The (YouTube) Hits Keep Coming: OK Go Teams With Chevy for New Video

It must be exhausting to be OK Go. The band set the bar extremely high for themselves (and eventually everyone) with their single “A Million Ways” and its accompanying video, which featured endearingly dorky, high-energy choreography. They kept building buzz with their next video for the song “Here It Goes Again,” which once again featured synchronized dance moves, this time on treadmills. The video went everywhere due to the low-budget and endlessly novel nature of the video. The success of that single firmly established the band as Internet darlings and each successive video confirms that status.

In their latest video, for the song “Needing/Getting,” OK Go is featured in what amounts to an extended commercial for Chevrolet. In the ad, the band turns the entire Chevy Sonic car into an instrument. As the car weaves its way through an obstacle course, it hits piano keys and blue plastic tubs. The band members add to those notes with thumps on the doors and knocks on the windows, while recording equipment captures it all. The result is a mesmerizing car commercial — and an all-around great music video — which in and of itself is pretty innovative.

MORE: Ferris Bueller Trades a Ferrari for a Honda CR-V in Super Bowl Ad

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GM Adds Solar Array to Chevy Volt Assembly Plant

May 13, 2011 at 10:27am by Alexander Stoklosa

General Motors is adding a 264,000-square-foot solar array to its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, the facility where it assembles the Chevrolet Volt. While the move clearly showers the Volt’s assembly process with the same warm and fuzzy environmental consciousness exuded by the Volt itself, the solar array also makes keen financial sense, according to GM. Unlike your tiny studio apartment and its $30-a-month electricity bill, the Hamtramck plant’s utility bill is a bit more expensive. GM claims the electricity produced by the solar array will save them $15,000 per year when combined with automated equipment shutdown and other energy-conservation tactics. Oddly, GM also mentions that a recent change to energy-efficient lighting and a few other efficiency tactics will net the plant almost $3 million in energy savings per year, which kind of takes the air out of the solar-array balloon.

The solar array will be installed on a tract of land that abuts the south side of the plant. Given Michigan’s location in the northern hemisphere, the southern exposure affords the solar panels maximum daily sunlight. GM isn’t going it alone in the process of installing the solar panels—Detroit Edison (DTE) is investing $3 million in the solar array as part of an ongoing initiative to proliferate solar setups on the roofs and grounds of private buildings in Southeast Michigan. It isn’t out of the kindness of DTE’s heart; the arrays can feed energy back into the grid, offering the utility another source for juice and easing demands. The array will join other environmentally friendly features already in place at the plant, including an oxidizer that scrubs carbon-dioxide output, the aforementioned energy-efficient lighting, and a 16.5-acre wildlife habitat. Your move, Leaf assembly plant.

Tags: Chevrolet Volt, environment, General Motors |

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Chevy Salutes U.S. Troops with Honor and Valor Edition Camaro SS, Expands Military Discount Program

May 4, 2011 at 5:16pm by Steve Siler

In honor of National Military Appreciation Month, General Motors has announced that it will expand the military discount it currently gives to active service members. For the month of May, the discount will be available to retirees of all branches of the U.S. armed forces, as well as spouses. The discount applies to most Buick, GMC, and Chevrolet models, and chops from $500 to $4000 off the vehicle’s MSRP.

Folks who buy or lease Chevrolets through the program this month can get a fancy, dealer-installed “Honor” badge affixed to their new vehicle, a distinct upgrade from a flat yellow-ribbon magnet slapped on the trunk. Chevrolet also states that it will donate $100 for each person who takes advantage of the discounts to Cell Phones for Soldiers, a nonprofit group that helps military members on deployment call home for free.

The best news, however, is the announcement of a 99-car run of limited-edition 2012 “Honor and Valor” Camaro SS coupes. Available in Victory Red, Summit White, or black (what, no blue?), the Honor and Valor Camaro gets a uniquely painted body kit, a white body stripe, black leather seats, and of course, the aforementioned Honor badge, in addition to the rumbling, American-as-it-can-get 6.2-liter V-8 with a choice of manual or automatic transmission. (We say get the manual, as it hooks to the 426-hp LS3 in place of automatic models’ 400-horse L99.) The Honor and Valor Camaro will officially debut at Indy 500 military personnel parade on May 28, but is available to order now at www.gmmilitarydiscount.com.

