The rattle-canned graffiti was a few hundred feet away from his palace, but Dear Leader Torch could still see it through the double panes of bulletproof glass.

TORCH FIDDLES WHILE WE WALK TO WORK

Jason laughed at the first part of the message as he wasn’t about to bust out a tight rendition of Devil Went Down To Georgia anytime soon, but truthfully, the impoverished spray-painter was right. The tiny island nation of Jasonia which Jason ruled with an iron fist had an average new car price similar to the United States: around $50,000. Who can realistically afford that?

Have no fear, though: Torch has an idea that could flip the script and give the people of Jasonia (or even America and Europe) the car that they need for a fraction of that cost. A new car? Well, could we call it “new enough”? Have you ever bought a refurbished iPhone? Or installed a rebuilt alternator? Yes? Well, how about a reborn car?

Yugo Get A Used Car

As the leader of a small nation, Jason Torchinsky is responsible for the well-being of its citizens, and the solutions to nearly any problem lie with him. Still, some issues can be nearly impossible to resolve. The Jasonian government even owns a large chunk of the domestic Jasonian Automobile Manufacturers (aka JAM), complicating the situation.

Jason isn’t blind. He knows that it’s going to be nearly impossible to make a domestic brand-new car for Jasonia (or America) that costs under $15,000 (Jasonian currency collapsed to five-million-for-a-candy-bar level, so everyone uses US dollars anyway). Some fabric-covered cycle car or three-wheeled Elio motors thing would probably end up stickering for more than that, and even if it fit that budget, such a conveyance would hardly be a thing a family of four could use as a daily driver.

You can talk all you want about Japanese keis or Chinese cars being available that might be imported to Jasonia, but that’s also not going to happen any time soon. Even if he did allow these imports, by the time most of them were outfitted with the needed safety and emissions equipment Jason demands, they probably wouldn’t be nearly as cheap. Besides, people can talk all they want about wanting a bare-bones tiny car, but sales figures prove that they aren’t showing it with their wallets.

Ultra-cheap cars often have disadvantages that become obvious soon after they hit the market. Forty years ago in American, people could have bought a Yugoslavian hatchback for around half the price of the average new vehicle, but that proved to be a short-lived experiment due to political issues (you know, bombing the factory) and the inability to produce a product that lived up to the standards of non-communist nations. That won’t happen again here any time soon.

No, the people of Jasonia say that they need a real new car for around $10,000 to $15,000. But why do they want a “new” car anyway? Well, most Autopians would happily buy a cheap Maserati or Porsche for ten grand, fully aware that it might need a few hundred hours of their own labor before it could even begin to semi-reliably move under its own power. The average buyer wouldn’t agree with this choice. They want to plunk down money for a car that smells good inside and will dependably go from Florida to Washington state in March if needed, where it’s snowing in one location and 95 degrees in the other. Some of us Autopians have a dozen cars and not even one of them fits that description and could perform such a basic feat. Remember, most of these potential budget buyers don’t want to open the hood except to maybe add washer fluid.

Jason accepts the challenge; a nice, reliable set of wheels will be within reach of his subjects very soon.

Czech Out This Idea

The idea that Torch has comes partly from the official vehicle that he’s chauffeured around in on Jasonia island: his gorgeous black Tatra 613, as seen on this postcard:

This Czech company would regularly remanufacture examples of their earlier 603 model back in the Iron Curtain years, so if they could do it why not somebody else?

Actually, this type of thing was done right here in the United States right after World War II, when people would buy absolutely any new car. The Powell motor car company in Los Angeles actually dragged old Plymouths from junkyards to strip out and refurbish the mechanicals before installing a new pickup-style body until the supply of these ancient Plymouths was finally exhausted.

To make the concept really viable, Jason decides to take Powell’s “upcycling” idea and work with just one particular make and model of car to revive, and only a set number of years or generations of this car. That way, his remanufacturing firm could focus on the aches and pains common to one particular vehicle and rebuild or purchase parts in volume at rock bottom prices. It would need to be a popular car to ensure a plentiful supply of used examples. The question is, what car would he choose? Coming up with the answer takes Torch about ten seconds, and he assembles a team over at the JAM works to get them started. As usual, they have no idea what they’re in for.

Yota Best Option

At the JAM factory later that afternoon, a call goes out for all personnel to report to a very special meeting in an hour. Torch was on his way, and this was bound to be a train wreck.

The JAM engineers, designers, and production managers slink in, terrified at the sight of Dear Leader smiling a devious grin. In the middle of the space reserved for looking at clay models outside sits a slightly tired-looking 2006 VX40 Toyota Camry. Dear God, why is this thing here?

