Almost all of the material in this book is now dated, but I include Forward Drive as a cautionary tale about heralding change in the American auto industry.
Forward Drive was published in 2000. That was a point in time when it was plausible for author Jim Motavalli to wax enthusiastic about fuel cells, Amory Lovins’ attempt to manufacture a “hyper car” and Ford’s purchase of the TH!NK electric car company.
Alas, things didn’t turn out as planned, oftentimes for a reason that techno-greens don’t tend to pay enough attention to: Institutional change can be an agonizingly slow, two-steps-forward, three-steps-backward process in such a large, established industry with high barriers to entry and deeply entrenched groupthink.
The breathlessly positive tone of Forward Drive likely resulted in a larger readership than if Motavalli had adopted a more detached, analytical and measured tone — as he has done in his writings for The New York Times. However, the latter approach would have made a bigger journalistic contribution. And better withstood the test of time.
All that said, Motavalli was the right guy to write this book. He has long been one of the country’s most prominent “green” automotive journalists.
Forward Drive: The Race to Build ‘Clean’ Cars for the Future
- Motavalli, Jim; 2000
- Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA
“The GM EV1 has even more enthusiastic owners. They’ve formed a club, whose membership includes such entertainment industry figures as Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, Robin Williams, Kevin Nealon, and Alexandra Paul. Perhaps the dean of EV1 owners is actor Ed Begley Jr., who actually goes so far as to avoid riding in a gas-powered car.” (p. 83)
“‘Every new company needs a vision,’ says Nick Palmer, global brand manager of the overall TH!INK Group. ‘We want to be known for producing zero curbside emissions.’ Ford chairman William Clay Ford Jr. has an even broader interpretation. ‘TH!INK was established from the start as a brand that stands for true sustainable transportation,’ he said. ‘Not just zero emissions, but a target of complete recyclability and the use of renewable energy.'” (pp. 240-241)
“Although Lovins will need $250 million to actually get his hyper car into production and has raised only a fraction of that, he doesn’t lack confidence. I saw him speak on a panel at the 2000 Society of Environmental Journalists conference, and he coolly outlined plans for a vehicle with mind-boggling specifications. Lovins’s fuel-cell-powered all-wheel-drive car, which looks like a cross between an SUV and a minivan, would seat five, achieve the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon, reach 62 miles per hours in 8.3 seconds, weigh half as much as a Ford Explorer with better crash-worthiness, and travel 330 miles before needing a refill of hydrogen gas.” (p. 244)
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