Review by Choice Review
In this excellent, well-organized book, Mitchell (MIT), Borroni-Bird (director, Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts, General Motors), and Burns (consultant; former vice president, research and development, General Motors) combine their design, engineering, and industry experience to explore the future of the automobile and urban transportation. The authors address current transportation problems, the ingrained industry status quo, and the fossil fuel/alternative fuel conflict by focusing on four key ideas. They include changing automobile design ("transform the DNA"), developing systems that allow drivers to share real-time travel and traffic information ("Mobility Internet"), linking electric cars with smart electric grids, and developing "real-time control capabilities for urban mobility and energy systems." The content is intelligent, well laid out, entertaining, understandable, and approachable. The graphics, including numerous tables, are clear and deliver pertinent and appropriate information. Often, works about the future of the automobile industry are just tools to express idealistic beliefs or anti-industry sentiments. This book is refreshing because the authors understand the whole package in terms of current problems, and their solutions, and succinctly present a glimpse of a future (and a present) that people can feel good about. Summing Up: Essential. All collections. C. J. Myers University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