“My friends, feast your eyes on the future of affordable, reliable transportation.” First of all, nobody here saw Dear Leader as a “friend,” and somehow an old Toyota seemed like just a used car. Still, they had no choice but to listen.

“This car before you has years if not decades of life left in it. Things will break, but we know based upon research and extensive statistics exactly what will break and approximately when. Tires, battery, water pumps … it’s all just a cycle of use that could be repeated up to a million miles or more. A new car will be a 60,000-mile-old thing in four or five years; you just replace parts to keep it going. Why not renew it before it leaves you stranded? That’s what we’ll do here.”

His logic did make sense. A used Camry would be a better bet to drive cross-country than a number of brand-new cars you could name. Still, could this really work? Oh, Torch was many steps ahead of them. On a table next to the Camry sat what appeared to be ancient computers from the palace basement, probably because that’s what they were. You could smell the overheating internals of the 1984 Apple Lisa and //e from yards away as images flashed on the screens.

Torch continues. “I’ve come up with a program that finds rust-free AW40 Camrys away from the coast, asks questions, verifies information, and automatically makes cash offers based on the condition and mileage.” The idea was that a team with transporters would go around buying up these old cars and bring them to the JAM refurbishing center.

“It’s an assembly line with stations, and I can show you roughly how it works with this schematic:”

“The first step would be a sort of triage; an overall assessment of the car. Things like compression check and analyzing the plugs and oil would be part of it, but much of it will be pre-determined by the mileage. For example, our research says that the AW40 shock will typically be gone by around 180,000, so anything with over 120,000 will get new struts. It’s that kind of thing we’ll put on the work ticket. If the engine turns out to be shot or the paint is too far gone, it won’t go on the line, either becoming a parts car to harvest or a car deemed worthy of extra work. I mean, I’ll put a new motor in a car if the interior and outside is immaculate, but that’s for a different line.”

“Next step, the wheels come off, and any chassis or brake work is done. Next, engine oil is changed, and any engine components like alternators, water pumps, or A/C parts are replaced if condition and mileage dictate. All old parts are sent to rebuild facilities while remanufactured parts come back on the same truck to be used on the next cars”.

“The outside then gets heavily paint corrected, scratches airbrushed, and trim is refurbished,” says Torch. An engineer sheepishly asks, “So we buff out and clear coat the old headlights and taillights?” Half the employees know that person has just unleashed hell since they know of Dear Leader’s hatred of expensive modern lighting units. “Are you kidding?” yells Jason. “Those lights are GONE, and we’ll replace them with specially molded or 3D printed light housings to hold sealed beam headlights and off-the-shelf LED turn signals and taillights.” Rolling stock is added last. “Cleaned up or re-powder coated wheels rolling by on a rack above with newish or new tires are bolted back on, and I found a source for cheap black painted aluminum mags as a cool option.”

Here’s what Jason had the design team come up with. You can see that he also added black vinyl trim and even black mirrors so that they wouldn’t need to color-match replacements to cars. The big black rubber bumper pad in front looks like an extension of the original grille, which is now painted black or vinyl-covered, sometimes with Jasonian bugs still in place underneath:

You can see the changes in the animation below, which are minimal:

In back, Jason demanded the same type of things: he refused to refurbish taillight units that would just keep yellowing and instead added a large plastic shroud that held stock off-the-shelf LED lighting units. What if the taillights on the car being refurbished are still in usable shape? Well, if you need a replacement taillight for your old Camry, be sure to check out jasonscamryparts.com first for the best pricing and FREE SHIPPING from the island.

“What’s the black vent things on the bumpers, Dear Leader?” asks one product developer. “Those ‘vents’ cover the famous ‘Camry dents’ that appear on all of these things, and they fit into the crevasse of the dent”. The developer is brave enough to keep questioning. “Sir, what if the Camry we’re rebuilding doesn’t have a dent there? Will the trim piece fit?” Torch picks up a big sledgehammer and bashes the right rear corner of the Camry on display. “It’ll fit now” quips Jason, as he drops the hammer with a thud. Right.

Here’s an animation of the changes the JAM would make:

On the inside, if the seats are too worn to come back to life with a shampoo, fitted covers can renew them. The double-din screen gets replaced by an inexpensive touch screen with a backup camera.

If you’re really feeling spendy, you could put in a digital gauge cluster like our own Mercedes Streeter did to The Bishop’s old BMW for a few hundred more (this one below is for an Infiniti, but I don’t doubt more digging might uncover a Camry unit).

