Customer Reviews

Forward Drive: The Race to Build "Clean" Cars for the Future

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an alternative fuels engineering research student at the University of Liverpool, UK. I found Forward Drive to be both informative and quantitatively sound. An excellent account of each particular type of fuel cell vehicle, provided any reader with relatively little knowledge, a picture of the intrinsic complexities related to the commercialisation of fuel cell vehicles. Although Jim may be opinionated on fuel cell vehicles, adequate justification was placed upon the diminish of the internal combustion engine and necessity of the fuel cell vehicle for the future sustainability of transportation.

I would recommend this book as a fascinating read even if you are not an auto enthusiast (I'm not) or an environmentalist (who doesn't want clean air?), like the author. The writing that comes out of those two communities is generally dreadful, biased, and didactic. Thankfully, Motavalli's background as a first rate journalist has resulted in a book that is both balanced and well written.

The history of the auto industry itself is quite colorful, and I would have indulged Mr. Motavalli a book twice the size if he wanted to tell even more of the story than he did. Maybe in another book.

It's always a pleasure to find non-fiction that is actually entertaining to read. But of course this is more than just entertainment, since there is a lot at stake for all of us here. More than fun, this is an important book. He clearly makes the point that clean cars are not a nice-to-have, they are extremely critical if we are to have an inhabitable planet. We can't afford for the 400 million more cars in China -- let alone the rest of the world -- to be the polluters and fossil fuel consumers we now drive.

I was impressed by the level of research. Motavalli even lists the names and titles of all the people he interviewed -- a rarity, and proof of the meticulous research he did, although the depth of his knowledge and it's authenticity is obvious from the text.

This is a timely and important book, and I hope it raises a lot of consciousness. But at any rate you'll learn enough interesting tidbits to make you the hit of the next 50 cocktail parties. Especially if you drive there in a new hybrid car.

"Forward drive" is a pleasure to read, written by Jim Motavalli, who is well-versed in his subjects. Reading this book is one of the few things today that makes me feel like I'm actually in the 21st century, not stuck in the 90's and never progressing. The book has a wealth of information not found in any other book, and there are only a few books about the future of automobiles. I had no idea that big automakers were not really in a hurry to give us a truly revolutionary car with a new power source; it seems the profit margin was less for holding off in research and development because of some link with oil companies. I mean, come on, it's the year 2001! Where are all the cars like we saw in Bladerunner? Are we still stuck using twenty-miles to the gallon gasoline internal-combustion engines? What is the message from automakers when cars depicted in video games, for example, seem more real than the actual future? Why isn't there yet a car that is beyond what we have?

The book discusses much needed information about "the race" to build cleaner cars, and that a car with no emissions--a technological difficulty in itself--is actually possible. The questions of fuel efficiency, speed, power and appeal of futuristic cars are also addressed, indicating the knowledgeability of the author. Key among the topics of "Forward Drive" is affordability. I would not pay $100,000 to drive a non-polluting car, simply because I'm not willing to pay that much just to drive.

Motavalli, editor of "E:" magazine, clearly shows his love for the craft of writing nonfiction. "Forward drive" cannot be fully absorbed in only a skimming or a preview; it takes a dedicated block of time to actually read its pages carefully. I have found it very helpful as a reference in the book that I am writing. This book is one of those you don't want to bring to the second-hand store if you have any concern at all about the future--which is actually right now. Highly recommended for intelligent minds. It's about time we have some new information about something that affects the majority of Americans: driving. Buy "Forward drive," you won't be disappointed.

Forward Drive is a well-documented and welcome piece on the changes taking place in powering cars. Jim Motavalli's research reveals how the "electric car" is a far from a new idea since electric cars were quite commonplace in the early 20th century. The book describes how the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) have only recently, and somewhat reluctantly, joined the race to produce fuel-efficient cars while continuing to produce SUV's that make a mockery of CAFÉ standards. Fortunately others such as Honda are in the forefront of the effort to bring more fuel-efficient and less-polluting vehicles to the public. The book has a chapter detailing the advances in fuel technology going on at such places as Ballard Laboratory. Also fascinating are examples of other fuel cell applications such as its use in energy production. While the section on how the fuel cell works were a bit technical, Motavalli's opus is an exciting look into the future where our skies will be less smog-ridden and our dependence on petroleum reduced.

The author claims to have written this book mostly in 1998. My edition has an afterward from a few years later. In any case, 1998 was a year in which things looked much different for alternate-energy cars. On the positive side, this book has a lot of interesting information about the history of cars in general and non-gasoline cars specifically. It is good for a background read. About the second half of the book deals with ideas for electric, hydrogen, hybrid and other types of non-gasoline-powered cars. That's where the book gets a little dicey. The first issue I have is the dizzying array of people and ideas presented. Sometimes it's hard for a layperson to get a solid grasp on what's more likely to be successful. The second problem is obviously the date of the book. GM's legendary "killing" of their electric car and 8 years of President Bush's oil-centric energy policies ended up making the book look overly optimistic. For example, the author on many occasions cites estimates of how many electric or fuel cell cars will likely be on the road by 2002 or 2004. These numbers, of course, didn't happen. So in some ways, you could transfer the optimism of the book to 2008 and say that the ideas the author suggests could be realized by 2004 might actually happen by 2014. In any case, this appears to be a highly respected book, and I give it 4 stars because it really does do a nice job of presenting background material that's worth knowing. I even learned a few new things even though I've read a number of books on this topic already.

this is the most exciting and interest book i have ever read on cars. I have found out so much information on cars of the future it is amazing. Jim Motavalli does a great job of explaining how these cars will work to the average person who doesnt know alot about cars.

Environmentalists every stripe probably sit and wonder why they cannot seem to get any traction with their anti-gas guzzler campaign, and this lunatic raving is the perfect example of why that is. Motavalli has a wealth of facts and data at his disposal, but his potentially rational arguments are crowded out by his shrill denunciations of auto executives, auto workers and consumers, all of whom he scorns for not being as enlightened as he likes to think he is. Motavalli's fault is not in his material, but in his presentation. He could very well have made a profound impact with this book, much in the way Eric Schlosser did in the expose Fast Food Nation. Yet because Motavalli can't help but being hysterical for hysteria's sake, the reader comes away with the feeling that he has just attended a meeting of the Anti-Automobile Front, or some such extremist group where ecoterrorism is considered moderate. Too bad. This book, by accident to be sure, adds another victory to Detroit: it shows how irrational and extreme its critics are, and thus makes the dinosaurs in Detroit look reasonable by comparison. No wonder no one takes Motavalli seriously enough to propel him onto the bestseller list.

This book is just flat out amazing. I read it every night, and that's a lot of reading (272 pages a night). Anyways, trust me, it talks about cars that are developing, such as electric and nitrogen...Peace out fools