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Happy Wednesday! It's October 21, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning's edition we're looking at the Starlink slowdown in Ukraine, and the EU's bid to hamper its own emissions regulations. We'll also look at U.S. emissions regs that encourage offshoring production, and Toyota's latest recall.
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1st Gear: Elon Musk, with the White House, ordered the Starlink slowdown that hampered the Ukrainian military
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Last week, Starlink imposed a speed limit on Ukrainian military usage, making it impossible for the nation to communicate with its drones. Starlink boss Elon Musk blamed the White House for the slowdown, but the White House blamed Musk. Now, apparently, we have an answer to who's truly to blame: Both of them. From the Wall Street Journal:
WASHINGTON—Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.
...
Some U.S. officials say that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn't specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. But a person familiar with the situation said Musk talked to multiple senior administration officials, including with Trump, before imposing the new speed cap, which Ukrainian officials said had allowed Russian missiles to evade their defenses.
...
On Oct. 10, just days before Starlink speeds slowed, Trump said he told Zelensky, "'You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don't hit the refineries because that's a world problem.' And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop."
Musk responded to a White House video of those remarks on X: "Zelensky has gone too far."
The Wall Street Journal certainly seems to imply that Musk got the idea for the slowdown from Trump or his inner circle, but it leaves open the possibility that Musk acted alone — perhaps he heard Trump complain in that private meeting about Ukrainian drones, and went out on his own to offer a solution. We may be in the "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" era of U.S. government.
2nd Gear: The EU is aiming to kneecap its own emissions laws
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The EU has had some of the most forward-looking emissions regulations anywhere in the world, with a goal of getting internal combustion completely out of new car dealerships starting in 2035. Now it seems that goal is off the table, as automakers will be allowed to continue burning gasoline. From Automotive News:
Europe's automakers are moving closer to winning respite from an effective ban on combustion engines from 2035 after key groups in the European Parliament struck a deal to ease emissions rules for the sector.
Lawmakers from the center-right European People's Party, the center-left Socialists and the liberal Renew group reached an accord under which automakers including BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen Group would only have to cut emissions by 87.5 percent by 2035, with a further 7.5 percent offset through the use of green steel, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.
"The agreement in the European Parliament is a success for the European automotive industry," said Manfred Weber, chairman of the EPP group. "The ban on the internal combustion engine is off the table. This is good news for hundreds of thousands of workers in the European automotive industry."
Like everything else that happens on emissions, this is putting corporate profits over the continued habitability of our planet. Simply, and without hyperbole, gasoline cars are hurting our ecosystem — regulators could ban them, but automaker complaints about lost profits are more important.
3rd Gear: New CAFE regulations want automakers to move production away from the U.S.
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CAFE has already been all but defanged, but NHTSA is sill finding ways to mess with it. A new rule change for 2030 will reclassify some less-regulated light trucks as more-regulated passenger cars, but only for domestic models — imports will remain less stringently controlled. That's not a great look for an administration supposedly laser-focused on onshoring manufacturing. From Automotive News:
A new rule from NHTSA may inadvertently prompt manufacturers to use more foreign components and assemble more vehicles overseas, or force them to seek a special exemption.
The new way of divvying up vehicles into groups starting with the 2030 model year will categorize many vehicles previously considered light trucks as passenger cars, and there are standards for domestic passenger cars that do not exist for domestic light trucks.
To make a domestic vehicle comply with the fuel economy standard, "you could add technology and cost to the vehicle, or you could potentially ... offshore part of the part supply or labor for that vehicle, and reclassify that vehicle as an import vehicle," a standard that offers more cushion, said Tom Stricker, senior policy adviser at Van Ness Feldman LLP.
Of course, none of this matters all that much. There are no longer any fines for flying in the face of CAFE, so it may as well be one of those blue-book laws that forbids carrying ice cream cones in your pockets. It's mostly there for decoration, not really for enforcement.
4th Gear: Toyota is recalling nearly 106,000 Land Cruisers for fire risk
Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images
Yesterday, Ford recalled six figures' worth of cars. Today it's Toyota's turn, focusing on the new Land Cruiser's hybrid drivetrain. The issue: A connector on the fuel tank can come loose and leak gasoline. From Reuters:
Oct 21 (Reuters) – Toyota is recalling 105,794 vehicles in the US over a potential fuel leak that could raise the risk of fire if it reaches an ignition source, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday.
Here are some details:
The recall involves certain 2024-2027 Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid vehicles, the auto safety regulator said
Leaking gas into your car isn't fantastic, even if it doesn't catch on fire. Gas eats away at many materials, and doesn't smell great in the enclosed interior of a car regardless. Get thee to a dealership, and get your extra hose clamps.
Reverse: Doesn't it look like a fancy coffee maker?
The kind of coffee maker you find in your grandmother's basement. Maybe it only does espresso.
The Fuel Up
AAA
Things are good, and always will be! Forever!
On The Radio: The Front Bottoms - 'Santa Monica'
I wanna confess it in a whisper that's just loud enough to make out.