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Symptoms of a split personality usually call for a visit to the shrink. But at Porsche, vacillating between mid-engine and rear-engine convictions has proven healthy for the soul.

Maybe it's time for somebody to fire up the old Detroit Electric automobile company. That entity was the last major producer of electric-powered vehicles from Detroit, and its last car was delivered in 1939. With all the electric-car news from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, maybe it's time for somebody to pull a Phoenix move and get the company started again.

At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, GM's Mr. Rick Wagoner took center stage with a near-production version of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt (and the Volt's battery array, to Rick's right). The Chairman announced the following:

It's a like pumping 91 octane fuel into your muscle car that gets 14 mpg and exhales through pipes without catalysts ... that's the feeling your author gets as he ejects another set of AA batteries from his camera or other digital device. Even when I toss them into the recycling bin, I feel guilty for somehow contributing to the ill health of Mother Earth.