Tags: Chevrolet, Chevrolet Camaro SS, military |

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Callaway Supercharges Chevy Pickups and SUVs to Create SportTrucks

April 22, 2011 at 1:06pm by David Gluckman

Callaway, known for building hotted-up Camaros and Corvettes, has assembled a package to be applied to Chevy’s trucks and sport-utes. Callaway will build a SportTruck from any Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500HD, Avalanche, Tahoe, or Suburban with a gas engine. The package is the same for each, and tops the engine with an Eaton TVS supercharger not unlike the ones GM uses on the Corvette ZR1 and Cadillac CTS-V. Regardless of engine—5.3-liter, 6.0-liter, 6.2-liter—the cost is $15,995 to upgrade any two- or four-wheel-drive pickup or SUV.

The package comes in strength-defined names based on how much power results from the supercharging. Trucks with the 5.3-liter V-8 are called SC450, as the engine’s output is raised to 450 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, up from the stock 315 hp and 335 or so lb-ft (the output for all of these engines varies from model to model). The 6.0 is christened SC490, with output of  490 hp and 496 lb-ft, up from around 350 and 380. The top-dog SC540 supercharges the 6.2-liter V-8 to 540 hp and 522 lb-ft from stock levels of 403 and 417. The supercharger is accompanied underhood by an intercooler, higher-flow injectors, carbon-fiber injector covers, and a Callaway high-flow intake. A low-restriction Callaway exhaust also is fitted.

Along with the engine upgrades, Callaway dresses up the exterior with subtle badging and adds embroidered headrests and floor mats inside. Additional options include wheel-and-tire packages, upgraded brakes (chef recommends), suspension upgrades, and a sport interior package. Callaway includes a three-year/36,000-mile limited warranty that can be extended to five years/100,000 miles. The trucks and SUVs can be ordered at participating Chevy dealers and are modified at one of Callaway’s U.S. facilities.

Tags: Callaway, Callaway SportTruck, Chevrolet, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Silverado HD, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe |

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Callaway Supercharges Chevy Pickups and SUVs to Create SportTrucks

April 22, 2011 at 1:06pm by David Gluckman

Callaway, known for building hotted-up Camaros and Corvettes, has assembled a package to be applied to Chevy’s trucks and sport-utes. Callaway will build a SportTruck from any Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500HD, Avalanche, Tahoe, or Suburban with a gas engine. The package is the same for each, and tops the engine with an Eaton TVS supercharger not unlike the ones GM uses on the Corvette ZR1 and Cadillac CTS-V. Regardless of engine—5.3-liter, 6.0-liter, 6.2-liter—the cost is $15,995 to upgrade any two- or four-wheel-drive pickup or SUV.

The package comes in strength-defined names based on how much power results from the supercharging. Trucks with the 5.3-liter V-8 are called SC450, as the engine’s output is raised to 450 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, up from the stock 315 hp and 335 or so lb-ft (the output for all of these engines varies from model to model). The 6.0 is christened SC490, with output of  490 hp and 496 lb-ft, up from around 350 and 380. The top-dog SC540 supercharges the 6.2-liter V-8 to 540 hp and 522 lb-ft from stock levels of 403 and 417. The supercharger is accompanied underhood by an intercooler, higher-flow injectors, carbon-fiber injector covers, and a Callaway high-flow intake. A low-restriction Callaway exhaust also is fitted.

Along with the engine upgrades, Callaway dresses up the exterior with subtle badging and adds embroidered headrests and floor mats inside. Additional options include wheel-and-tire packages, upgraded brakes (chef recommends), suspension upgrades, and a sport interior package. Callaway includes a three-year/36,000-mile limited warranty that can be extended to five years/100,000 miles. The trucks and SUVs can be ordered at participating Chevy dealers and are modified at one of Callaway’s U.S. facilities.

Tags: Callaway, Callaway SportTruck, Chevrolet, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Silverado HD, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe |

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