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Buick Electra E5 interior debuts with a 30-inch, 6K OLED display

After a Chinese ministry outed the Electra E5 two months ago, Buick China officially revealed the exterior about a month ago. Now it's time for the five-seat battery-electric crossover's interior. Buick's first ride on the Ultium platform not only looks good, it's full of tech. Those aspects come together in the cabin's biggest lure to the eye, the Virtual Cockpit and its 30-inch EyeMax curved LCD screen. The manufacturer says that in addition to 6K resolution, the screen can display one billion colors — a chromatic range that every mantis shrimp with a driver's license will appreciate. The tech continues in premium touches like the 12.6-inch heads-up display, 121 colors of ambient lighting, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless phone charging. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip provides faster processing, enables 5G connectivity, and can manage OTA updates for multiple in-car modules simultaneously. Comparing the Electra E5 interior to our flagship Enclave Avenir, it's easy to make connections in the design language. Still, there's no question the Electra represents a big evolution. The steering wheel design, sculpted seat bolsters, and floating headrests are edging toward racy. The arbitrary curves that create layers of instruments in the Enclave are gone, the Electra using each input zone naturally carve out its own space on the IP. And with Buick describing this as a large mid-sizer, the floating center console gives front occupants plenty of cubby room, rear passengers enjoying the 40.5 inches of rear legroom. Remember, this sits on the same wheelbase as the imminent 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, but stretches about two inches longer in overall length. The Buick's materials are expected to make an upgrade as well, with micro-perforated leather, soft-touch plastics, and brushed aluminum accents. The Electra E5 should hit the Chinese market before the middle of the year. There's a version coming for the U.S., expected to arrive in time for the 2024 model year. We're not sure how much of what we see here will carry over. We know we're looking for something more potent than the 241-horsepower, single-motor powertrain which is the only one we've heard about for the Chinese-market Electra E5 so far. But assuming it is as nice as it looks, that cabin can come as-is. Related video:

Buick Century attracts 15,000 bees searching for new hive

By most accounts, the fifth-generation Buick Century isn't considered a desirable place to live. For a swarm of 15,000 bees, however, the lure of the front-drive A-body proved irresistible, much to the chagrin of the car's Las Cruces, N.M. owner. The unidentified man had gone shopping in an Albertson's grocery store, returned to his car, placed his purchases in the car, and began driving away. Then he noticed that something was, according to the New York Times, "amiss." The Buick owner called 911, which dispatched the Las Cruces Fire Department to the scene. Luckily, one firefighter and paramedic in the brigade, Jesse Johnson, is a hobbyist beekeeper. Though he was off duty at the time, Johnson sprung into action and arrived at the Buick with equipment to transfer the bees safely, including an empty hive box, a beekeeper's outfit and lemongrass oil, which mimics the scent of the queen. Johnson told the Times that bee colonies will often split in springtime, with a swarm following a queen to search for a new home. Apparently, the partially open window of a 1982-96 Buick Century looked like an inviting, perhaps temporary, location as the bees relocated. Johnson removed 3.5 pounds' worth of bees in a span of less than a half hour. He is rehabitating the bees at his home, where he maintains other hives. “IÂ’ll do anything to keep people from killing the bees,” Johnson told the Times. He also explained that when bees swarm like this, they are typically pretty docile. Amazingly, the Buick owner was only in the store for 10 minutes, the paper reports. Johnson believes the bees came from a nearby neighborhood. Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident. One Albertson's security guard was stung, according to the Las Cruces Fire Department, and another firefighter was stung on the lip. For the record, the Las Cruces Fire Department says they don't routinely handle bees. It was just fortunate that Johnson was around. It's not clear if the bees would have flocked to a similar era Chevy Celebrity or Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. Related Video:

Buick Velite Plug-In Hybrid Concept debuts to little fanfare

Buick pulled the covers off its latest Velite Concept at the Auto Guangzhou 2016 show in China. We say latest because this is actually the second time Buick has used the Velite name for a concept, the previous having been shown at the 2004 New York Auto Show. The first Velite concept was a two-door convertible; the second Velite is a four-door crossover. Enough about the name, what about the concept? Well, it's very highly stylized, and we don't really mean that in a good way. There's nothing about the Velite that screams Buick, except for its badges, of course. At the front is a compressed version of Buick's traditional waterfall-like fascia. It's flanked by slit-like LED lighting elements. The rest of the face looks to our eyes like it draws inspiration from the latest Toyota Prius. There isn't a single flat element to the Velite Concept's bodysides, in a way that resembles recent concepts from Infiniti. The last bit of styling flourish are deep recesses just ahead of the rear wheels, a look that is reminiscent of BMW's i-series of vehicles. There aren't any images showing the Velite's hind quarters, but from what we can see, that also has a QX-ish look about it. There are no shots yet of the Velite's interior, but Buick says it's "elegant" and "includes recycled materials." We wish we could see what it looks like, because the automaker says it "[points] to design trends for upcoming new energy vehicles." So, the Buick Velite Concept is a nondescript mashup of design elements that we've already seen. Under the skin, however, things are more interesting. It's a plug-in hybrid with a modular lithium ion battery. That doesn't tell us much – it could be a variant of the Chevy Volt, or it could be a different system altogether. We look forward to finding out. In the meantime, have a look at the high-res image gallery up above. Oh, and if you're wondering, the word velite traces its roots back to a lightly armored military division in ancient Rome. Related Video: