Booklist: Forward Drive by Jim Motavalli

This book, written in 1992, is about "clean" aka "green" cars. I found it very interesting reading, to see the plot to replace our reliable cars with electric ones, 20 years later.


So okay, it's not a book about classic cars, but it's a book that perhaps foreshadows the doom of real cars and the freedom of the road.

Forward Drive: The Race to Build "Clean" Cars for the Future, by Jim Motavelli
Sierra Club, 2000
237 pages, plus People interviewed, Notes, Bibliography and index. No photos
Library: 629.22 Mot

Description
As alternative-fuel cars from major automakers are entering the US market-promising far better performance and range than the disappointing electric vehicles of past decades - "clean" cars are no longer being relegated to side-show status; they're about to take center stage.

Forward Drive presents the fascinating story of the race to build the cara of thefuture-ones that can help to address the problems (including global warming, fossil-fuel depletion, and urban sprawl) that have accompanied the rise and spread of traditional gas-powered cars.

The book traces the history of automobile development, including early attempts to create practical electric vehicles, and it explores new technologies for clean cars, especially hybrid (gas/electric) drives and hydrogen-based fuel cells.

In his research, author Jim Motavelli conducted extensive interviews with fuel-cell makers, energy researchers, and key auto-industry figures at GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Honda, giving us a clear picture of how US and foreign automakers are getting serious about clean cars.

With his passion for cars and his knowledge of their history and workings, he presents an insightful, informative and highly readable book about revolutionary cars on the immediate horizon.

Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Pulling the plug: A brief history of alternative motion
2. A dizzying ride: Internal combustion's rapid rise and coming decline
3. Engines of ingenuity: New technologies for the clean car
4. Road warriors and early adopters: living with a battery-operated EV
5. U-turn: The big three get serious about green cars
6. The Global green car: Germany and Japan on the Fast Track
7. Thinking about tomorrow: Visionaries, pessimists, and investors at the crossroads
8. Jump-starting the EV: Federal funding for alternative fuel
9. Clearing the air: Clean cars and sustainable transportation in the 21st century
People interviewed
Notes
Select bibliography
Index

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