Book reviews

This recent release offers, perhaps for the first time under a single cover, a comprehensive analysis of the environmental, economic and social constraints controlling the potential role that electric vehicles (EV´s) may play in the future transporation picture of the United States. At least it is as comprehensive as one can get with future projections of past trends especially in the notoriously risky business of energy-use and supply projections. The book is the result of a two-and-one-half year study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and its predecessor (USER-DA) under the direction of the author. At least seven other technical staff people are acknowledged by the author to have contributed significantly to the material presented. The comprehensive approach to modeling EV cycle costs, energy use, utility impacts, market penetration and environmental impacts certainly reflects the major effort of a large group. Although much new material was generated in the course of this study, especially in the modeling projections, the book is at least as valuable as a consolidated summary of the vast quantity of existing literature spread throughout the libraries of the world. While most of the detailed analysis of future transporation requirements and energy/fuel availability are specific for the United States market, many of the results could be easily interpreted or adjusted for other advanced industrial nations. This is especially true if some adjustments are made for utility fuel mixes, load factors, and of course a different set of constraints on the policy options.