1992 Volvo 240 Station Wagon Black 276000 Miles Tagged To Nov 2014 on 2040-cars

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Your guide to vehicle subscription services

They might be extremely limited in scope because of location availability, but vehicle subscription services are a growing trend that most luxury manufacturers are jumping on. Plans are expensive, but you're paying for much more than just the car typically. We highlighted four of the larger plans with a few more listed at the end. Care by Volvo Volvo launched its subscription service last year with its brand-new XC40. It was the only vehicle available for a time, but subscribers can now get an S60 sedan as well. Subscriptions are for two years, with the monthly price including insurance, a concierge service, wear-and-tear item replacements and all maintenance. You'll be able to drive 15,000 miles per year with whichever Volvo you choose, and although there are no options to extend that mileage, you can swap cars after a year. Pricing for the XC40 is $650 per month in base trim, while an S60 can be as expensive as $850 for the R-Design. Volvo's plan is to offer more cars soon through the service, but it's relatively limited compared to others right now. Porsche Passport Porsche has two levels in its subscription service: Launch and Accelerate. Launch will cost $2,000 per month and give you access to the Cayman, Boxster, Macan and Cayenne. All of those but the Cayenne can be had in "S" trim as well. Accelerate is where the fun really starts. For $3,000 per month you can choose from a fleet of 911s, including the S, 4S, Cabriolet and Cabriolet S. If those aren't enough, you can also get the Panamera 4S, Macan GTS and Cayenne S. There are no mileage limits and you can change vehicles as often as you'd like. Also included in the price is insurance, repairs, detailing and any maintenance. It might be extremely expensive and limited to Atlanta only, but this subscription service is second-to-none for what you get. Audi Select Audi just launched its subscription car service, and it's offered in one version for a flat fee of $1,395 per month. For that you'll have access to five different cars including the A4, S5 Coupe, A5 Cabriolet, Q5, and Q7. Not a bad range of vehicles, but it would've been neat to see the recently updated A7 in there too. Maybe in time. Like the others, insurance and maintenance are wrapped up in the price. Audi is allowing for unlimited miles and two car swaps per month here. In addition to that, you'll get two days of free rentals through Audi's Silvercar rental agency should you go on a trip.

Tina Fey sits down with Seinfeld for new CiCGC

Recently Jerry Seinfeld went out for a videotaped cup of coffee with Jay Leno in a vintage Gmund Porsche. Switching coasts and cars, this time New York's own son returns to his city for a jaunt in a 1967 Volvo 1800S with fellow New Yorker Tina Fey for the latest episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
The trip takes them uptown to Cuban coffee shop Floridita in Harlem, then back downtown to a pastry shop. On the way, Jerry calls out a photo shoot for using a fake Porsche, and Fey admits she doesn't have a driver's license. Driving cars, she says, "is like Twitter to me." Which she also doesn't do - she lasted seven tweets in 2009.
You can check out the episode below as they go in search of coffee, the rare guanabana/soursop juice, Jerry's even more elusive product placement and the last Cronut in NYC.

Volvo Car partners with Northvolt to develop and produce batteries

STOCKHOLM — Volvo Car Group, owned by China's Geely Holding, announced plans on Monday for a joint venture with Swedish battery maker Northvolt to develop sustainable batteries for its electric cars and set up a factory for production. The companies aim to set up a research and development center in Sweden to begin operations in 2022 and start a factory in Europe with a potential capacity to produce up to 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year in 2026. "Working closely with Northvolt will also allow us to strengthen our in-house development capabilities," said Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive at Volvo Car Group. Northvolt will become Volvo Cars' exclusive battery cell production partner in Europe. The factory will be powered by clean energy and is expected to employ around 3,000 people. The location of the plant has yet to be decided. Northvolt raised $2.75 billion in equity this month to expand capacity at the factory it is building in northern Sweden, and Volvo plans to source battery cells from that battery plant starting in 2024. German carmaker Volkswagen is Northvolt's biggest shareholder, and the battery maker has also got contracts worth billions from the likes of BMW and Scania. Battery makers are scrambling to keep up with demand as carmakers switch to electric in order to reduce planet-warming carbon emissions. Volvo Cars aims to sell 50% pure electric cars by the middle of this decade, and by 2030 it aims to sell only fully electric cars. Electric successor to Volvo's XC60 model will be the first car to feature battery cells developed through the joint venture.