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Safety group pans GM’s new Marketplace in-dash shopping

When it comes to our cars, is the Internet of Things a godsend? Or a hidden menace that will create more problems than it will solve? On the same day General Motors announced it will equip newer-model cars with its in-dash Marketplace e-commerce app, a prominent safety group was shooting it down. National Safety Council President Deborah Hersman tells Bloomberg the technology will only contribute to distracted driving and hurt efforts to stem the tide of rising auto fatalities, which grew 5.6 percent to more than 37,000 in the U.S. in 2016. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says distracted driving was responsible for 3,477 fatalities and 391,000 injuries in 2015, the most recent year for which it has data. "There's nothing about this that's safe," Hersman told Bloomberg. "If this is why they want WiFi in the car, we're going to see fatality numbers go up even higher than they are now." Marketplace, developed with IBM, will allow drivers — or more often, one hopes, their passengers — to order coffee or food, find gas stations and reserve hotel rooms from their dashboard screens. The technology is set to be uploaded automatically to nearly 1.9 million GM vehicles model-year 2017 and later that are equipped with WiFi hotspots and compatible systems. By the end of 2018, about 4 million Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles will be equipped with Marketplace. The app will debut with a limited number of participating retailers, including TGI Fridays, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Starbucks, with more likely to join later. Online retail giant Amazon is also partnering with automakers such as Ford to bring e-commerce capabilities inside the car through its Alexa personal assistant. While convenience is nice, one other thing is becoming clear as the IoT wedges its way into our cars: It's taking aim at some decidedly first-world problems.Related Video: Image Credit: GM Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC Technology Infotainment in-car entertainment marketplace e-commerce

2024 GMC Sierra EV revealed with 754 horsepower, 400 miles of range

This is the 2024 GMC Sierra EV in all its Denali Edition 1 glory. You probably knew this was coming. After all, when Chevrolet debuts a new pickup, the GMC version of said truck is typically quick to follow. That’s exactly the case here yet again as the Sierra EV follows the somewhat recent debut of the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV. Per usual, the Chevy and GMC versions of the electric truck share a lot of similarities. TheyÂ’re also different in many of the same ways weÂ’re accustomed to within the GM pickup family. The biggest differentiator is design. If the Silverado EV wasnÂ’t your cup of tea, perhaps the Sierra EV is! Just like the Silverado EV, the Sierra rides on GMÂ’s Ultium platform. ItÂ’s being offered exclusively in Crew Cab form at launch. GMC designers emphasized its upright stance and proportions as typical truck styling. However, close examination will show a lot of curved edges and a focus on aerodynamics to achieve a lower coefficient of drag. The front grille is devoid of any flashy patterns, as GMC has opted to go for the shield aesthetic. Light is heavily used to bring a flash of design to the face — the whole grille features a light-up surround. A three-bar charging status indicator can be seen on the front end, and engineers intentionally mounted the headlights lower in the front fascia than usual. For the Denali Edition 1 (the only version of the Sierra EV available at market launch), all of the exterior trim is done in glossy black, except for the areas you might step on, which are finished in a flat black. The rear features GMCÂ’s MultiPro tailgate, and just like the Silverado EV, the Sierra EV comes with the fancy MidGate. GMC calls it the “MultiPro MidGate,” but itÂ’s the same tech used here as youÂ’ll see in the Silverado EV. With the MidGate down, you get nine feet of storage between the cab and the tailgate. Storage can extend out to 11 feet if you use the MultiPro tailgateÂ’s stopper feature with the tailgate down. Also, the MidGate can be folded with a 60/40 split, so you can get that extra length and still retain some backseat passenger room. All of the powertrain and battery tech is similar to the Silverado EV. That means you get a pair of electric motors for all-wheel drive capability with a combined output of 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. YouÂ’ll need to be in “Max Power Mode” (we know, much less exciting than WTF mode in the Hummer EV) to realize all that power.

GMC Syclone pickup returns via Special Vehicle Engineering

The original GMC Syclone was a 1991 mid-size Sonoma pickup turned muscle truck. Its heavily modified 4.3-liter V6 sported a turbocharger, intercooler, and modified internals, raising output to a Corvette-baiting 280 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. The engine was paired with a four-speed automatic, rear-biased all-wheel drive, and four-wheel antilock brakes (the coming thing). With an all-black livery and a lowered ride height, the Syclone looked the business, and backed up those looks with a 0-to-60 time of 4.3 seconds and a 13.4-second quarter-mile, according to contemporary magazine testing. Given all the recent interest in high-performance pickups, it's amazing that GMC hasn't revived the Syclone. But where manufacturers leave an opening, the aftermarket steps in — in this case that's Specialty Vehicle Engineering, which as CNET reports is resurrecting the nameplate for a build of 100 new Syclones, based on the GMC Canyon, which will update the idea a lot more horsepower. The 2019 Syclone takes as its starting point the extended-cab version of the Canyon. The engine is again a V6, this time a 3.6-liter fitted with a supercharger and a custom cat-back exhaust system, upping output to 455 ponies from the stock 306. SVE's Syclone can be had with rear- or all-wheel drive, and it, too, features upgrades to the brakes and chassis. Six-piston front calipers are fitted in place of the standard four-piston units, and the slotted front rotors are upsized from 12.2 inches to 13.6. The suspension is lowered by two inches up front and five inches at the rear, with stiffer traction bars, bushings, dampers, and a heftier rear anti-roll bar. Unlike the original, the modern Syclone can be had in colors other than black — any of the standard Canyon hues are available — but the appearance is customized with rocker-panel extensions, body-color grille and rear bumper, and a composite hood insert. The interior gets embroidered logos and badges, including a numbered plaque on the dash. The price for the Syclone is $39,995 — that's for the package, on top of the cost of the truck. But at least ordering is easy: The Syclone package can be ordered through select GMC dealers.