Chevrolet Sonic Repair Manual: Electronic Park Lock Description and Operation

If the vehicle is equipped with automatic transmission and a floor mounted console gear shift, it has an electronic park lock system (EPL). The EPL system purpose is to prevent the ignition key from being turned to the OFF position when the transmission is in any position other than PARK and the vehicle may still be moving. The EPL system consists of an ignition lock cylinder solenoid, and a park position switch that is located in the A/T shift lock control switch. The ignition lock cylinder solenoid contains a pin that is spring loaded to mechanically prevent the ignition key cylinder from being turned to the lock position when the vehicle transmission is not in the PARK position. If vehicle power is lost, and/or the transmission is not in the Park position the operator will not be able to turn the ignition key to the lock position and will not be able to remove the ignition key from the column.