2005 Corvette Coupe! Mag-red Heads-up Bose Htd-sts Xenons Targa Only 15k Miles on 2040-cars

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Chevy Bolt, GM's 200-mile EV, could debut in Detroit

It's not news that General Motors is working on a $30,000 electric vehicle with a 200-mile range. Then-CEO Dan Akerson said as much back in 2013. What we've heard before is that this mystery EV will be based on the Chevrolet Sonic and will will arrive in 2017. So, if that's all correct, then it would make sense that confirmation of this plan would come at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, which is just around the corner. And lookee here... The Wall Street Journal is reporting that GM will unveil a concept Chevy Bolt at the Detroit show on Monday. That name sure makes sense, too, since GM registered that trademark back in August. According to the Journal, the rumored numbers – 200-mile range, $30,000 price – are still what's expected. Some new purported details are that the battery will come from LG Chem, which also makes the Volt's batteries, and that the Bolt will be a crossover that could be sold around the world. This all smacks of a preemptive strike against the Tesla Model 3, which is also due around 2017. Currently, GM sells the Spark EV in limited areas of the US, despite a lot of excitement for wider availability. To sell a 200-mile EV for $30,000 means that GM and LG Chem will likely have drastically reduced the cost of making a big plug-in vehicle battery. What this means for the new Volt and GM's future plans is something we're more than a little excited about to learn more of on Monday, the same day that we get to see the redesigned Chevy Volt for the first time. Well, aside from the CES teaser. Green Chevrolet Crossover Electric 2015 Detroit Auto Show Chevy Bolt bolt

New Corvette Feature Keeps An Eye On Valets

Face it. If you own a luxury or sports car, whenever you hand the keys to a valet, you imagine the car going on a high-speed joyride like the Ferrari in the 1980s cult movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Now, General Motors has an option on the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette that takes those worries away. The latest version of the sports car, due out in September, has a feature that records where the car goes with a camera mounted in the windshield trim. It also captures audio in the cabin as well as speed, engine revolutions per minute, gear position and G-force. That all helps the car tattle on any valet who doesn't take a slow, direct route to a parking space. GM says it's the most extensive attempt by an automaker to thwart valet joyriders, although it's not the first. The automotive website Edmunds.com says Hyundai and Mercedes offer "geofencing," a feature that sets a perimeter and then notifies the owner's smart phone if a car goes beyond it. Chrysler has a valet mode that caps engine speed and horsepower, while Audi lets owners limit engine speed for valets. With the Corvette, once the owner activates the feature with a four-digit code, the touch screen tells the driver it's in Valet Mode. But it doesn't warn the valet that he's being recorded. The feature also locks the glove box and a storage compartment in the dashboard and shuts down the infotainment system. Valet Mode started off as a performance data recorder for those who take their Corvettes on the racetrack. GM engineers quickly figured out that it had more uses. "Think of it as a baby monitor for your car," Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles said in a statement. "Anyone who has felt apprehension about handing over their keys will appreciate the peace of mind of knowing exactly what happened while their baby was out of sight." Data and video from the valet mode can be viewed instantly by the owner on the car's 8-inch color screen when the car is parked, or it can be downloaded to a computer. The system could go into more mainstream models if feedback is good on the Corvette, GM spokesman Monte Doran said. The feature is paired with a navigation system and costs $1,795. A 2015 Corvette starts at just under $54,000. Chevrolet Technology Gadgets

Plug In 2014: VIA makes the case for 'free' plug-in hybrid work vans, trucks

If you're a fleet manager who's been waiting anxiously for the chance to buy a plug-in hybrid van from Via Motors, your wait is almost over. If you work for the right fleet, anyway. David West, the chief marketing efficer for VIA Motors, took AutoblogGreen for a ride around the San Jose Convention Center in a Via van sporting an Electric Blue paint job as part of the Plug In 2014 Conference this week and gave us an update on how things are coming along. The big news is that the Via PHEV van production is going to start by the end of September. Via can currently build two vans an hour at its production plant in Mexico, or about 16 a day and could easily double that. "That would get us to 20,000 a year with two full lines running," West said. "We have the capacity." "There is no way gas can compete with electric." – David West, Via Motors But they can't sell that many quite yet. By the end of December, around 350 Vans will be made, mostly for a $20-million program from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District that will see the vehicles used by fleets that will report energy data to the Idaho National Lab. Via is also finishing up CARB certification for both the van and the company's plug-in hybrid pick-up truck. About 50 percent of Via's technology in the truck will not need to be tested again, since it's the same as what's in the van, but things like crash tests will need to be done twice. Despite the progress, this is not where Via hoped it would be today. The bankruptcy of battery supplier A123, "took about a year off our timeline," West said. "It's been getting a little slow getting it to market, there have been some challenges, particuarly since we had the country's worst recession right in the middle of this wrap up, but it's inevitable in my mind. There is no way gas can compete with electric." Maybe that's why FedEx has expressed an interest in buying around 5,000 units, West said. FedEx already has some pilot vehicles, just like Verizon does, and PG&E wants to replace all of their gas trucks with electric vehicles, which would be another 3,000 sales, he said. Besides the fuel savings, vehicles like these, with easy on-site power generation, could also work wonders in post-disaster situations, he said, since they could replace the need for generators.