Insane Mode Audiobook By Hamish McKenzie cover art

Insane Mode

How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Insane Mode

By: Hamish McKenzie
Narrated by: Hamish McKenzie
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A USA Today New and Noteworthy Title

"You’ll tell me if it ever starts getting genuinely insane, right?" (Elon Musk, TED interview)

Hamish McKenzie tells how a Silicon Valley start-up's wild dream came true. Tesla is a car company that stood up against not only the might of the government-backed Detroit car manufacturers but also the massive power of Big Oil and its benefactors, the infamous Koch brothers.

The award-winning Tesla Model 3, a premium mass-market electric car that went on sale in 2018, has reconfigured the popular perception of Tesla and continues to transform the public's relationship with motor vehicles - much like Ford's Model T did nearly a century ago. At the same time, company CEO Elon Musk courts controversy and spars with critics through his Twitter account, just as Tesla's ever-increasing debt teeters on junk-bond status....

As McKenzie's rigorously reported account shows, Tesla has triggered frenzied competition from newcomers and traditional automakers alike, but it retains an edge because of its expansive infrastructure and the stupendous battery factory it built in the Nevada desert. The popularity of electric cars is growing around the world, especially in China, and McKenzie interviews little-known titans who have the money and the market access to power a global electric car revolution quickly and decisively.

Insane Mode started off as a feature on the dual-motor Tesla Model S, which gave the car Ferrari-like acceleration, but it's also the perfect description of the operating cycle of a company that has sworn it won't rest until every car on the road is electric. Here is a story about the very best kind of American ingenuity and its history-making potential. Buckle up!

©2018 Hamish McKenzie (P)2018 Penguin Audio
Biographies & Memoirs Entrepreneurship Business Transportation
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Interpret it as a business book about overcoming the odds, or as an introduction to the alternative energy revolution in the works, or a portrait of a fascinating, strange person, or a wicked cool book about cars - or all of these." (Literary Hub, "Every Day is Earth Day: 365 Books to Start Your Climate Change Library")

"A must-read for everyone interested in cars, entrepreneurship, alternative energy, and deeper insights into out-of-the-box thinking, working, and living." (Booklist)

"McKenzie has delivered a narrative that both fascinates and frustrates: Musk’s passion for a clean-energy future is contagious, but at the same time it’s painful to see the struggle of the electric-car industry to widen its market and win over more consumers. Insane Mode will leave you wondering how different our roads would look if we embraced a technology that almost seems inevitable, batteries included." (The Washington Post)

What listeners say about Insane Mode

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Deceptive Title Leads to Disappointing Book

I know the author Hamish McKenzie put a lot of work into this new book because the amount of details it contains on the topic of electric powered vehicles world-wide. What this book is not by any means is the story of Tesla or the Model 3's manufacturing challenges, which the title ... Insane Mode is referencing to capitalize on a story many people who follow, own and admire Tesla's efforts would love to hear.

Several times during listing to this book I wanted to return it. First because of feeling mislead by the title, second, because I was learning very little that is not already published about Electric Vehicles in the public domain. and thirdly, It more a story of one persons' journey through meetings and/or thoughts about the key players in the current quest to build and sell the best electric and autonomous car. I am not saying don't purchase this book as much as I think potential listeners need to be forewarned not to judge this book by its title and cover.

Something went