ANALYSIS AND OPINION: There have been incidents across the country lately that have become more noticeable and reportable to both news agencies and the police. “Coal Rolling” and “ICE-ing” are suppose to be acts of protest against emissions policies but they are really nothing more than acts of cowardliness by ignoramuses. Empower rather than arm yourself by doing these ten things to stop these shameful people.

While Tesla and Electrify America sweep themselves across America’s interstates upgrading the supercharger networks, other networks with their superchargers elsewhere, incompatibilities between PHEVs and BEVs that may have been initially overlooked, are starting to become clear: PHEVs are incompatible with superchargers, and while the UK looks to ban them from superchargers, US car makers may already be taking care of the PHEV problem by just outright getting rid of them.

Porsche has recalled 75,000 2017-2018 Panamera models to fix a software glitch that knocks out the power steering. The resulting failure increases the steering effort of the Panamera which might lead to crashes. So far, no crashes have been reported.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: Attention military, law enforcement, security, and/or hunters who validly possess a firearm, or anyone else with the gall to carry a firearm illegally: the chances of your battery electric vehicle catching fire from a purposeful or accidental firearms discharge through the battery pack are much greater than if pierced through a gas tank. Read this story now coming to light about a 2014 Tesla S to find out why.

OPINION AND ANALYSIS: With VW Group’s accelerated plans to cease gas car production sooner, Bentley needs to ask itself what kind of car company does it want to be? If Aston Martin stuffed battery packs inside the seats and boot spare tire wells and fenders of a Rapide, why there isn’t something similar done inside a Spur or a Mulsanne? Bentley isn’t doing that; they’re running counterculture to their heritage, and risk losing what they worked hard to get after leaving Rolls Royce: not becoming another Cadillac.

OPINION ANALYSIS: Rivian Automotive, the once Clandestine now Maverick Electric Pickup Truck Maker added another BEV to its portfolio, a full sized three rower SUV called R1S. I’m so glad they made it nice and boxy and conservative and all BEV. All they need to do now is stretch that battery tray and back seat room, bespoke it out, make it LWB, send it upmarket past Bentley and Rolls, and let it sit next to Rover SVAutobiography, to let their brand take off, and let the doe roll in.

Traditional and conventional engineering wisdom dictated for years that the purpose of a Mercedes Benz was to enable you to withstand a crash, so that you can survive to buy another Mercedes. Perhaps that conventional thinking now also applies to a Tesla. Five kids driving and riding in a high speed Tesla crash their Model X into a tree and creek. The car was destroyed. Fatalities: 0. The hero: the Tesla.

It was around this time twenty years ago that the now legendary Cadillac Escalade started hauling the ruling class and celebritydom on the streets of the big American cities as if they were elegant stage coaches of the Victorian or Edwardian Eras over 100 years ago. So after reading a story about the disastrous 2009 hybrid I decided to do a flashback ode to the iconic 20th century truck that lives on today.

I find it pathetically sad that we are now in year 6 of the electric car revolution and Ford has yet to come out with not one of their own non-compliance full mass production BEV car. Not one. Thank God for startups, because the new British based company called Charge Automotive will make you pay just a little dearly, but you can even have a classic Mustang the way Ford would never have given it to you.

SHOCKING!! It seems Cadillac and electricity mix like oil and water. Never mind the gas versions are crap, plagued with electrical problems, they can’t even make reliable ones that partly run on electricity either! While GM’s CEO Mary Barra has a “zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion” ten year plan for GM’s future, Cadillac certainly isn’t helping with the failures they’ve had with each electric they tried to sell. CT6 was strike 3. Here’s why and what they can do about it:

BMW recently announced in a cost cutting measure that it will move all Mini stores from stand alone brick and mortar locations into BMW house branded retailers. But the reasoning behind the move signifies what’s wrong with the car industry. Mini isn’t selling not just because of crossovermania, but because BMW missed opportunities to electrify the brand earlier that could’ve turned Mini fans and potential EV consumers on sooner to car electrification. Now Americans don't want them at all, or like they used to.

There are two powerful entities on Earth, VW Group and Ford, that are now looking to (ahem) “work more closely together” in areas where they can help each other most. Daimler and FCA, the two divorcées of another kind of Germanic-Americano relationship long ago, are mutual friends of both the Fords and VWs, and they send their regards to wish them both well. I explain why.

While Tesla takes care of the other high end of the electric vehicle market with Models S, 3, X, and soon Y and U, Uniti, the Swedish electric car startup maker is trying to find an angle on the opposite end by soon shortly putting an unorthodox 2 seat high tech and feature rich micro BEV into production. This car will be a hit in the EU, India, and Brazil no doubt, but in NA? Hmm. Well I hope so.

After looking things over closely, Torque News can say that it has been a lousy year for Lambo Huracan Spyders and fires. One of them could be related to an earlier recall, but that is speculation, the others (three that we could count in total) were just bad luck.