The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hosted the first public showing of the FIA Formula E race car this week. The series, which kicks off in this September in Beijing, will feature 10 teams compete for the championship on city courses throughout the world, with the cars powered entirely be electric motors.

The Spark-Renault SRT_01E was piloted by Lucas di Grassi, Formula E’s official Test Driver, and sounded like a big electric R/C car – which it effectively was. Qualcomm, the series’ Founding and Technology Partner, hosted the Vegas event.

For the first year of the series, teams will get identical (spec) cars, though the championship will revert to an open concept in pursuant years with the idea being that competition breeds innovation in battery design and manufacture.

The two U.S. stops on the calendar will include Miami and Los Angeles, and the first season is due to conclude in June of 2015. Each team will have two drivers and two cars for a field of 20 cars. As an interesting tidbit, one of the teams, Venturi Grand Prix, is backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.

The one-hour practice and the four-lap qualifying sessions will let the cars use the full 200kW (270hp) power outputs, while the race will be restricted to a power-saving mode where just 133kW (180 horsepower ) will be available. Drivers will get a push-to-pass button as seen in the past in Formula 1 that unlocks the full might of the motor for brief periods of time.

Each team will have two drivers and two cars and two pit stops will be mandatory over the course of the roughly one-hour races. Practice, qualifying, and the race will take one day as to minimize the disruption to the host city and its residents. Speeds are said to reach as much as 140 mph on the city circuits. The individual teams will develop their own batteries, which have a capacity of 30kW/h, though thanks to the car’s regenerative properties, that can go up to 33kW/h, according to series founder and CEO Alejandro Agag.

A leak has prematurely revealed Chrysler’s all-new 2015 200 sedan ahead of its scheduled debut next week at the Detroit Motor Show. Aimed at the heart of the competitive mid-size segment, the 200 is a monumentally important car for Chrysler.

The images confirm the new 200 will arrive with sleek, four-door coupe styling that clearly draws inspiration from the Audi A7, especially in its greenhouse. We also see a bit of Tesla Model S in the overall shape.

Inside, it’s impossible to miss the 200′s new center console, which boasts a gear knob cribbed from the Ram pickup plus a slanted center console. The model our spies nabbed is likely a mid-level trim, since it lacks the large 8.4″ uConnect touchscreen seen elsewhere in Chrysler’s lineup. The climate control switchgear is shared with other Chrysler products and the 200 boasts an electronic parking brake for the first time ever.

Most 200 variants will come standard with a Dodge Dart-sourced Tigershark 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 184 horsepower and 173 lb-ft. of torque, but buyers will be able to order an optional 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 that churns out 295 ponies and 262 lb-ft. of torque. Both engines will be bolted to a nine-speed automatic transmission that debuted in the new Jeep Cherokee, and both front- and all-wheel drive will be offered.

Leaked documents reveal the most efficient 200 will return 35 mpg on the highway.

Following its debut in Detroit next week, the 200 will land in Chrysler dealerships later this year as a 2015 model. It will reportedly start at $21,700 before a $995 destination charge is factored in.

Other Variants and Body Styles

The 200 Convertible’s future is said to be in jeopardy, but Chrysler essentially owns the large front-wheel-drive non-sporty convertible segment so it’s possible the droptop will make it into a fourth generation.

And what about the Dodge Avenger? Its nameplate is expected to be dropped after the 2014 model year, but a new midsize Dodge version of the 200 has reportedly been given the green light.

Finally, a Lancia-badged variant of the 200 will be distributed across Europe. Details are not available but we wouldn’t be surprised to see the yet-unnamed car bow at next March’s Geneva Motor Show.

Volvo has unveiled the Concept XC Coupé ahead of its scheduled debut at next week’s Detroit Motor Show. The three-door crossover is billed as the second in a series of three concepts designed to preview the Swedish firm’s next design language.

Its front end clearly borrows styling cues such as an aggressive bumper, an elegant radiator grille with floating horizontal slats and T-shaped headlights from the Concept Coupé that bowed in Frankfurt last September. Overall, the tall coupe’s silhouette bears more than a passing resemblance to the defunct C30 compact.

Inside, the Concept XC Coupé offers four individual seats and a long center console that stretches the length of the passenger compartment. The car is equipped with the next generation of Volvo’s infotainment technology.

What lurks under the show car’s hood was not revealed but it is likely powered by an evolution of the 400-horsepower gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain that powered the aforementioned Concept Coupé. Volvo has confirmed it rides on its new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform.

What’s Next?
Volvo’s latest concept accurately previews the second-gen XC90 that will greet the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show next March. Although the crossover will launch with four doors, the Concept XC Coupé could signal the arrival of a sportier two-door model aimed at a younger target audience.

The Government Accountability Office raised new concerns this week that automaker may be collecting and storing information from on-board navigations systems without customers’ knowledge.

It should come as no surprise that automakers collect vehicle location data to supply drivers with service like turn-by-turn directions and traffic information, but some might be shocked to learn that there is no set policy outlining how much of that data can be collected and for how long it may be kept. Moreover, the GAO’s report found, “If companies retained data, they did not allow consumers to request that their data be deleted, which is a recommended practice.”

The GAO reviewed data collection by the Detroit Three, Toyota, Honda and Nissan and found that there was no evidence of security breaches or information sales to third parties, but the government group expressed concerns that location data could be used to “track where consumers are, which can in turn be used to steal their identity, stalk them or monitor them without their knowledge. In addition, location data can be used to infer other sensitive information about individuals such as their religious affiliation or political activities.”

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., chairman of the judiciary committee on privacy that requested the report, said that more needs to be done in order to safeguard consumers.

“Modern technology now allows drivers to get turn-by-turn directions in a matter of seconds, but our privacy laws haven’t kept pace with these enormous advances,” Franken said, according to The Detroit News. “Companies providing in-car location services are taking their customers’ privacy seriously — but this report shows that Minnesotans and people across the country need much more information about how the data are being collected, what they’re being used for, and how they’re being shared with third parties.”

No companies disclosed to the GAO how long location information is kept, but a contractor that works with some of the companies involved said that information is retained for up to seven years. Some companies reportedly keep that information indefinitely, although the data is de-identified before it is stored.

General Motors’ hot streak in China continued in 2013 with the Detroit-based automaker setting yet another annual sales record.

GM announced on Tuesday that it delivered a record-setting 3,160,377 vehicles in China last year, beating 2012′s final tally by 11.4 percent. When averaged over the entire year, GM sold a vehicle every 10 seconds in China during 2013.

“GM maintained good growth momentum in our company’s largest market, despite a modest slowdown in demand for commercial vehicles,” said Matt Tsien, President of GM China. “We benefited from a broad portfolio of models and brands that are meeting the diverse needs of vehicle buyers across China.”

GM’s Buick brand had a banner year in China, with the division racking up 809,918 sales. Vehicles from Chevrolet also proved to be in hot demand last year, with the bow tie brand recording 652,077 deliveries, up 8.5 percent from 2012.

GM’s Cadillac brand still trails luxury brands like Audi and Mercedes-Benz in China, but the marque posted sales of 50,005 units last year, marking a 66.6 percent improvement over 2012.

GM expects to carry its 2013 momentum into 2014 as it adds new factories and expands its dealer network.

“We expect vehicle sales to remain robust in 2014, driven by ongoing strong demand across China for personal four-wheel transportation,” said Tsien. “GM will further expand our lineup of vehicles and services to remain in step with our customers nationwide.”