That’s it – once it’s tested, the Jamry is ready to go to a new owner, but for how much? “I’m not really sure of the final cost”, says Torch. “I’m thinking we would be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, maybe $12,995? We have to see how cheaply we can get components rebuilt, and how much labor we need to put into these $5000 used cars anyway. Also, we’ll offer a free 18-month/18,000-mile warranty, so amortizing the costs of these repairs needs to be factored in.” That’s the cost for any Jamry, Dear Leader? “Nah, that’s for four bangers, since I want to charge a thousand or so more to replace the rear row of coil packs and that damn water pump on the V6 ones.” Sure, the thought of rebuilding a car that was new when Avril Lavigne topped the charts is sort of grim, but nobody seemed to have a better idea.

Are Jacords, Jarollas, and Jivics Next?

Would a Jamry be all that bad after all? It’s a far cry from the Yugo, a tiny new Mitsubishi Mirage, or whatever kei car that regulations would never allow to be imported anyway. The Jamry has room for five and luggage in air-conditioned comfort with a modern touchscreen radio. You aren’t getting a new Toyota sedan, but it’s certainly not a rolling penalty box.

Also, have you seen a brand-new Camry, or even a one- or two-year-old one? It’s a nice car, but hardly something you’d happily go deep into debt for, if you could qualify to get a loan on it anyway. Even tricked-out with go-faster trim, it still kind of looks like a nothing-burger kind of car.

Besides, is it really that much better than an old one to the Average Joe? Oh, sure, some reviewers at a website like Jason’s Autopian would talk about the twenty-year-old car’s “sharper turn in” or “NVH” or “brake fade” and “adaptive lighting” and other such crap, but anyone who reads such a car website or even knows what those terms mean wouldn’t consider a car like a Jamry anyway. This is a transportation device, a car for motorcycle money with a warranty and the ability to go another 100,000 miles and more. It will break at some point, but fixing it would likely cost about the same as one car payment on a $50,000 ride.

Everyone at JAM seems stunned: Did Dear Leader Torch really come up with a good idea? I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Top graphic image: Toyota

The post How A Factory-Refurbished Ride Could Be The Perfect Alternative To $50,000 New Cars appeared first on The Autopian.

Since 2018, a group of researchers from around the world has crunched the numbers on how much heat the world’s oceans are absorbing each year. In 2025, their measurements broke records once again, making this the eighth year in a row that the world’s oceans have absorbed more heat than in the years before.

The study, which was published Friday in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science, found that the world’s oceans absorbed an additional 23 zettajoules’ worth of heat in 2025, the most in any year since modern measurements began in the 1960s. That’s significantly higher than the 16 additional zettajoules they absorbed in 2024. The research comes from a team of more than 50 scientists across the United States, Europe, and China.

A joule is a common way to measure energy. A single joule is a relatively small unit of measurement—it’s about enough to power a tiny lightbulb for a second, or slightly heat a gram of water. But a zettajoule is one sextillion joules; numerically, the 23 zettajoules the oceans absorbed this year can be written out as 23,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

John Abraham, a professor of thermal science at the University of St. Thomas and one of the authors on the paper, says that he sometimes has trouble putting this number into contexts that laypeople understand. Abraham offers up a couple options. His favorite is comparing the energy stored in the ocean to the energy of atomic bombs: The 2025 warming, he says, is the energetic equivalent to 12 Hiroshima bombs exploding in the ocean. (Some other calculations he’s done include equating this number to the energy it would take to boil 2 billion Olympic swimming pools, or more than 200 times the electrical use of everyone on the planet.)

“Last year was a bonkers, crazy warming year—that's the technical term,” Abraham joked to me. “The peer-reviewed scientific term is ‘bonkers’.”

The world’s oceans are its largest heat sink, absorbing more than 90 percent of the excess warming that is trapped in the atmosphere. While some of the excess heat warms the ocean’s surface, it also slowly travels further down into deeper parts of the ocean, aided by circulation and currents.

Global temperature calculations—like the ones used to determine the hottest years on record—usually only capture measurements taken at the ocean’s surface. (The study finds that overall sea surface temperatures in 2025 were slightly lower than they were in 2024, which is on record as the hottest year since modern records began. Some meteorological phenomena, like El Niño events, can also raise sea surface temperatures in certain regions, which can cause the overall ocean to absorb slightly less heat in a given year. This helps to explain why there was such a big jump in added ocean heat content between 2025, which developed a weak La Niña at the end of the year, and 2024, which came at the end of a strong El Niño year.) While sea surface temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution, thanks to our use of fossil fuels, these measurements don’t provide a full picture of how climate change is affecting the oceans.

“If the whole world was covered by a shallow ocean that was only a couple feet deep, it would warm up more or less at the same speed as the land,” says Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth and a co-author of the study. “But because so much of that heat is going down in the deep ocean, we see generally slower warming of sea surface temperatures [than those on land].”

Surface temperatures, Hausfather says, are what most directly impact human societies: They have direct effects on weather patterns and most of the ocean life we interact with. But the amount of heat stored in deeper parts of the ocean is a key metric for understanding how climate change is affecting the planet.

