ZOOM

The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future

By: Iain Carson, Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran

Narrated by: Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran

Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

ZOOM takes listeners inside the global race to build the car of the future, as pioneers in Japan, India, China, and the United States tackle the challenge of creating automobiles that will run on cleaner energy sources. The authors write that "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, 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.

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.

©2007 Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran (P)2007 Hachette Audio

A Review of the News By Techno-optimists

If you haven't been reading the newspaper, this is for you: a primer on what's been going on in energy and autos for the last ten to fifteen years. Certainly cheery, but probably overly-optimistic.