Synopses & Reviews
The global competition to dominate the worldand#8217;s largest manufacturing industryand#8212;the $3 trillion automotive sectorand#8212;has set off a high stakes race for money, power, and the car of tomorrow. And America has a secret weapon.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Begun in 1896 by Henry Ford, the Great Race has been a century-long battle for market share, profit, and technological dominance in the international automobile industry. Today that twentieth century behemoth is in the throes of a final revolution. Its future will include cars Ford would scarcely recognize. They will drive themselves, wonand#8217;t consume oil, and will come in radical new shapes and sizes.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;It is a story of American resurgence. Over half a century, America dominated the contests for mass production, weaponization, and exports. But starting in the 1970s Americaand#8217;s fortunes began to decline. After a close brush with extinction, Americaand#8217;s auto giants are again in fighting form.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;This battle among industrial superpowers has been defined by audacious upstarts, visionaries, corporate titans, engineers, politicians, and luckand#8212;both good and bad. Today the hottest action is in the worldand#8217;s three largest economies, China, Japan, and America. Team America has a surprising secret to success: a small group of technology activists from the state of California. The story of why and how these men and women were able to shape the future of the worldand#8217;s largest manufacturing industry is one of the centuryand#8217;s greatest, most illuminating, and most unexpected tales of strategy, markets, and innovation.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;The Great Race andlt;/Iandgt;is a bare-knuckled fight among nations for the commanding heights of the global economy. Money, power, and the planetand#8217;s future hang in the balance as corporations and countries struggle amidst the galloping pace of change. Tillemannand#8217;s breathtaking account explains just how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future.
Review
Like no other book, andlt;Iandgt;The Great Raceandlt;/Iandgt; captures the drama of a global competition for markets and new technology that will change the automotive world and indeed the world in which we all live. It is a gripping read and likely to become a classic. Tillemannand#8217;s experience as a tech entrepreneur, skill as a linguist (he is fluent in four languages), and expertise on energy policy (he is an advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy) all give him access to unique insights. Iand#8217;ve been amazed at his ability to get and#8220;insideand#8221; in China and Japan and firmly believe that no one else could have written this book. The result is an epochal story of leadership, money, power, global competition and innovation, and Tillemann has told it superbly. andlt;Iandgt;The Great Raceandlt;/Iandgt; is truly a story for our time. Whether your "thingand#8221; is the clash of nations or the battle for global markets or how fast you can get from zero to 60, youand#8217;ll like andlt;Iandgt;The Great Race.andlt;/Iandgt; Indeed, andlt;Iandgt;The Great Raceandlt;/Iandgt; is, simply put, a great read.
Review
andlt;iandgt;"The Great Raceandlt;/iandgt; captures the drama of a global competition for markets and new technology that is changing the auto industry and indeed the world in which we all live. It is a gripping read that takes us inside critical decisions in China and Japan and the United States. Tillemannand#8217;s experience as a tech entrepreneur focused on cars, his skill as a linguist (he is fluent in Chinese and Japanese), and his expertise on energy policy enable him to bring unique insights. The result is an epochal saga of leadership, money, power, global competition and innovation; and Tillemann tells it all superbly. Whether your "thingand#8221; is the clash of nations or the battle for global markets -- or how fast you can get from zero to 60 -- youand#8217;ll like andlt;iandgt;The Great Race andlt;/iandgt;a lot. Indeed, you will race through it!"
Review
"No one is better positioned to write this book than Levi Tillemann. This book has much to say about how governments can succeed and also fail. Above all, andlt;iandgt;The Great Raceandlt;/iandgt; is a Great Read."
Review
"It is simply the best book out there on not just electric vehicles, but the complicated nexus between innovation, energy security and smart energy policy for the 21st century."
Review
and#8220;If you like cars, you will love this book. If you care about climate change, you will love this book. And if you want to find out how the United States is retaining its competitive and innovative edge in the world, in a tale that reads like a spy novel, you will love this book!and#8221;
Review
"Tillemannand#8217;s vivid story of capitalism, innovation and politics in the international economy hits the mark. The Great Race brilliantly captures the three-way tug of war between industry, the government and markets and how it inexorably drives the global auto industry forward."
