Car Wars

2015 | Transportation

Starting with the early days of the electric car, Fialka documents the M.I.T./Caltech race between prototypes in the summer of 1968 and takes readers up to visionaries like Elon Musk and the upstart young Tesla Motors. Today, the electric has captured the imagination and pocketbooks of American consumers. Organizations like the US. Department of Energy and the state of California, along with companies from the old-guard of General Motors and Toyota have embraced the once-extinct technology. The electric car has steadily gained traction in the U.S. and around the world. We are watching the start of a trillion dollar, worldwide race to see who will dominate one of the biggest commercial upheavals of the 21st century. Drawing from the last decade of his 26-year career at the Wall Street Journal, where he covered energy and environmental matters, ClimateWire founder and industry insider John Fialka recounts the creation and eventual acceptance of the electric car in this thorough, historical look at a subculture, the captains of industry and the technology that made the whole thing possible.

John J. Failka (Author)