“Ocean heat content is in many ways the most reliable thermostat of the planet,” he says. “That’s where all the heat is going—and that's the reason why almost every year we set a new record for ocean heat content, because there's so much heat being absorbed by the ocean.”

The estimates of ocean heating in the paper were created using a mix of mathematical models of ocean warming as well as reams of data on ocean temperatures collected from sites around the world. Humans have been tracking ocean temperatures for a long time; Benjamin Franklin recorded sea temperatures during his transatlantic voyages. In the 1870s, the HMS Challenger expedition—which is largely credited with inventing modern oceanography—took measurements at deeper depths. But regularly measuring temperatures substantially below the surface is a relatively new phenomenon. The study’s earliest data goes back to the 1960s, when some navies began taking measurements of deeper ocean temperatures.

A key tool that revolutionized our understanding of deeper ocean temperatures is the international network of Argo floats, with more than 3,500 robotic buoys that were first deployed in the early 2000s to collect data on oceans around the world. In addition to the Argo floats, the study pulls data from a variety of other sources, including data measured from buoys, ship hulls, satellites—and animals. (“We actually put instruments on mammals that swim under ice, and so we can measure temperatures while they swim,” Abraham says. “They can take measurements where our robots can't go.”) The study also uses algorithmic models trained on particular sets of ocean data.

“It's really quite impressive that they get such consistent results using multiple datasets,” says Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean science at UC Santa Cruz who was not involved in the study. Kudela says that studies like these help to hammer home just how much climate change is altering the planet.

“What people often don't grasp is that it's taken 100 years to get the oceans that warm at depth,” he says. “Even if we stopped using fossil fuels today, it's going to take hundreds of years for that to circulate through the ocean. We're going to pay this cost for a very, very long time, because we've already put the heat in the ocean.”

This story originally appeared on WIRED.com.

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It’s no secret that the Volkswagen of today is not the company it used to be. Today’s Volkswagen sells sensible crossovers with either a sensible four-cylinder engine or an adequate electric powertrain. But that wasn’t always the case. Two decades ago, Volkswagen was properly insane and cranked out delightful, stupid cars seemingly just because it could. In celebration of 50 years of the Golf GTI, Volkswagen has dusted off the prime example of what used to be. This is the Golf GTI W12-650, and it’s just peak 2000s Volkswagen.

Volkswagen is doing a big media push for its celebration of 50 years of the Golf GTI. Yep, the original Golf GTI hit the market back in 1976, and the hot hatch would become one of Volkswagen’s most beloved models. Now, as the GTI turns 50, Volkswagen says it’s launching its first-ever all-electric GTI with the ID. Polo GTI. The Golf GTI is also getting an extremely red ‘GTI Edition 50’ anniversary model.

Volkswagen’s pulling out all of the stops for this celebration, and has pulled out a bunch of GTI concept cars that were either just wild design exercises or Volkswagen flexing its engineering muscles. One of those cars is arguably the coolest vehicle Volkswagen has ever built in the modern era. What do you get when you marry a Golf with the heart of a Bentley? A mid-engine, wide-track wonder with 12 weird cylinders and 641 HP! The Golf GTI W12-650 is perhaps Volkswagen at its most, and while it may be two decades old, it’s still amazing today.

A Legend With Plaid Seats

Volkswagen says the original GTI was developed in secret under the code name “Sport Golf,” and that the story went a little bit like this:

The “Sport Golf” team includes engineer Alfons Löwenberg, chassis expert Herbert Horntrich, Head of Development Hermann Hablitzel, marketing specialist Horst-Dieter Schwittlinsky and Head of Press Anton Konrad. The five Volkswagen employees meet in a private flat and quickly agree: they want to create a fascinatingly powerful Golf that is affordable, fast and approved by the top motorsport authority, the FIA. As a first step, they build a prototype based on the equally new Scirocco, which shares many components with the Golf, featuring 74 kW (100 PS) and an infernally loud exhaust system. A roaring beast. The team soon designs a more realistic version and presents it to Volkswagen’s Head of Development, Professor Ernst Fiala. His verdict: “You’re crazy.”

Undeterred, the “Sport Golf” team continues – still undercover, still based on the Scirocco. Every detail is questioned and improved. The tests are elaborate and take time. In spring 1975, the team presents the updated Sport Golf in Scirocco guise to the Board at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track. Now even Fiala is impressed. At the end of May, the official development order follows. The project gathers momentum. Six initial prototypes are built. One of them appears as a pace car at the Nürburgring in summer 1975, turning heads among spectators in the Eifel. How can a Golf be so fast?

