Hamish McKenzie tells how a Silicon Valley start-up’s wild dream came true. Tesla is a car company that stood up against not only the might of the government-backed Detroit car manufacturers but also the massive power of Big Oil and its benefactors, the infamous Koch brothers.
The award-winning Tesla Model 3, a premium mass-market electric car that went on sale in 2018, has reconfigured the popular perception of Tesla and continues to transform the public’s relationship with motor vehicles--much like Ford’s Model T did nearly a century ago. At the same time, company CEO Elon Musk courts controversy and spars with critics through his Twitter account, just as Tesla’s ever-increasing debt teeters on junk bond status. . . .
As McKenzie’s rigorously reported account shows, Tesla has triggered frenzied competition from newcomers and traditional automakers alike, but it retains an edge because of its expansive infrastructure and the stupendous battery factory it built in the Nevada desert. The popularity of electric cars is growing around the world, especially in China, and McKenzie interviews little-known titans who have the money and the market access to power a global electric car revolution quickly and decisively.
"Insane Mode" started off as a feature on the dual-motor Tesla Model S, which gave the car Ferrari-like acceleration, but it’s also the perfect description of the operating cycle of a company that has sworn it won’t rest until every car on the road is electric. Here is a story about the very best kind of American ingenuity and its history-making potential. Buckle up!
哈米西．麥肯齊講述了一個矽谷新創公司的狂想如何實現的故事。特斯拉 (Tesla) 是一家汽車公司，不僅反對政府支持的底特律汽車製造商的龐大勢力，也反對石油巨頭及其捐助者的巨大力量─惡名昭彰的科赫兄弟。
屢獲殊榮的特斯拉Model 3是一款優質的大眾市場電動車，於2018年上市銷售，重新建立人們對特斯拉的看法，並繼續改變公眾與汽車的關係，就像福特的Model T近一個世紀前的貢獻。與此同時，公司執行長安隆．馬斯克通過他的推特帳戶引發了許多爭議和抨擊，就像特斯拉不斷增加的債務在垃圾債券地位上搖搖欲墜….
正如麥肯齊嚴正的說明顯示，特斯拉引發了新創和傳統汽車製造商的瘋狂競爭。但由於其龐大的基礎設施和在內華達州沙漠建造的巨大電池工廠，它仍保留了優勢。電動汽車的普及程度正在全球不斷增長，特別是在中國。麥肯齊採訪了那些有錢和市場准入確鮮為人知的巨頭，他們迅速而果斷地進行了全球電動汽車革命。
「瘋狂模式」是雙電機特斯拉Model S起始的一個特徵。這款汽車類似法拉利跑車般加速發展，但也完美地描述了一家公司的運營週期。該公司宣誓不會停下腳步直到路上每輛都是電動車。這是一個關於美國業界的獨創性及其創造歷史潛力的最好的故事。繫好安全帶出發吧！（譯者/徐琍沂&劉世明）