| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-10-29 |
| Size | | Length: | 224 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 18.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
The engaging story of James Worden's struggle to produce the first commercially successful electric car. 19 illustrations.
Industry Reviews
Business is business, and the people in the car business will tell you that electric cars don't sell. Sherman (In the Rings of Saturn, LJ 10/15/93) chronicles the Solectria Corporation's efforts to develop and market such a car. These aren't car guys but scientists and engineers working to do something for the environment while trying to grab a piece of a very small niche market. The story is a roller coaster of triumphs and setbacks with a somewhat pessimistic ending. Although alternative fuel vehicles are already offered by large car manufacturers, they are expensive and not popular with buyers. Sherman notes that the future for these vehicles may lie in the work of small companies such as Solectria, with the larger automakers distributing their products. Despite a misspelling in the review galley of the well-known Italian design and styling company Pininfarina, which one hopes will be corrected in the final book, this interesting account should be strongly considered for public libraries as well as research collections. Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence
Bernstein
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. Now GM, Chrysler, Toyota and others are making electric vehicles (EVs), but Sherman believes that with the corporate giants in control of EV development, they will defuse the clean-car movement. While his narrative may be a promotional showcase for Solectria, it is nonetheless an exciting and important book about technology, environment and corporate politics. Illustrated. Editor, Herb Addison. (Sept.)
Bukey
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