In September 1975, the time had come: At the IAA, the very first Golf GTI made its debut – featuring 81 kW (110 PS), a red radiator grille and sports seats in tartan design. Visitors were thrilled. Market launch followed in 1976. Demand skyrocketed – instead of the planned 5,000 units, tens of thousands were sold in the first year. No surprise, as the car was highly dynamic, affordable and economical at the same time.

The GTI has been a bit of a worldwide phenomenon. Since its launch in 1976, Volkswagen says, more than 2.5 million GTIs have found homes around the world. The Golf itself has been a smashing success over eight generations, with more than 37 million sold globally. Back in 2021, Volkswagen of America said that nearly 2.5 million of the Golfs ever built were sold in America.

Part of that Volkswagen magic was that, up until recent times here in America, the Golf had so many great variations. For years, the Golf had seemingly as many flavors as one of those Pininfarina Coke machines. You could have your Golf in a two-door hatch, a four-door hatch, a convertible, all the way up to a diesel wagon if you so desired. If you wanted your German steed fast, you could have gotten your Golf in GTI, R32, or R specifications. Volkswagen even sold the Golf as a pickup truck! Journalists wax poetic about how practical the Golf is and how a GTI is practical speed. The GTI, through so many of its generations, has proven these claims accurate.

Even as I have somewhat moved away from my once devout fanaticism about Volkswagen, the GTI still holds a place in my heart. I still have a GTI or a Golf R32 with a VR6 on my bucket list.

Twelve Cylinders Of Silly

No matter where Volkswagen takes the Golf and the GTI, there’s a single car in the world that qualifies as the craziest Golf ever built. No, I’ll go even further. This car is peak modern Volkswagen, right up there with the Phaeton W12, the Passat W8, and the Touareg V10 TDI.

The creation of the Golf GTI W12-650 was something that only the Ferdinand Piëch-era of Volkswagen could pull off. Every year, Volkswagen enthusiasts descend on Reifnitz at Lake Wörthersee in Austria. The factory-backed festival is one of the largest Volkswagen gatherings and has been known to collect more than 100,000 people each year. Along with connecting with their fellow VW fans, the Lake Wörthersee event was also the place to see the freshest concept to come from the minds within Volkswagen.

Two months before the event in 2007, Volkswagen engineers wanted to do something crazy, but also sort of wholesome. For that year’s concept car, Volkswagen’s engineers wanted to make one car that combined elements from across the Volkswagen Group portfolio.

The base of the vehicle would be a Golf GTI, which was in its fifth generation at that time. By the time the engineers were done, only the doors, hood, and lights were left untouched. The first change came from the Bentley side of the Volkswagen Group umbrella, which donated the 6.0-liter twin-turbo narrow-angle W12 engine from the Bentley Continental GT. This mill was good for 641 horses, or more power than any GTI before or since. It also made 553 pounds of twist.

This engine couldn’t fit into the Golf’s engine bay, which fit a VR6 at the largest, so the engineers placed the W12 in the middle, right behind the front seats. Of course, there was no chance that stock GTI components were going to work with the new heart, so the engineers robbed the Lamborghini parts bin for the rear axle and brakes from the Gallardo. They then went to Audi to scrounge up the front brakes from the RS 4. Then, surprisingly, the engineers stole the transmission from the Volkswagen Phaeton.

With the drivetrain set, now, the engineers made this one-off Golf look like it came from 2050. They dropped the suspension by three inches, widened the body by 6.3 inches, and stiffened the chassis. The team even had to reshape the rear windows to get their desired result.

The roof was carbon fiber with a built-in scoop, the vehicle’s flanks were carved out to have huge intakes, and it was given comically huge bumpers. Inside, surfaces were covered in Alcantara, the door cards were stripped out, and a dash of white was added for a little pop.

For a finishing touch, the car’s 19-inch wheels were shod in fat 12-inch-wide rear tires and 9-inch-wide front tires. Of course, the car’s exterior was finished in that sort of Apple Store white that Volkswagen loved at the time.

The craziest part was that the Golf GTI W12-650 was not a static display. The engineers went through the work to build a functional vehicle. Volkswagen then tested the madness, concluding that it could hit 62 mph in 3.7 seconds and then race on to a theoretical top speed of 201.8 mph. Apparently, nobody at Volkswagen dared to test the top speed. Oh, right, all of this power was put down entirely through the rear wheels. There was no AWD trickery here to rein in the chaos.

Volkswagen says that the Golf GTI W12-650 is as powerful as a Lamborghini, and today, about two decades later, it’s still faster than the fastest Golf variant. A Golf R has a 2.0-liter turbo four good for 328 horsepower and 310 lb-ft, which is enough juice to get it to 60 in 4.1 seconds. The GIT W12-650 is still more than a half-second faster and 11 times crazier.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GTI, Volkswagen has pulled the Golf GTI W12-650 out of stasis and has draped it in hot red.

