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Why does Chevy want to trademark Camaro Krypton?

The Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang have the type of long-lived rivalry that is often found in the pages of comic books. Is the Camaro the Kryptonite to the Mustang's Superman, though? We might get to find out soon, if two recent trademark filings are any hints. On May 5, General Motors filed trademarks in the US for both Krypton and Camaro Krypton (not pictured above). While the move seemed potentially timed with the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice next year, engineer Al Oppenheiser shot that theory down to The Detroit Free Press. "I think that's just Internet buzz, which is great," he said to the newspaper about the alleged connection. "It's another thing about this segment of cars: there's always Internet buzz." Rather than a special edition connected to next the superhero film, Oppenheiser speculated something else. "Sometimes when we come up with a new color in our studios, they just apply [for a trademark] in case we ever use it," he said to The Detroit Free Press. "We never said we're going to do anything with that color." Still, as Superman's home planet and part of the name for the mineral that can harm him, Krypton undoubtedly has a superhero connection. To maintain the link to the comics, such a color would likely be a shade of green. Although, depending on the depiction in the books, the exact hue can vary between bright neon and a darker tone. Related Video:

Ford Police Interceptors dominate Michigan State Police testing

Once again, Ford Motor Company builds the fastest police vehicles. The Blue Oval touted the news in an official release following Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testing. Ford did very well. Except for one acceleration metric – zero to 10 miles per hour – the Blue Oval's Taurus and Explorer-based cop cars were the quickest, with particular praise coming for the EcoBoost-powered models, which bested Chevrolet and Dodge's V8-powered variants. Dearborn's products also posted the fastest average times around MSP's vehicle dynamics course. But it wasn't all positive for Ford. The only four-cylinder in the contest, the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost Ford SSP Sedan, had both the lowest top speed, 120 mph, and the slowest acceleration figures. It was also the slowest in track testing. Ford's products also failed to match the braking and top speeds of its rivals from Detroit and Auburn Hills – the rear-drive Charger Pursuit posted the best braking stats of the entire test, while the V8-powered Chevrolet Caprice hit the highest top speed, at 155 mph. Ford did score a top speed award, among SUVs, but at 132 mph, the naturally aspirated Police Interceptor Utility had to share its award with the equally fast, rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe. The LA County Sheriff's timing isn't publicly available, but according to Ford, the EcoBoost-powered police cars put on a similarly impressive show for cops on the West Coast. We've assembled a spreadsheet on Google Docs that offers an easy to browse comparison of the different stats assembled by the Michigan State Police, and divided the vehicles between standard V6-powered sedans, high-performance sedans (EcoBoost and V8 models), and SUVs. You can check it out here. Related Video:

Chevy ramps up development of Bolt EV

The Bolt is on the move, and Chevy confirmed Wednesday it is testing more than 50 prototypes as it prepares to launch the electric vehicle in 2017. We've already seen the photographic evidence in these spy shots, but Chevy released its own images and the above video as further proof that the EV remains on track toward production. Chevy revealed the Bolt as a concept in January at the Detroit Auto Show, promising a range of 200 miles on electricity with a price tag of about $30,000 after possible incentives. The prototypes are being hand-built and tested at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, and other global locations. "Effectively these are the bones of the car that's going to be the production Chevy Bolt," said Josh Tavel, the car's chief engineer. Chevy is testing the Bolt in all areas of vehicle competence, including ride and handling dynamics, cabin comfort, quietness, charging capability, and energy efficiency. More than 1,000 engineers are working on the program. "We really wanted to convey the notion that this is running fast. It's happening," said Pam Fletcher, GM's executive chief engineer of electrified vehicles. The Bolt will be built at GM's Orion Assembly plant north of Detroit and sold in all 50 states. It's part of the automaker's electric car blitz that includes the plugin hybrid Volt, the traditional (non-plugin) Malibu hybrid, and confirmation of plans to expand sales of the Spark EV to Canada and Maryland. Related Video: