Electric Vehicle Books
Plug-in Hybrids points out that, where hydrogen fuel-cell cars won’t be ready for decades, the technology for plug-in hybrids exists today. Unlike conventional hybrid cars that can’t run without gasoline, plug-in hybrids use gasoline or cheaper, cleaner, domestic electricity—or both. Although plug-in hybrids are not yet for sale, demand for them is widespread, coming from characters across the political spectrum, such as:
- Chelsea Sexton, the automotive insider: working for General Motors, Sexton fought attempts to destroy the all-electric EV1 car and describes how car companies are resisting plug-in hybrids—and why they’ll make them -anyway.
- Felix Kramer and the tech squad: Kramer started a nonprofit organization using the Internet to tap into a small army of engineers who built the first plug-in Prius hybrids.
- R. James Woolsey, former CIA director and national security hawk: seeing the end of oil supplies looming, Woolsey is demanding plug-in hybrids to wean us from petroleum.
A stirring call to arms urging Americans to demand that the government act now to meet the challenges of global warming and to tackle the country's addiction to oil. Carson, former industry editor of The Economist, and Vaitheeswaran, who for ten years reported on environmental and energy issues for that magazine, take to task the automakers of Detroit and Big Oil, dubbing them "dinosaurs" facing extinction unless they change their thinking soon. The authors' closeup look at the workings of the auto industry is sharp and pulls no punches. They credit Toyota with taking the lead in the race to develop the successor to the internal-combustion engine, calling the Prius a stepping stone to the car of the future. The chapters on oil trace the story of America's dependence on Mideast oil from FDR's pact with Ibn Saud of Saudia Arabia in World War II to the terror-threatened market of the present day, and they consider the serious problems now facing the Western oil giants, especially the restricted access to reserves as competition from national oil companies increases.
This look at the global automobile industry explains how such a staggering number of autos came to be, and how we can sustain them all and the planet at the same time. The range of topics is wide; one of the most interesting chapters looks at the psychology of hybrid vehicle purchasers: "at least for the early buyers... it's about the symbolism of 'doing the right thing,' even if the individual contribution is infinitesimally small." The fortunes of fuel-sippers are also considered in relation to gas prices: in the year GM launched the Hummer brand and Toyota unveiled the Prius, gas prices at "near historic lows" made the Hummer ubiquitous in cities and suburbs. Elsewhere, Sperling and Gordon examine the problem of China's car ownership explosion, but return repeatedly to the "pioneering role" of California. Sperling and Gordon are upfront with their California ties(Sperling serves on the California Air Resources Board, Gordon has worked with the California Energy Commission, Gov. Schwarzenegger provides the foreword), and though they profile somegenuinely groundbreaking work, it can read more like public relations than objective reporting; further, some proposed solutions (personal "carbon budgets") read like parodies of Left Coast eco-liberalism.
This book provides a long-overdue vision for a new automobile era. The cars we drive today follow the same underlying design principles as the Model Ts of a hundred years ago and the tail-finned sedans of fifty years ago. In the twenty-first century, cars are still made for twentieth-century purposes. They're well suited for conveying multiple passengers over long distances at high speeds, but inefficient for providing personal mobility within cities—where most of the world's people now live. In this pathbreaking book, William Mitchell and two industry experts reimagine the automobile, describing vehicles of the near future that are green, smart, connected, and fun to drive. They roll out four big ideas that will make this both feasible and timely.
First, we must transform the DNA of the automobile, basing it on electric-drive and wireless communication rather than on petroleum, the internal combustion engine, and stand-alone operation. This allows vehicles to become lighter, cleaner, and "smart" enough to avoid crashes and traffic jams. Second, automobiles need to be linked by a Mobility Internet that allows them to collect and share data on traffic conditions, intelligently coordinates their movements, and keeps drivers connected to their social networks. Third, automobiles must be recharged through a convenient, cost-effective infrastructure that is integrated with smart electric grids and makes increasing use of renewable energy sources. Finally, dynamically priced markets for electricity, road space, parking space, and shared-use vehicles must be introduced to provide optimum management of urban mobility and energy systems.