From A Different Volkswagen

You have to hear how it sounds. Click here if you cannot see the embed above.

This feels bittersweet in a way. Volkswagen still has a lot of fun today with the GTI, Golf R, and the ID. Buzz, no debate there. But Volkswagen also feels like a shell of its former self. The VR6 engine is dead, the W16 engine is gone, the GTI doesn’t have a manual transmission anymore, and Volkswagen is significantly less silly.

In a way, it feels like the Ferdinand Piëch-era of Volkswagen was like a college student with spunk. It did wacky engineering projects just because it could, and its cars were sometimes insane, sometimes seemingly just for the fun of the game. Now, it’s like Volkswagen has grown up, gotten a corporate job, and wears a suit every day.

The Golf GTI W12-650 is a part of that 50 years of GTI celebration, but it’s also a reminder. It came from a time when Volkswagen made a hyper luxury sedan that could keep its cabin cool at 186 mph, and when Bugatti was laying down speed records with cars that had more radiators than Teslas have buttons. The Audi A2, the V10 TDI engine, and the dominating diesel racecars all came from the era that spawned the craziest Golf.

So, as the GTI turns 50, it’s cool to see that Volkswagen still has a little fun. I hope that, as time goes on, Volkswagen never loses that. Because every once in a while, you just need to do something silly just because you can, and it’s fun.

Top graphic images: Volkswagen

The post Volkswagen Has Brought Back Its Iconic 641 HP W12-Powered Golf GTI To Remind Us How Delightfully Insane It Used To Be appeared first on The Autopian.

Just look at this cover for Monsters of Ohio. Look at it! It is amazing. I am so happy with it. It’s the work of artist Michael Koelsch (whose art has graced my work before, notably the Subterranean Press editions of the Dispatcher sequels Murder by Other Means and Travel by Bullet) , and he’s knocked it out of the park. I am, in a word, delighted.

And what is Monsters of Ohio about? Here’s the current jacket copy for it:

In many ways Richland, Ohio is the same tiny, sleepy rural village it has been for the last 150 years: The same families, the same farms, the same heartland beliefs and traditions that have sustained it for generations. But right now times are especially hard, as social and economic forces inside and outside the community roil the surface of the once-placid town.

Richland, in other words, is primed to explode… just not the way that anyone anywhere could ever have expected. And when things do explode, well, that’s when things start getting really weird.

Mike Boyd left Richland decades back, to find his own way in the world. But when he is called back to his hometown to tie up some loose ends, he finds more going on than he bargained for, and is caught up in a sequence of events that will bring this tiny farm village to the attention of the entire world… and, perhaps, spell its doom.

Ooooooooooh! Doooooom! Perhaaaaaaaps!

If that was too much text for you, here is the two-word version: Cozy Cronenberg.

Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.

When can you get it? November 3rd in North America and November 5 in the UK and most of the rest of the world. But of course you can pre-order this very minute at your favorite bookseller, whether that be your local indie, your nearby bookstore chain, or online retailer of your choice. Why wait! Put your money down! The book’s already written, after all. It’s guaranteed to ship!

Oh, and, for extra fun, here’s the author photo for the novel:

Yup, that pretty much sets the tone.

I hope you like Monsters of Ohio when you get a chance to read it. In November!

— JS

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency was accused of abandoning its mission to protect public health after repealing an "endangerment finding" that has served as the basis for federal climate change regulations for 17 years.

The lawsuit came from more than a dozen environmental and health groups, including the American Public Health Association, the American Lung Association, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Clean Air Council, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The groups have asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the EPA decision, which also eliminated requirements controlling greenhouse gas emissions in new cars and trucks. Urging a return to the status quo, the groups argued that the Trump administration is anti-science and illegally moving to benefit the fossil fuel industry, despite a mountain of evidence demonstrating the deadly consequences of unchecked pollution and climate change-induced floods, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes.

"Undercutting the ability of the federal government to tackle the largest source of climate pollution is deadly serious," Meredith Hankins, legal director for federal climate at NRDC, said in an EDF roundup of statements from plaintiffs.

The science is overwhelmingly clear, the groups argued, despite the Trump EPA attempting to muddy the waters by forming a since-disbanded working group of climate contrarians.

Trump is a longtime climate denier, as evidenced by a Euro News tracker monitoring his most controversial comments. Most recently, during a cold snap affecting much of the US, he predictably trolled environmentalists, writing on Truth Social, "could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain—WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING?"

