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Cartoon: CO2 Emissions Regulations Lifted
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 6, 2026
Payne: Subaru Trailseeker is an eOutback
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Laguna Beach, California — The Subaru Outback SUV is an icon. Now it has an electric sibling.
While the 2026 Outback has zigged to a square, truck-like ute design, the 2026 Trailseeker has zagged to Outback’s traditional wagon wardrobe with a side of off-road cladding and an infusion of high tech. I slipped into the driver seat, toggled the steering wheel paddles to medium regenerative braking and nailed the throttle. Trailseeker’s twin electric motors drove like liquid silver.
Determined to satisfy the needs of 37% of its customers who would consider an EV for their next vehicle, the tree-hugging, all-wheel-drive, pet-friendly brand has birthed eSubaru triplets: subcompact Uncharted (Crosstrek brother), compact Solterra (Forester sister), and midsize Trailseeker.
The big Trailseeker is the most Subaru-like of the three.
Payne: Stylish Subaru Uncharted EV a hard sell next to Crosstrek ICE
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Orange County, California — You know the popular subcompact Subaru Crosstrek. Now meet its electric doppelganger, the Uncharted.
I entered Interstate 5 North at San Juan Capistrano into dense, midday California traffic. ZOT! I merged with authority despite wet pavement. ZOT! I shot the gap between two cars into the middle lane. ZOT! I was in the left lane, adaptive cruise control set at 75 mph. It’s good to have instant electric torque in a 338-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Subaru.
The much-ballyhooed electric revolution of the 2020s has fizzled to a niche market, with EVs settling in at about 5-8% of U.S. sales. But for niche makers like Subie, the EV niche is opportunity.
The Japanese company’s off-road green brand has attracted a core of all-season, off-road tree-huggers who crave EVs at higher rates than mainstream mega-brands. We’re talking 37% of customers interested in buying an EV versus, say, Chevrolet at 23%.
So Subaru has invested in three EVs that parallel the brand’s most popular gas models: the $41,445 Trailseeker (across from gas Outback), $39,945 Solterra (boxy, gas Forester sibling), and the $36,445 Uncharted (gas Crosstrek hatchback sibling).
Cartoon: Iran FD Trump Winston Netanyahu
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 4, 2026
Cadillac F1, Ford earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T ahead of Australia debut
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 4, 2026
GM, GM
As Detroit’s Cadillac and Ford brands prepare for their debut at Formula One’s Melbourne Grand Prix in Australia this weekend, their theme song might be Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
The Motown operations have gained a lot of R-E-S-P-E-C-T after a chaotic year of preparation and two closely watched preseason test sessions in Barcelona and Bahrain. It’s Cadillac’s maiden voyage into the globe’s premier motorsports series, while Ford’s partnership with the Oracle Red Bull team is Ford Racing’s first F1 powertrain partnership since 2004.
Expected to be a backmarker out of the gate, Cadillac nonetheless has won praise for methodically piecing together a world-class effort just one year after its approval by F1 Management as the 11th team on the grid. Ford, on the other hand, has brought its manufacturing know-how to help Red Bull and its elite Dutch driver, Max Verstappen, fight for a championship. Not to be overlooked, the third U.S.-vested team, North Carolina-based Haas, (with its partner Toyota, the best-selling auto brand in the United States), looks to be a podium points-contender this year.
Cartoon: Media Trump Kills Khamenei
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 2, 2026
Cartoon: Iran Khamenei Wanted USS Sheriff
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 2, 2026
Cartoon: Cruella Seated Democrat
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 28, 2026
Payne: Turbo Alfa Tonale proves less is more with Italian flair
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Oakland County — Unburdened of its mission as the standard-bearer of an electric Alfa Romeo brand, the subcompact Tonale SUV can finally live la dolce vita.
For 2026, Alfa’s tasty, turbocharged, gas-fired appetizer is lighter, cheaper, more fun. Less is more.
Gone is Alfa’s dream to be an Italian Tesla. Gone, too, is Tonale’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain with 30 miles of battery-only range that I flogged across Italy at the SUV’s introduction in 2023. I thought I might miss the hybrid’s electric motor and instant, 347 pound-feet of torque to complement a healthy 285 hp.
I was wrong.
Cartoon: New York Global Warming Solved
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Subaru’s parallel gas/electric SUV lines: ‘Still going hard on EVs’
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Laguna Beach, California — Automakers have collectively announced $50 billion in electric vehicles write-offs this year in North America from $26.5 billion by Stellantis NV to $1.7 billion from Honda Motor Co. Ford Motor Co. is dropping its once highly-anticipated F-150 Lighting EV entirely. The losses come in the wake of weak consumer demand and the rollback of government EV sales mandates.
But Subaru Corp. is forging ahead with two new electric SUVs for its 2026 lineup — the subcompact Uncharted and midsize Trailseeker — that join the compact Solterra EV.
Four years in planning, the Japanese brand’s EVs were intended to address curiosity among its core green customers (37% expressed interest in an EV) as well as looming California mandates that required 35% EV sales by this model year. With California’s regulatory authority derailed by Congress last year, automakers like Subaru have been given breathing room to determine market demand.
Cartoon: State of the Union 2046
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 26, 2026
Cartoon: Hughes Teeth Olympic Hockey Gold
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 24, 2026
Cartoon: Secret Service Goalie Saves Trump
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 24, 2026
Cartoon: Supremes Stop Trump Tariffs
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 21, 2026
Cartoon: Alien Files Declassified
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 20, 2026
Cartoon: Nobel Prize Trump Machano
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 20, 2026
Payne: Floggin’ the Nissan Versa, last of the $20k cars
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 19, 2026
Naples, Florida — And then there were none.
My subcompact 2025 Nissan Versa sedan tester was the last of its breed: a new car that starts under $20,000. The $18,350 Versa ceased production for sale in the United States at the end of 2025. The subcompact Kia Soul SUV takes over as the most affordable new 2026 vehicle on the market at $21,935.
The affordable end of the U.S. market has been squeezed for some time as strict federal emissions regulations were more difficult for small cars to make, while must-have technology like digital screens added cost, and safety regulations piled on new mandated features like backup cameras, anti-lock brakes, airbag safety systems. That, and cars have become so doggone reliable that high-mileage used cars are a serious alternative. Heck, Ford — which doesn’t sell a new vehicle under $29,990 (once you include destination, title and other fees) — axed its Versa competitor, the Fiesta, waaaay back in 2019.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Cartoon: Olympic Gu China
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 18, 2026
Cartoon: AOC Foreign Policy
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 18, 2026
