Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century - Couverture rigide

Mitchell, William J.; Borroni-Bird, Chris E.; Burns, Lawrence D.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0262013827 ISBN 13 : 9780262013826

Editeur : The MIT Press, 2010

Synopsis

This book provides a long-overdue vision for a new automobile era. The cars we drive today follow the same underlying design principles as the Model Ts of a hundred years ago and the tail-finned sedans of fifty years ago. In the twenty-first century, cars are still made for twentieth-century purposes. They're well suited for conveying multiple passengers over long distances at high speeds, but inefficient for providing personal mobility within cities--where most of the world's people now live. In this pathbreaking book, William Mitchell and two industry experts reimagine the automobile, describing vehicles of the near future that are green, smart, connected, and fun to drive. They roll out four big ideas that will make this both feasible and timely. First, we must transform the DNA of the automobile, basing it on electric-drive and wireless communication rather than on petroleum, the internal combustion engine, and stand-alone operation. This allows vehicles to become lighter, cleaner, and "smart" enough to avoid crashes and traffic jams. Second, automobiles will be linked by a Mobility Internet that allows them to collect and share data on traffic conditions, intelligently coordinates their movements, and keeps drivers connected to their social networks. Third, automobiles must be recharged through a convenient, cost-effective infrastructure that is integrated with smart electric grids and makes increasing use of renewable energy sources. Finally, dynamically priced markets for electricity, road space, parking space, and shared-use vehicles must be introduced to provide optimum management of urban mobility and energy systems. The fundamental reinvention of the automobile won't be easy, but it is an urgent necessity--to make urban mobility more convenient and sustainable, to make cities more livable, and to help bring the automobile industry out of crisis.Four Big Ideas That Could Transform the Automobile* Base the underlying design principles on electric-drive and

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

"It isn't technological barriers so much as closed minds that are holding back the necessary evolution of the automobile; using calm and devastatingly inarguable logic, this is a virtual step-by-step manual that deploys an original idea on every page to show exactly how it can and should be achieved. If you care about cars, read this book: it opens your mind and lets the future in." --Bruce McCall, The New Yorker "Our American auto industry is at a perilous crossroads - it can adhere to the 'old ways' and perish or it can leapfrog the competition, reinvent itself, and lead the automotive world into 21st century. Many of the ideas set forth in this book just might serve as a blueprint for this much-needed and important change of direction. Who better to lead the way than our geek brethren from MIT?" --Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka "Click and Clack," Hosts of Car Talk

Biographie de l'auteur

William J. Mitchell is the Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr., Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences and directs the Smart Cities research group at MIT's Media Lab. He is the author of many books, including The World's Greatest Architect (2008) and Placing Words: Symbols, Space, and the City (2005), both published by the MIT Press. Christopher E. Borroni-Bird is Director of Advanced Vehicle Concepts at General Motors. Before his retirement, Lawrence D. Burns was Vice President of Research and Development at General Motors.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The MIT Press
• Date d'édition: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0262013827
• ISBN 13: 9780262013826
• Reliure: Relié
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 240