Book Name : Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla sparked an Electric Revolution to end the age of Oil.
Author: Hamish McKenzie
Genre : Non-Fiction/Transportation
Book Post : 29
What is it about?: This a breezy, casual and a general account of electric car maker Tesla's story. Right from its beginning, to the challenges it faced and how it overcame all the hurdles to establish its presence in an industry which is notorious for its extremely high barriers to entry, this book traces it all.
How I came to read it : I randomly stumbled upon this book as I was casually checking out the books in the local library in downtown. EVs have always on my list to know more about so this seemed like a perfect introduction into the subject.
Did I like it? : Its one of those books that you can finish reading quickly and it doesn't place too much demand on your mind. But that exactly makes it a breezy read. I read most of the book on my commute to work. Part 1 of the book starts off with the experience of the author and his father trying out a Tesla EV to check out how it feels. He then goes on to explain some of the issues or worries that people have with the concept of electric cars with range anxiety being one of them. Part 2 then shifts to Tesla's beginnings and how Elon Musk came into this industry. There is a lot of background on the work China was doing and continues to do in the area of EVs. Part 3 concludes with again a general outlook towards how Tesla survived when many of its competitors had written it off and also at the future of the EV industry and finally how the very competitors who had mocked Tesla had finally entered the EV market.
Fun fact:
Of all the new American car companies started in the last 100 years only 2 have managed to survive in spite of the demanding challenges of the Auto industry : Chrysler and Tesla.
