ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future | 
 enlarge | Authors: Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Iain Carson
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $27.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 25465
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 044658004X
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.47629222
EAN: 9780446580045
ASIN: 044658004X
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Previously Circulated Library Book - Plastic jacket, library ownership labels, spine label, etc.
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Product Description
"Zoom goes zero to sixty in nothing flat. It's an exciting ride into the future of the world's favorite physical object, the automobile."
-Gregg Easterbrook, author of THE PROGRESS PARADOX
"Zoom offers a new way to think about cars and energy that's key to understanding the forces shaping business today. It's smart, well-informed and insightful--exactly what one would expect from two of The Economist's best journalists."
-Chris Anderson, author of THE LONG TAIL
"Zoom puts oil in its sights and squeezes off one telling round after another. Car lovers will see a sunny future with other fuels; OPEC a steadily darkening twilight."
-R. James Woolsey, VP, Booz Allen Hamilton; former Director of Central Intelligence
"An incisive analysis of the end of the petroleum age, including all its repercussions and opportunities."
-Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
"Oil is the problem. Cars are the solution."
Those two simple sentences by the authors of Zoom define the scope of their illuminating and important book, an examination of a transformation in business and culture that is occurring before our eyes.
We are living in the midst of a Great Awakening. People are seeking environmentally-sound alternatives to gas guzzlers. Detroit's reign is over. Oil companies, despite their billion-dollar profits, could be on the brink of extinction if they don't adapt. And citizens, all too aware that these industries have lobbied politicians into gridlock over energy policy, are mobilizing to support leaders who advocate new policies.
In Zoom, Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, award-winning correspondents for The Economist, show why and how geopolitical and economic forces are compelling the linked industries of oil and autos to change as never before.
Drawing on years of industry research-including dozens of interviews with motor and energy executives, top policymakers, and latter-day Fords and Edisons-Carson and Vaitheeswaran explain:
-How Toyota became the world's largest automaker through innovation and superior performance.
-Why American politicians have, for decades failed to address our energy issues and global warming-and how grassroots movements, along with individual entrepreneurs, innovators, and outsiders, are making real reform possible.
-How these Green revolutionaries are creating new products powered by hydrogen, electricity, bio-fuels, and digital technology.
As political leaders debate our energy, environmental and economic future, Zoom offers a lucid and visionary portrait of what that future could be. Anyone planning to vote will find compelling truth in its assertions and conclusions.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Zooms at the end April 28, 2008
Vijay's "Power to the people" was a pioneering work in highlighting the various issues including geo-political tensions, pollution, and the immediate need to find an alternate substitute for oil (My 5 star rating for this book on [...]). Since then, in direct correlation with and also perhaps in anger against the rise in oil prices, particularly the world's dependence on Middle East oil, several books have been published in the last 5 years. America and the Automobile that were once described as " The Siamese Twins" and Automobiles that was once hailed as "the Industry of Industries" suddenly became the sinner of them all. Emotions and rhetoric apart, facts need to be analyzed with a view to the future. This book scores well on this count.
The fact that the US Automobile companies have almost lost their race to "imports" particularly from Japan is no longer a secret. The path breaking MIT research that led to the excellent tome "The Machine that Changed the World" by Womack et al, gave a surgical 3 D view of the Japanese strengths that Uncle Sam could not emulate till date. Thanks of course for the money well spent on the project.
I do not understand why the authors have to take us back in history to narrate the old story again and again when we have well written books and reports on this topic.
Coming to the point, I expected the book to straight get into the topic (as I had expected from the title) "The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future". More than anything else, most of the book is about the past, without concrete conclusions or inferences about the future.
Many of the technologies, names of Companies doing research on Hydrogen Fuel Cells and other concepts are repeated from "Power to the people". In fact I got a little impatient till about two thirds of the book till which I came across nothing original except quotes from many well known publications and books published in the last 5 years.
At his point in time I could reflect on some of the best books that have done original work on the topic of Oil and the US Auto Industry.
-The End of Detroit by Michelin Maynard
-The End of Oil by Paul Roberts
-Twilight in the Desert - Matt Simmons
-Addicted to Oil - Ian Rutledge (A classic completely missed out in this book. I strongly recommend this book for your intellectual stimulation.)
Throughout the book, I remembered King Hubert, who had rightly forecast that oil will soon reach its peak output, at least on this planet. As I was reading the book, Oil had touched $[...], a new record.
Criticisms apart, the book has its own merits.
-Excellent read for those who want an overview of the Automobile Industry- Past, present and future.
-Non technical and easy to comprehend
-You are alone on a long train journey in a desert, and have nothing else to do.
-The last few chapters try discussing new technologies and you know nothing about technology.
Amidst this confusion Toyota leads the way in Hybrids. But if we are to apply the core concept of "The Innovators Dilemma" by Prof. Clayton Christen of Harvard Business School, incumbents may not be the winners in launching the car of the future. Keep "Googling" to find out who can give us the solution for a clean and green future!!
Good luck to those who have bought the book.
 Some good information, but doubts linger about accuracy March 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Zoom: the Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future" is a pretty good book. It reads much like a history lesson on oil, cars, and energy in general. I found that a bit over much as I was wanting to look more ahead to solutions, rather than rehash the mistakes and things of the past. Also I found some of the information rather sloppy. For example in several places the author makes reference to the EV1, the car GM created and then refused to sell to consumers. They only leased it. Yet on page 287 of "Zoom" the author writes, "...EV1, the sleek, all-electric car that was sold only in California..." How many other of these types of infractions are in the writing? Since I am not an auto engineer, I can only speculate, but it did make me wonder about the rest of the book. Nonetheless, the book does have some good points. And hopefully, there will be a car that gets us all away from oil.
 superfical old ideas January 28, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Very disappointing. Just a lot of tired old ideas - GM and oil company conspiracy theories. Not worth the money. I did not finish it.
The "False Founder" myth strikes again January 9, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Yak. These authors spend only 4 pages on Tesla, and not one word on the person(s) behind the car. Insted, they go on about Elan Musk of PayPal fame as it was his "invention" rather than something he invested on at a later time. The "False Founder" myth strikes again.
 Zooming Ahead - 'Making the Transition' January 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
ZOOM is a very well written and informative book with some interesting insights on our energy and transportation challenges, and possible solutions. Clearly the biggest challenge is getting the public and Washington aware of how serious our future energy issues are, and reducing our dependence on hydrocarbon fuels for transportation.
I learned alot from this book about the 'behind the scenes' issues and the overall world energy 'drivers', and how the US is no longer the primary market influence, except for pollution and Global Warming, where we lead the world! China will clearly become the influencing force as their citizens clamor to enjoy the benefits (and impacts) of owning their own cars, with 2 Billion people standing in line to share the (American) dream.
This is MUST reading for politicians, particularly those who think we can save Detroit by keeping the CAFE standards low. We don't need CAFE standards if the American public wakes up to the Reality of trying to Save our Planet! Toyota and other high efficiency imports are demonstrating that 50 mpg should be the Minimum efficieny Target, not 35 mpg as congress jokingly set for 2020!
The Wake-up Call may be $5/G gas for many, but should be the CO2 levels at 384 ppm, as we are dangerously close to the Tipping point, where there is NOTHING that we can do to save the planet, once we cross 450 ppm.
The authors should send a free copy of this inciteful book to every congressman and presidential candidate, so they understand that time is running out for our citizens, our economy, and our civilization.
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