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ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future
ZOOM The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future Author:Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Iain Carson "Zoom goes zero to sixty in nothing flat. It's an exciting ride into the future of the world's favorite physical object, the automobile." — -Gregg Easterbrook, author of THE PROGRESS PARADOX — "Zoom offers a new way to think about cars and energy that's key to understanding the forces shaping business t... more »oday. It's smart, well-informed and insightful--exactly what one would expect from two of The Economist's best journalists."
-Chris Anderson, author of THE LONG TAIL
"Zoomputs oil in its sights and squeezes off one telling round after another. Car lovers will see a sunny future with other fuels; OPEC a steadily darkening twilight."
-R. James Woolsey, VP, Booz Allen Hamilton; former Director of Central Intelligence
"An incisive analysis of the end of the petroleum age, including all its repercussions and opportunities."
-Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
ZOOM takes readers inside the global race to build the car of the future, as pioneers in Japan, India, China, and the USA tackle the challenge of creating automobiles that will run on cleaner energy sources. As the authors succinctly write: "Oil is the problem. Cars are the solution." We are living in the midst of a Great Awakening in which environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and political leaders are forming new alliances to end our addiction to oil and create new technologies. The days of Big Oil and Big Auto are numbered, according to the authors, who show how we are in the midst of a major transformation from carbon-based energy sources to new fuels and technologies.
ZOOM traces the history of the linked industries of oil and automobiles, the "industry of industries," and how the two have shaped domestic capitalism and the international landscape, creating both progress and peril. They explain how Toyota vanquished American competitors to become the world's largest automobile manufacturer and, more importantly, a leader in hybrid cars using electric power. They take us into the boardrooms of oil executives and show how some are boldly exploring new energy sources while others deny the dangers posed by oil and risk extinction. We meet the Thomas Edison of the 21st century, a legendary inventor whose revolutionary work is already having a positive impact on the environment and the economy.
With wide-ranging analysis and a keen view of the key players in the intersecting worlds of energy and automobiles, authors Iain Carson and Vijay Vaitheeswaran tell the story of what may be the most important challenge facing the industrial world: How to make the transition from the Age of Petroleum to a cleaner and better future.« less