The Chevrolet Volt was introduced to the motoring public with great fanfare in autumn 2008. Clean styling and creative engineering have created a tremendous buzz around the Volt, which is unlike any electric car to date. Chevrolet Volt takes you behind the scenes of the car's development from concept to finished product. With unprecedented access to the people that made the car happen, author Larry Edsall brings you behind the scenes with exclusive photography from General Motors. In-depth interviews of the designers, engineers, aerodynamicists, and other key figures reveal the hurdles and setbacks, advances and victories in the car's evolution. No other book offers the unrestricted access to the development of one of the most important cars from Detroit--ever!
Science writer Sherman's report on MIT-trained inventor/engineer James Worden, whose struggling company Solectria builds nonpolluting, efficient electric cars designed to replace today's gas-guzzlers, has irresistible appeal as a story of David and Goliath. But it also makes for an objective and provocative critique of the "Big 3" automakers. Sherman (The Rings of Saturn) contends that GM, Ford, Chrysler and the oil industry, fearful of an emerging alternative vehicle industry that could steal jobs and profits from Detroit, colluded to squelch regulatory mandates for zero-emission vehicles-mandates that might have led to widespread production of nonpolluting cars using advanced batteries, electrochemical fuel cells, supercapacitors and solar panels. Despite Pentagon funding, Solectria's Sunrise car is still essentially a prototype, which Worden will mainstream only if he clinches a joint-venture deal with a large automaker.
In 1995 the Virginia Power company hosted a competition for high schools in the mid-Atlantic region to convert conventional automobiles into electric vehicles (EVs). As it happened, out of habitual disregard for impoverished Northampton County in North Carolina, the company nearly forgot to invite the eventual winners. Aided by a handful of phenomenal teachers, some uncommonly bright and determined students and a pervading regional interest in automobiles fueled by NASCAR, the county was able to outperform schools of far greater pedigree and budget. Of course, the widespread, reflexive negative expectations provided no small motivation to the kids of Northampton County. They mastered problems involving electrical wiring, battery longevity, welding and aerodynamics in converting a 1985 Ford Escort to the aptly named—in more ways than one—"Shocker." A resident of Richmond, Va., Kettlewell (Skin Game) brings just the right regional flavor to a can't-miss true story reminiscent of the movie Breaking Away. The word "inspirational" is applied to too many books, but it comfortably fits this one, with its genuinely likable cast of unlikely achievers. This is essential reading for any serious environmentalist, as it makes the case that EVs might play even in the conservative South. Even more, it contains profound lessons that everyone involved in the educational system would do well to heed.
The history of electric freight and inter-urban commuter locomotives in the U.S. begins with their development in East Coast urban centers and continues their service in the present day. Railways that used or continue to use electric motive power in cities, suburbs and even over mountain passes - including the B&O, Pennsylvania, New Haven, New York Central, Norfolk & Western, Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road, and Amtrack - are depicted in period and modern color photography. This book also covers legendary electrics like the S-motors that towed steam powered trains through tunnels and into busy urban stations and several more. The text includes discussion on the roles played by GE and Westinghouse, specialized equipment, and how technology laid the groundwork for the development of diesel-electric locomotives prior to WW II.
The story of General Motors' first mass-produced electric car, the EV1 (at first, unfortunately, named the Impact). This project was decades in gestation, the early dreams of pollution and noise-free vehicles taking a long time to progress beyond visionary prototypes. This was partly because of opposition to the concept from oil companies and the automotive industry. Eventually a combination of government prodding and technological advances in battery design made it possible. Schnayerson describes the supportive role of GM chairman Robert Stempel and the tenacity of a group of true-believing engineers who kept the idea alive after Stempel was ousted.
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