system when we tested it last year. It's rumored to debut on the SUV sometime this year.