Electric Vehicle Revolution - by Kenneth K Boyer (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book shows the promise, perils, and personalities of the world's automobile makers as they re-engineer a post-carbon present and future. Driving the narrative is the key to it all: the green transformation of the global auto parts supply chain and the commitment to electric vehicles.

Book Synopsis

This book shows the promise, perils, and personalities of the world's automobile makers as they re-engineer a post-carbon present and future. Driving the narrative is the key to it all: the green transformation of the global auto parts supply chain and the commitment to electric vehicles.

Review Quotes

A fascinating and compelling study of the rise of the electric vehicle from its origins until today, focusing on the well-known players but also less-well-known but important new firms such as Vietnam's VinFast. The book also examines the potential reinvention of how we make tires, in a bid to reduce emissions. An essential addition to the growing literature on the electric vehicle industry--which will be one of the key economic growth sectors this century.

Boyer, an author, professor, and self-proclaimed car enthusiast, tells a story about the automotive industry's evolution toward embracing electric vehicles, appealing because they help reduce carbon emissions and rely less on fossil fuels. Boyer is an advocate for electric vehicles and is passionate about the research that is ongoing, calling the transformation a "rebuilding of society." In this book, readers can take one of two journeys: read cover-to-cover, or pick and choose chapters. The book begins with an introduction and a strategic analysis of success factors for electric vehicles, followed by profiles of three well-known auto manufacturers, General Motors, Tesla, and Honda, as well as Vinfast, out of Vietnam. He forecasts their success in selling electric cars before shifting topics to environmental and societal change. Readers will be drawn to the conversational style and organization of the book, helping them grasp the industrial challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. This book is for those interested in the technological shift from gas-powered to electric vehicles, the future of the automotive industry, and the people who are impacted by the change.

Essential reading for those driving the EV industry transformation, The Electric Vehicle Revolution provides a captivating exploration of the global shift toward electrification. Boyer intricately weaves the stories of key players within his "three gears of change," establishing metrics for an organization's effectiveness in driving transformation. Mirroring our pursuits at the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center, these efforts underscore the pivotal role of innovation and collaboration in building momentum while shaping the future of transportation.

In his new book, The Electric Vehicle Revolution: Five Visionaries Leading the Charge, Kenneth K. Boyer captures and details critical insights regarding the birth and development of the EV revolution essential for understanding its impact and future course. He then goes beyond by surfacing and exploring the widespread implications this wave will have on society, energy, and the environment.

Kenneth K. Boyer is a car lover, an enthusiast, and a respecter of the automobile sector and its history who as a passionate observer has shared an honest, fascinating, understanding assessment of what is truly an electric vehicle revolution. He outlines in straightforward detail the history of the humanness of key auto industry visionaries, which he states were not always guaranteed success, and then digs deeply into the realities of the EV transition, including "elephants in the room" of global and domestic opportunities. He doesn't sugarcoat anything as he lays out on the table of our minds key realities from an environmental sustainability perspective, so many opportunities and challenges facing the automobile and mobility sectors, and the leaders that are transforming with extraordinary speed how we will be traveling to and from cities and towns across America in the future.

Kenneth K. Boyer's The Electric Vehicle Revolution focuses on a handful of companies and players at the forefront of EV evolution, while applying his own "gears of change" formula as a yardstick for success. A key cog, in Boyer's eyes, is transforming the supply network, an element that has been skillfully deployed by Elon Musk and his team, underpinning the success of EV leader Tesla.

Thank you, Kenneth K. Boyer, for empowering insights from leaders who are pushing vital and challenging frontiers. The Electric Vehicle Revolution: Five Visionaries Leading the Charge offers insights into their inspiring mindsets, practices, courage, and vulnerability. Further, the global automaker sector, from the industrial to the electric revolution, remains a critical realm for learning and impact. Boyer opens the hood, leveraging historic insights with deep modern research, unpacking patterns and variations across the visions of Elon Musk, Mary Barra, Pham Nat, Jim DeLuca, and Rob Hanson.

About the Author

Kenneth K. Boyer is a supply chain management researcher with over fifty peer-reviewed publications and the author of two prior books, Extending the Supply Chain and Operations and Supply Chain Management for the 21st Century. He is also a Fisher-designated professor of operations and business analytics in the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. Boyer has been researching and teaching supply chain management for three decades and has been an automobile enthusiast since riding in his father's 1965 Corvette Stingray. His first car was a Ford and he currently drives a Tesla Model 3. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.