India, Dec. 6 -- The balance of power between electrics and conventional vehicles ebbs and flows, but nothing makes headlines like a broken Cybertruck!

'I was misquoted,' said Porsche CEO Oliver Blume. I had arrived at the company's headquarters in late October to formally hand over the German Car of The Year award. The Taycan had snatched victory against an impressive field of competitors. Besides the Porsche, the BMW 3 Series, the Mazda 3, the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot 208 had made it to the final round. Blume had just come from an automotive conference, where he supposedly gave an ultra-tight timeframe to replace internal combustion engines. As it turned out, he hadn't.

And that's a good thing. Despite the impressive qualities of the ...