The EPA's final rule summary bragged that "this is the single largest deregulatory action in US history and will save Americans over $1.3 trillion" by 2055. Supposedly, carmakers will pass on any savings from no longer having to meet emissions requirements, giving Americans more access to affordable cars by shutting down expensive emissions and EV mandates "strangling" the auto industry. Sounding nothing like an agency created to monitor pollutants, a fact sheet on the final rule emphasized that Trump's EPA "chooses consumer choice over climate change zealotry every time."

Critics quickly slammed Trump's claims that removing the endangerment finding would help the economy. Any savings from cheaper vehicles or reduced costs of charging infrastructure (as Americans ostensibly buy fewer EVs) would be offset by $1.4 trillion "in additional costs from increased fuel purchases, vehicle repair and maintenance, insurance, traffic congestion, and noise," The Guardian reported. The EPA's economic analysis also ignores public health costs, the groups suing alleged. David Pettit, an attorney at the CBD's Climate Law Institute, slammed the EPA's messaging as an attempt to sway consumers without explaining the true costs.

"Nobody but Big Oil profits from Trump trashing climate science and making cars and trucks guzzle and pollute more," Pettit said. "Consumers will pay more to fill up, and our skies and oceans will fill up with more pollution."

If the court sides with the EPA, "people everywhere will face more pollution, higher costs, and thousands of avoidable deaths," Peter Zalzal, EDF's associate vice president of clean air strategies, said.

EPA argued climate change evidence is "out of scope"

For environmentalists, the decision to sue the EPA was risky but necessary. By putting up a fight, they risk a court potentially reversing the 2009 Supreme Court ruling requiring the EPA to conduct the initial endangerment analysis and then regulate any pollution found from greenhouse gases.

Seemingly, that reversal is what the Trump administration has been angling for, hoping the case will reach the Supreme Court, which is more conservative today and perhaps less likely to read the Clean Air Act as broadly as the 2009 court.

It's worth the risk, according to William Piermattei, the managing director of the Environmental Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He told The New York Times that environmentalists had no choice but to file the lawsuit and act on the public's behalf.

Environmentalists "must challenge this," Piermattei said. If they didn’t, they'd be "agreeing that we should not regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act, full stop." He suggested that "a majority of the public, does not agree with that statement at all."

Since 2010, the EPA has found that the scientific basis for concluding that "elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may reasonably be anticipated to endanger the public health and welfare of current and future US generations is robust, voluminous, and compelling." And since then, the evidence base has only grown, the groups suing said.

Trump used to seem intimidated by the "overwhelming" evidence, environmentalists have noted. During Trump's prior term, he notably left the endangerment finding in place, perhaps expecting that the evidence was irrefutable. He's now renewed that fight, arguing that the evidence should be set aside, so that courts can focus on whether Congress "must weigh in on 'major questions' that have significant political and economic implications" and serve as a check on the EPA.

In the EPA's comments addressing public concerns about the agency ignoring evidence, the agency has already argued that evidence of climate change is "out of scope" since the EPA did not repeal the basis of the finding. Instead, the EPA claims it is merely challenging its own authority to continue to regulate the auto industry for harmful emissions, suggesting that only Congress has that authority.

The Clean Air Act "does not provide EPA statutory authority to prescribe motor vehicle emission standards for the purpose of addressing global climate change concerns," the EPA said. "In the absence of such authority, the Endangerment Finding is not valid, and EPA cannot retain the regulations that resulted from it."

Whether courts will agree that evidence supporting climate change is "out of scope" could determine whether the Supreme Court's prior decision that compelled the endangerment finding is ultimately overturned. If that happens, subsequent administrations may struggle to issue a new endangerment finding to undo any potential damage. All eyes would then turn to Congress to pass a law to uphold protections.

EPA accused of abandoning its mission

By ignoring science, the EPA risks eroding public trust, according to Hana Vizcarra, a senior lawyer at the nonprofit Earthjustice, which is representing several groups in the litigation.

"With this action, EPA flips its mission on its head," Vizcarra said. "It abandons its core mandate to protect human health and the environment to boost polluting industries and attempts to rewrite the law in order to do so."

Groups appear confident that the courts will consider the science. Joanne Spalding, director of the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program, noted that the early 2000s litigation from the Sierra Club brought about the original EPA protections. She vowed that the Sierra Club would continue fighting to keep them.

"People should not be forced to suffer for this administration's blind allegiance to the fossil fuel industry and corporate polluters," Spalding said. "This shortsighted rollback is blatantly unlawful and their efforts to force this upon the American people will fail."

Ankush Bansal, board president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, warned that courts cannot afford to ignore the evidence. The EPA's "devastating decision" goes "against the science and testimony of countless scientists, health care professionals, and public health practitioners," Bansal said. If upheld, the long-term consequences could seemingly bury courts in future legal battles.

