When it comes to vehicle autonomy, you could hardly find someone more experienced than Larry Burns, who was deeply involved with GM’s autonomy and electrification efforts as Corporate VP of R&D and Planning from 1998 to 2009, and later an important consultant to Google’s Waymo. In “Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car –… Read more »
The “Dieselgate scandal,” or as we like to call it, the “dirty diesel debacle,” was a catalytic event (pun intended). It led to some major changes at Volkswagen, and shook up the European auto market. However, only time will tell how much of this change will prove to be permanent. The Volkswagen Group has announced… Read more »
The Tesla Revolution presents an overview of the impending transformation of the world’s transformation and energy systems. Some may find the title a bit of a misnomer – this isn’t a book about Tesla, but rather about the much broader topic of electromobility and renewable energy. However, to a remarkable extent, Tesla has been, and… Read more »
Power in Flux, by Ted Dillard, is an in-depth history of electric motorcycles. Any lover of two-wheeled speed will find it of interest, and for anyone involved in designing and building electric motorcycles, it is quite simply a must-read. Author Ted Dillard has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject, and he discusses the technical development… Read more »
Like Einstein, Picasso and Muhammad Ali, Elon Musk is a great aphorist. His pithy sayings are continually quoted in contexts ranging far beyond the techie press. In fact, whole web sites (shitelonsays.com) have been devoted to the utterances of the Californic oracle. Not all those who do great things are good at explaining how they… Read more »
Driving the Future, by former EPA official Margo Oge, tells the fascinating story of how the agency achieved a historic agreement with the auto industry to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions – an agreement that delivered cleaner air and millions of dollars in savings for consumers, and gave a huge boost to the growing… Read more »
This new book (written in March 2015) offers an overview of the world’s best-selling EV. It’s a slim volume (90 pages) that’s aimed at prospective purchasers, not at engineering types. There’s little in the way of technical detail, but if you’re considering buying a LEAF, you’ll find the answers to most of your questions here…. Read more »
How We Got to Now, by Steven Johnson, is a companion book to a TV series that was recently broadcast on PBS and BBC. It’s an excellent book that should be of interest not only to tech fans, but to anyone interested in history and social trends. The author examines five key technologies, and traces… Read more »
Ashlee Vance, the author of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, has had unprecedented access to his subject, spending many hours in face-to-face interviews with Musk. He has also spoken with many of Musk’s family members, friends and business associates, and has crafted a comprehensive biography that’s replete with details… Read more »
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, by Naomi Klein, is a powerful, important book, meticulously researched and beautifully written. I also found it a very disturbing book, and in a way I wish I hadn’t read it. The thesis is that the kind of action required to avert climate catastrophe is incompatible with the… Read more »