Review
and#8220;To explain the scramble for the next-generation autoand#8212;and the roles played in that race by governments, auto makers, venture capitalists, environmentalists and private inventorsand#8212;comes Levi Tillemannand#8217;s and#8220;The Great Raceand#8221;and#8230; Mr. Tillemann seems ideally cast to guide us through the big ideas percolating in the worldand#8217;s far-flung workshops and labs. He is an inventor himself: With his father and brothers, he conceived a gasoline engine, the IRIS, that is smaller and theoretically more efficient than standard designs of the same output, and over the past decade the design has won attaboys from NASA and ConocoPhillips.and#8221;
Review
"Mr Tillemann, an energy expert, writes about the car guys with the grasp of an insider. This seems to have been gained from founding a company which tried to bring a low-emission car engine to market and by the rigour of having led negotiations with Detroit. Fluent in Chinese and Japanese, he is able to take the adventure to the heart of the worldand#8217;s other automotive powers.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Free-market and small-government purists will find much to quibble with here, but the author is skilled, and sometimes relentless, at highlighting the ability of official industrial policy to work in the public interest. and#8220;Since the time of Henry Ford,and#8221; he writes, and#8220;no automobile industry in the world had ever become internationally competitive without . . . government intervention.and#8221;
Synopsis
The Great Race recounts the story of a century-long battle between automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominance and a race to build the car of the future.
The world s great manufacturing juggernaut the $2 trillion automotive industry is in the throes of a revolution. Its future will include cars Henry Ford and Karl Benz could scarcely have imagined. They will drive themselves, won t consume oil, and will come in radical shapes and sizes. But the path to that future is fraught. The top contenders are two traditional manufacturing giants, the United States and Japan, and a newcomer, China.
Team America has a powerful and little known weapon in its arsenal: a small group of technology buffs and regulators from California. The story of why and how these men and women could shape the future how you move, how you work, how you live on earth is an unexpected tale filled with unforgettable characters: a scorned chemistry professor, a South African visionary who went for broke, an ambitious Chinese expat, a quixotic Japanese nuclear engineer, and a string of billion-dollar wagers by governments and corporations.
Tillemann s account is incisive and riveting. It explains how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future."
Synopsis
andlt;Iandgt;The Great Raceandlt;/Iandgt; recounts the story of a century-long battle between automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominanceand#8212;and a race to build the car of the future.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The worldand#8217;s great manufacturing juggernautand#8212;the $2 trillion automotive industryand#8212;is in the throes of a revolution. Its future will include cars Henry Ford and Karl Benz could scarcely have imagined. They will drive themselves, wonand#8217;t consume oil, and will come in radical shapes and sizes. But the path to that future is fraught. The top contenders are two traditional manufacturing giants, the United States and Japan, and a newcomer, China.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Team America has a powerful and little known weapon in its arsenal: a small group of technology buffs and regulators from California. The story of why and how these men and women could shape the futureand#8212;how you move, how you work, how you live on earthand#8212;is an unexpected tale filled with unforgettable characters: a scorned chemistry professor, a South African visionary who went for broke, an ambitious Chinese expat, a quixotic Japanese nuclear engineer, and a string of billion-dollar wagers by governments and corporations. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Tillemannand#8217;s account is incisive and riveting. It explains how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future.
About the Author
Levi Tillemann is currently a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He was previously an advisor to the US Department of Energyand#8217;s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis (EPSA) where he chaired the departmentand#8217;s Autonomous and Connected-vehicles Energy (ACE) Working Group. Prior to that, Tillemann served as the CEO of IRIS Enginesand#8212;a company he founded with his inventor father to develop a smaller, more efficient and more powerful combustion engine. Tillemann also assisted Daniel Yergin in writing and researching his andlt;iandgt;New York Times andlt;/iandgt;bestsellers andlt;iandgt;The Quest andlt;/iandgt;and a new edition of andlt;iandgt;The Prize. andlt;/iandgt;He has a PhD from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and speaks Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.