"It will result in direct harm to the health of Americans throughout the country, particularly children, older adults, those with chronic illnesses, and other vulnerable populations, rural to urban, red and blue, of all races and incomes," Bansal said. "The increased exposure to harmful pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production and consumption will make America sicker, not healthier, less prosperous, not more, for generations to come."

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It sucks that we’re still stuck in an era of elevated used car prices. If the chip shortage and all that didn’t happen, the general trend of the Manheim index for used car wholesale vehicles was on track to be substantially lower than it is now, which would’ve directly translated to cheaper cars. Now, it’s all screwy. Take late-model Toyotas, for example. Nearly-new ones are expensive enough on the used market that you’d usually be better off going new and taking advantage of captive finance rates. However, if you know where to look and are willing to plug in, you could still find a spectacularly depreciated deal. Something like the Audi E-Tron GT.

While this sedan shares a few familial cues with its combustion-powered siblings, it cuts a silhouette nothing like any other Audi, and there’s a reason for that. Underneath the single-frame faux grille, it’s effectively a reworked Porsche Taycan with more buttons on the inside. Same sort of 800-volt architecture for a DC fast charging peak transfer of 270 kW, same clever two-speed gearbox on the rear drive motor, same habit of exceeding its EPA-rated range. Alright, so it might not drive quite as sharply as a Taycan, but its dashboard is far more user-friendly with touches like physical climate control switches and a dedicated iPod-style wheel for stereo volume and track-skipping. That has to count for something, right?

Also shared with the Taycan, an eye-watering sticker price. When the E-Tron GT launched for 2022, it started at $100,945 including freight. Any trim, any configuration, it’s a six-figure car when new. However, because the badge on the front consists of four rings rather than a crest, it’s depreciated harder than its Stuttgart-fettled brother. In fact, you can now pick up an E-Tron GT for the price of a new mid-range Nissan Leaf.

Alright, so at $35,725 in mid-range SV+ trim, the new Leaf does officially hold an upper hand over the E-Tron GT in the form of range. As-specced, it’s rated for 288 miles of range, whereas the E-Tron GT has an official rating of 238 miles. That’s 21 percent more range, a number you’ll probably feel. However, in Edmunds range testing, the E-Tron GT did manage 273 miles on a charge, so the real delta might be closer than the numbers suggest. Still, the Leaf isn’t exactly a rocketship, and that’s where a used E-Tron GT could satisfy.

Take this grey 2022 example, up for sale in New Jersey. It’s done a mere 25,436 miles and is still just new enough to have a few months of factory bumper-to-bumper warranty left. Plus, it has a squeaky-clean history, yet its being unloaded for $33,499. That’s a 469-horsepower German sports sedan for small crossover money. In other terms, this car’s depreciated by $70,991 since it was first sold, which almost works out to an entire Nissan Versa a year, or $2.79 per mile. That’s an excruciating figure, but it’s certainly beneficial for whoever buys this E-Tron GT next.

Now, grey isn’t everyone’s color, even if it has a bit of a glacier tinge to it. Greyscale everything can make you feel blue, so how about a blue E-Tron GT as a bit of a lift? This 2022 example’s up for sale in Pennsylvania with 35,585 miles on the clock, a clean one-owner history, and the optional Performance Package. What’s in this package? Among largely cosmetic sundries, four-wheel-steering, variable assistance power steering, and torque vectoring. All this for $34,990.

Willing to travel for a really cheap example? This white 2022 E-Tron GT is up for sale in Missouri for a mere $31,900. Granted, it does have 69,253 miles on the clock, but its history report comes up clean, it’s had one owner, and it still looks properly fresh. Not a bad way of drawing bewildered stares from the neighbors as they wonder how you managed to put this sort of car in your driveway.

Now granted, a complicated, depreciated luxury sedan won’t be as reliable as a relatively simple new crossover. You usually won’t have a balance of factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, and that makes a difference for body electrics. Rear spoiler actuation was a known issue on early E-Tron GT models, and a replacement unit retails for around $520 plus fitting. Software glitches were also widely reported early on, although most of those, including one that led to a non-responsive accelerator pedal, should be patched now via software updates. As with many power-hungry cars, premature 12-volt battery failure isn’t unheard-of, but that’s largely the extent of widespread issues. Just keep a budget in reserve for that pesky spoiler, spare batteries, and tires.

So yeah, you can buy a four-year-old Audi E-Tron GT for the price of a new mid-range Nissan Leaf, and if you’re willing to put up with a few software gremlins and some minor potential fixes, it’s a whole lot of car for the money. Quick, posh, fast-charging, and with a few years of battery warranty remaining for peace of mind. Normally, these used-luxury-car-for-new-regular-car thought exercises are best left theoretical, but this one might actually be worth looking into.

Top graphic image: Audi

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