British cops get increasingly environmentally friendly. First, London Metropolitan Police has bought 117 brand new Honda Civic Hybrids, and now guys at Wiltshire Constabulary are looking forward to get their hands on yet another bunch of hybrids. Only this time, these are going to be the latest Lexus GS 450h luxury performance sedans, costing about $60,000 a piece.

Wiltshire has placed its order after a successful trial of the Lexus RX 400h by Hampshire Police, WorldCarFans.com is reporting.

The Lexus GS 450h, which features a hybrid powertrain, consisting of a standard 3.5-liter V6 and a permanent-magnet electric auxiliary motor. Working together, these powerplants produce a total of 341 hp of maximum power and let the LS 450h accelerate from zero to 62 mph in just 5.9 seconds.

A vehicle sold in Hungray called the Kenguru is designed so a person using a wheelchair can easily enter the vehicle. Cool Hunter explains:

The car’s interior space has no front seat - just a space built to house the driver’s own wheelchair so all he/she has to do is simply roll in through the extra large car doors and into position. The wheelchair locks into place, within easy reach of the car’s controls which are centred around a joystick. It’s light years away from the current options for disabled drivers, which involve having to hoist themselves into the driver’s seat of standard cars.

A comment on Boing Boing’s entry for the car says it is not a concept car and can actually be purchased in Hungary. The 19th Floor is concerned the vehicle could easily be crushed and wonders where the passenger would sit.

Mitsubishi has created a Hello Kitty car called Princess Kitty. It is just a vehicle created as part of a promotion and not a new line of Hello Kitty vehicles. Autoblog explains how the Hello Kitty design is apparent on both the outside and the inside of the car.

The Princess Kitty is finished in pink, with matching paint applied to the wheels. The Hello Kitty trademark ribbon logo is applied to the front doors and roof, while the rear doors get a “Princess Kitty” graphic with the lovable cartoon character’s face. The back window also gets a large Hello Kitty face decal. The sideview mirrors feature Hello Kitty’s face in relief.

Inside, occupants rest on pink-and-white striped seatcovers adorned with the “Princess kitty” logo. The headrest covers are the shape of Hello Kitty’s head, complete with ribbon on the left ear. It may be the friendliest-looking kei car ever made.

It is friendly looking and it would definitely get the driver noticed. Autoblog has more photographs of the car and close-ups of the inside and the vehicle’s cat-shaped seats. Autoblog also has a link to the Happy Drive website which is part of the Hello Kitty campaign for Mitsubishi. You can see Hello Kitty dancing on the website if you follow one of the links on the bottom right. The website also includes Hello Kitty commercials.

Obvio has announced that its colorful microcars, the 828 and 012, are headed to the U.S. The gas-ethanol powered vehicles will be distributed by Zap, which has purchased 50,000 microcars from Obvio. Electric powered versions are planned as well.

OBVIO said that gas-ethanol engines would power the initial versions of its 828 and 012 microcar designs, planned for production in 2007. But the 828E and 012E equipped with advanced electric drive systems will not be far behind, says OBVIO ! President Ricardo Machado, who announced he would export the electric cars to North America.

“It is clear to me that electricity has a big future in the auto industry,” said Machado. “OBVIO !’s business model of 100 percent outsourced supplier relationships allows for the speed and flexibility to incorporate a new drive system powered by electricity by our second model year.”

Machado says there are several suppliers that are negotiating to provide electric drive systems for the 828E and 012E. Targeting a price of $49,000 and $59,000 respectively, the cars will have plenty of power, capable of reaching a top speed exceeding 120 mph for a range of up to 200-240 miles per charge.

The Obvio website has the 828 specs and the 012 specs as well as photographs for each vehicle. The inside of the 828 looks very, very orange but the electric cars should still be popular in green-friendly California. The 012 is a much sportier and sleeker looking vehicle.