Bridgeport Public Library - Meet the Author: High Voltage

Today in Bridgeport:
Join Jim Motavalli for a discussion of his fascinating new book, High Voltage

When: 2:00 PM on Saturday November 19th, 2011
Where: Bridgeport Public Library – Fine Arts room
925 Broad Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604

Electric automobiles in Connecticut are not a new phenomena. Electric cars were built as early as 1897 in Fairfield County. This riveting book by Jim Motavalli explores the current race to market the electric car.

The auto industry of 2020 is likely to be very different from the field of troubled auto giants we see today. Just as in the 1980s it was unimaginable that the home computer would become as common and easy to use as a toaster, so the days of electric cars and plug-in charging stations seem like something still far off in the future.

But the combination of technological breakthroughs and charging networks driven by global warming and peak oil makes it clear that revolutionary change in the auto industry is happening right now.

In High Voltage, Jim Motavalli documents the evolution from the internal combustion engine to electric power, catching the industry in a period of profound change. Personality-driven and dramatic, the book chronicles the race to dominate the market, focusing on big players like Tesla and Fisker, as well as a tiny start-up and one female-led battery supplier. Motavalli charts the changes to come in the industry— a future where we will live on a smart grid, our cars “fueling,” i.e. charging, while we shop or sleep. But the ramifications for the larger picture that Motavalli explores will be massive—altering foreign policy, reducing trade deficits, and perhaps even ending global warming.

JIM MOTAVALLI is the author of Forward Drive, Naked in the Woods and several other books. He blogs on clean cars for the New York Times, CBS, and NPR’s Car Talk, among others. He lives in Fairfield, Connecticut. 
When:           2:00 PM Saturday November 19th, 2011
Where:         Bridgeport Public Library – Fine Arts room
                               925 Broad Street
                              Bridgeport, CT 06604
 
For more information contact:

Mary Witkowski
203-576-7417
mwitkowski @ bridgeportpubliclibrary.org
 
Jim Motavalli
203-610-0549
jmotavalli @ gmail.com
www.jimmotavalli.com