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Take a close look at the guts of the Chevy Volt battery, powertrain

Just how intimate would you like to get with the powertrain in a Chevy Volt? If you're anything like YouTube user d55guy, then spending a half hour filming yourself taking apart the battery pack, motor, inverter and more for a look inside sounds like your idea of fun. After all, this way you get to see the cooling system, the heavy safety kill switch and count up the individual cells in the battery modules. Fun! Turns out, we also enjoy languidly paced Volt dissection video goodness, and we think you might want to see it as well. So, we've embedded two videos below and if you don't have a better understanding of how the Volt is put together after watching them, well, at least you can't say we never tried to show you anything. Given that what's really happening here is the organized 'destruction' of an expensive and potentially dangerous object, let's talk safety. There's a serious disclaimer at the beginning of the videos and on the YouTube description page, but we feel the need to repeat the gist of it here: do not try this at home. The creator of the video says he is a trained engineer and has been doing things like this "for the better part of a decade," so he apparently knows what he's doing. With that in mind, watch it all below. When you're done seeing the insides of a Volt powertrain up close, if you need more filmed EV dissection/destruction, check out this video designed for first responders approaching a damaged Tesla Model S. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM's European Opel division may eventually go all-electric

General Motors' Opel division in Europe may transform itself into an all-electric vehicle maker by 2030. Granted, a lot can happen between now and then, including a potential buyout by French automaker PSA Group. Regardless, Opel appears to view its electric future beyond the Ampera-e, which is the sister vehicle to the Chevrolet Bolt, and more like Tesla. Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann indicated that focusing on electric drivetrains would be a superior strategy to expanding its EV technology while pushing forward with conventional drivetrains, says Automotive News Europe, citing comments Neumann made to German publication Manager Magazin. General Motors could make the decision to move towards an all-electric vehicle line for Opel as soon as May. Of course, that depends on whether Opel is bought out by PSA, the parent country to Peugeot and Citroen. PSA is in talks to buy General Motors' Opel and Vauxhall divisions, though government and labor representatives in Germany have expressed concerns over potential job losses from the proposed buyout, Reuters says. Regardless, GM has hinted at expanding its electric-vehicle line far beyond the Bolt, which has a 238-mile single-charge range and debuted late last year. Mary Barra, in an interview with CNET, said the Bolt's all-electric platform could be applied to a "huge range of vehicles," though wasn't specific about additional EV models. Opel first showed off its Ampera-e at the Paris Motor Show last fall. The name of the model raised some eyebrows because the Ampera badge had been previously used by Opel for the sister version of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in. Either way, Opel is looking to take on Renault for electric-vehicle sales supremacy across the Pond. Related Video:

Autoblog's top 50 car photos of 2016

This one shouldn't need much explanation. We like cars a whole lot, and that includes not just driving them but taking great pictures of them. We've collected our 50 favorite images from this year in the mega-gallery above. It's a mix of old and new, with a healthy dose of vintage and modern race cars mixed in, and not one single shot under the harsh lights of an auto show. So click through and enjoy. Featured Gallery Autoblog's Top 50 Photos of 2016 View 50 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Autoblog.com Audi BMW Chevrolet Dodge Ferrari Ford Lamborghini Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Volvo Convertible Coupe Motorcycle Luxury Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars Classics