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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:

2015 Chevrolet Trax

After the obligatory product presentation for the 2015 Trax, I caught up with Steve Majoros, Chevrolet's director of marketing for crossovers and cars, and asked him to elaborate on which markets his planners believe will be the hot starters for this tiny CUV. Without much hesitation, Majoros began to click off traditional sales havens for Subaru, namely, New England and the snowy bits of the East Coast, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. That news might not surprise you, but it did me. Perhaps it's something as basic as the Trax's tall-hatchback looks, or the emphasis Chevrolet put on the urban driving cycle during my test in San Diego. But before my chat with Majoros, I'd considered this a crossover pointed at the Millennial city mouse more than his bumpkin cousin. But a closer look had me re-examining the granola cred of Chevy's smallest crossover. Having spent my fair share of time in New England and around New Englanders, I started by mentally listing the Trax's Subaru-like traits: practicality, thrift, all-weather ability and, well, just a dash of ugliness. (I suppose a hatchback needn't always be ugly to sell in Maine, or Boulder or Portland... but a 'distinctive' face doesn't seem to hurt.) After a day of driving through sunny San Diego and its surroundings, I can say that Trax makes an interesting case for itself against the standard bearers of the L.L. Bean set, but I'm less sure of its argument for young urbanites. The Trax looks a lot like an Equinox whose suit shrunk in the wash. Chevy's has downsized its own, rather conservative crossover styling to fit the proportions of the subcompact Trax; to my eyes, it looks a lot like an Equinox whose suit shrunk in the wash. That's fine for offering a cohesive look for the Chevy family of crossovers, but it seems out of step with the rest of the segment. If the Trax's current competitive set were the cast of a high school-based TV show, the Kia Soul would play the lovable nerd, the Nissan Juke perhaps the outsider musician and the Subaru XV Crosstrek the athletic outdoorsy kid. Chevy may see the Trax as the hipster chick wearing intentionally ironic mom jeans, but to me the styling is a little too on the nose; more like an actual grownup trying to hang with the kids. These mom jeans are genuine. Per my earlier point, that quasi-conservative look may be just fast enough for staid New Englanders, but I have a hard time seeing the bluff, big-Bowtied front end playing in Bushwick or Wicker Park.

Chevy Corvette Stingray "colorizer" lets you chase the rainbow

After you've convinced your better half to let you buy a new Corvette, then comes the hard part... actually figuring out which 'Vette you want. While Chevrolet has yet to release the official configurator for the 2014 Corvette Stingray, it did give us something else to kill some time playing around with.
The C7 Corvette "colorizer" recently went online, and it lets you look at the car in all of its available colors and wheel options from four different angles so that when this car does go on sale, you know exactly which one you want. It includes the Corvette's full pallet of colors including Torch Red, Laguna Blue and the hue you see above, Velocity Yellow. Toss in the black wheels, and we're sold. If you have some time this afternoon, be sure to check it out the Corvette colorizer for yourself, and even if you don't have the time, we've put together a gallery with all of the possible color combinations.