"INEVITABLE is a comprehensive account of the greatest upheaval in the transportation industry since the invention of the internal combustion engine. One of the best automotive journalists in the world, Colias delivers an unvarnished retelling of the EV revolution, warts and all. Essential reading for everyone interested in the future of the car industry." - Sean McLain, reporter, Wall Street Journal The $2 trillion global automobile industry has long been dominated by its largest players: the GMs, Volkswagens, and Toyotas of the world. But, as Wall Street Journal reporter and veteran of the US automotive beat Mike Colias writes in the new book INEVITABLE: Inside the Messy, Unstoppable Transition to Electric Vehicles, the auto industry is at an inflection point. The rise of electric vehicles is radically transforming the industry and Colias shows how none of the major players were prepared. For the first time in living memory, startup auto manufacturers are gaining major market share, and Colias provides a dramatic insider account through the lenses of executives, entrepreneurs, engineers, car sales people and customers, of how EVs are upending the industry, transforming economies, and even reshaping the roles vehicles play in our lives. As Colias writes, fifteen years ago EVs were a novelty and no major car manufacturer was considering jumping into the field in any serious way. But a funny thing happened in the ensuing years: EVs started selling in numbers impossible to ignore, and those customers weren't buying Fords and Nissans but Teslas, Rivians and BYDs. And the behemoths didn't really catch on until the upstarts had a large head start. Big automakers are skilled at making adjustments and tweaks year over year, but as Colias writes, creating a successful manufacturing program for an all electric vehicle calls for agility and it isn't as simple as swapping out an internal combustion engine for an electric motor. The process actually requires different skill sets, new vehicle designs and a massive rewiring of their global supply chains.Colias's is a story of hubris, shortsightedness and inertia in which Big Auto executives were blindsided even though the rise of EVs-Tesla in particular-was happening right in front of their eyes. Colias takes readers inside the boardrooms where executives chasing Tesla battle over EV strategies; to the family-run car dealerships wrestling with the decision of whether to sell EVs-or sell their business; the battery factories where scientists try to pack ever more power into the same space; and to some of the countless independent component manufacturers dotting the midwest that have counted on Big Auto as a customer for generations and now face an uncertain future.In a conversation with Lem Yeung, who'd worked on internal combustion engines for Ford for three decades and elected to take the company's buyout offer, Colias reports that the engineer was reflective: The built-in advantages that the incumbent carmakers wielded for more than a century are disappearing as cars become less mechanical and more infused with complex software, Yeung warns. They are entering a race in which they're starting from behind, with companies that suffer none of their legacy drag. The upstarts are outmaneuvering the GMs and Volkswagens on lower-cost battery setups and consumer-friendly tech features. Thinking like a car company has flipped to become a disadvantage. 'I think all the barriers to entry have gone.'" Electric vehicles: Another executive order signed on Trump's first day in office targeted electric vehicles. A tax credit for people buying EVs was scrapped, and federal funds intended to help install charging stations were put on hold. While some funds that have been allocated for charging stations are still expected to be used, the moves are likely to slow the development of the electric vehicle industry in the United States, and help President Trump's ally, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. While Tesla is the largest EV maker in the country, it has its own network of fast chargers and stands to benefit if rival networks are slow to be built.

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