The Powerhouse: America, China and the Great Battery War

(Paperback)

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The United States, China and virtually every other nation with an industrial base have concluded that powerful advanced batteries and the product that will chiefly use them - affordable, long-distance electric cars - will be the world's next great engine of economic growth. The Powerhouse tells the story of a group of U.S. scientists working towards this great technological breakthrough, following them over a two year period of emotional highs, setbacks and innovation. This is the story of cutting-edge science, and the people working towards a world-changing battery.

Reviews

Mr. LeVine provides a fascinating insight into the challenges of scientific advancement, especially the difficulty of translating victories in the lab to the demands of the mass market.... Mr. LeVine has written something like a thriller.... An important story with world-wide implications.Wall Street Journal

A propulsive techno-saga.Nature

Captivating.... A rollicking good tale.Joe Nocera, New York Times

With the pace... of a thriller, [LeVine]... reveals how the very human foibles of scientists and entrepreneurs, as well as fundamental physics and chemistry, stand in the way of such efforts, which, if successful, could result in a new global industry and attendant jobs.Scientific American

LeVine [has] a penchant for dissecting the science side of the energy industry.Andrew C. Revkin, New York Timess Dot Earth Blog

Powerhouse shows readers how a scientific insight can work its way slowly into the marketplace, to the point where it becomes ubiquitous. The book is also packed with the kind of strange, unexpected history that makes good science writing so memorable.San Francisco Chronicle

LeVine, who spent two years inside Argonnes battery-research unit, captures the sense of growing urgency and competitive drive among [a] sheltered and sometimes bickering group of tinkerers.... LeVine also provides the authoritative take on the rise and falland perhaps the coming resurrectionof Envia, which has licensed Argonnes battery technology in pursuit of its big but not-fully-baked ambitions.Washington Post

Journalist LeVine (The Oil and the Glory) offers an inside look at the race among industrialized nations to develop a world-changing battery technology. The storys intensity is bolstered by the high stakesBut LeVine wisely stays focused on the competition as it unfolds, luring readers into the drama with clear explanations of the American players involved in both the public and private sectors.Publishers Weekly

LeVine is a masterful story teller and Powerhouse is a thrilling read about an innovators quest to transform our planet and our lives. His goal, a revolutionary battery, has the potential to change everything. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman of the X-Prize Foundation and author of Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think

Steve LeVine has written a fast-paced, engaging account of one of this young centurys great quests: the search for a technology that will unleash a dramatic transformation of the world with blockbuster new industries and culture-changing products. Its an amazing story, gripping in its surprising narrative and crowded with fascinating characters. Marcus Brauchli, former Executive Editor, The Washington Post, and former Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal

Gripping and mind-opening. Filled with astonishing research, The Powerhouse reads like a thriller. Its fabulous. Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package

Author Bio

Steve LeVine is the Washington correspondent for Quartz, where he writes about the geopolitics of energy and technology. He is a Future Tense fellow at the New America Foundation and teaches energy security at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he is an adjunct professor. He is the author of The Oil and the Glory and Putin's Labyrinth.