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Audi RS 4 Avant police car joins Australian police force

The impulse to reach out to a community using the appeal of cool cars has led police departments around the world to add some rather unusual vehicles to their motor pools, from an Ariel Atom in the U.K. to a Lamborghini Gallardo in Los Angeles and, of course, the comically opulent Dubai Police fleet.

Compared to many of those cars, the Audi RS 4 Avant almost seems like a sensible choice (it is a station wagon, after all). One of these über-wagons recently joined the Lake Illawarra Local Area Command (LAC) of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia.

The RS 4 Avant will be used by the police for a year, on a unique assignment. It will be used to highlight the police’s involvement in community and youth engagement programs, and to generally give the service a more friendly, approachable air. The car’s livery was even designed through a poll on Facebook.

Officials hope the car will “encourage people of all ages to introduce themselves to local police,” and help “start a conversation,” Superintendent Wayne Starling, Commander of the Lake Illawarra LAC, said in a statement.

That means Australian speed freaks can rest easy, because this particular performance car won’t be used for pursuit duty. With a 4.2-liter V8 producing 459 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, the RS 4 Avant would probably be pretty good at that. Audi says it can do 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, and reach a top speed of 174 mph.

This version of the RS 4 isn’t long for this world. Audi is planning a new version based on the redesigned 2016 A4 that should debut sometime after that model. While there have been rumors that the RS 4 will ditch its naturally-aspirated V8 for a smaller turbocharged engine, nothing has been confirmed yet.

The next RS 4 Avant could also be the first version of the wagon sold in the U.S. Audi previously offered the RS 4 here, but only as a sedan.

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Front three quarter view of the 2023 BMW i7.

The BMW 7 Series has been the venerable German automaker’s flagship for more than 40 years, but with its latest redesign, BMW is taking things in a new — and electrifying — direction.
The 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 (or i7 for short) is the first all-electric 7 Series in the model’s history. It’s positioned against electric luxury sedans like the Lucid Air, Tesla Model S, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, a longtime BMW rival. But BMW took a different approach with its electric chariot of the affluent.
Because while those other EVs are based on clean-sheet designs, the i7 is just one version of a car that continues with combustion engines. It shares styling and tech — including an available fold-down, rear-seat widescreen monitor — with internal-combustion 7 Series models. So it offers a more traditional approach to luxury for EV buyers who don’t want to change anything about their cars except the method of propulsion.
Those buyers will also pay a slight premium. The i7 starts at $120,295, compared to $114,595 for the 760i xDrive, the first gasoline 7 Series model of the new generation. BMW also plans to offer a less expensive gasoline 740i for $94,295 sometime after launch. But when you’re spending this much on a new car, those aren’t huge differences.

Design and interior
The new 7 Series — and by extension the i7 — is sure to prove controversial due to BMW’s new front-end styling, which combines a massive grille sure to stoke internet memes and odd-looking two-tiered headlights. The effect is exaggerated by an available blacked-out front-end treatment, which makes it look like parts are missing.
Those styling elements carry over from gasoline 7 Series models to the i7, as does the hulk-like body shell, which is abnormally tall for a sedan, requiring steps at the hood and rear bumper to blend them with the thick center section of the body. The i7 also retains a long protruding hood, which is necessary to house the engine in gasoline 7 Series models, but is just an affectation here.
BMW claims the i7 will appeal to buyers who want a traditional luxury sedan first and an EV second. To be fair, the i7 is much more conventional-looking than the streamlined Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and Lucid Air, or the grille-less Tesla Model S. But some of that work has been undone by BMW’s unorthodox design choices in other areas, which may not appeal to traditionalists either.
The i7 is sure to prove controversial due to BMW's new front-end styling.

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A 2024 GMC Sierra EV towing an Airstream trailer.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks are twins, and that will continue to be the case when they go electric.
Chevy unveiled its Silverado EV at CES 2022, and now it’s GMC’s turn. The 2024 GMC Sierra EV borrows some key features from its Chevy sibling, as well GMC’s first electric truck — the Hummer EV. Some of those features were actually pioneered by General Motors two decades ago on non-electric trucks, and are now making a comeback.
You can reserve a Sierra EV now, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to start until early calendar-year 2024. Production starts with a high-end Denali Edition 1 model, with other versions arriving for the 2025 model year.

Design
The Sierra EV updates the design language of the internal-combustion GMC Sierra for the electric age. A big grille is no longer needed for cooling, but it’s still an important styling element that designers didn’t want to break away from, Sharon Gauci, GMC executive director of global design, explained to Digital Trends and other media in an online briefing ahead of the truck’s reveal. The grille shape is now outlined in lights, with an illuminated GMC logo.
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The Sierra EV also borrows the Midgate setup from the Silverado EV. First seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT in the early 2000s, it allows the bulkhead and glass behind the cab to be removed, effectively extending the bed. Combined with the fold-out MultiPro tailgate from the internal-combustion Sierra, it can expand the default 5.0-foot, 11-inch bed length to 10 feet, 10 inches. A frunk (GMC calls it the “eTrunk”) provides covered storage space as well.
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