Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century

　　一群企圖打造出電動車的夢想家
　　一個妄想攻進難以撼動的汽車產業的新創公司
　　一位本身就是公司最大危機的CEO
　　一場時間與資金的豪賭
　　結果是……大獲全勝！？
 
　　馬斯克無疑是矽谷最具爭議性的人物之一。有些人認為他是個充滿遠見的天才人物，有些人卻視他為善變的商人。他脫軌的言行經常躍上新聞版面，甚至引發特斯拉市值大幅震盪。而在他建構將人腦與電腦相連的「腦機介面」、殖民外星球等令人瞠目結舌的野心之外，馬斯克最大膽的願景，卻是最貼近地面的一種：電動車。
 
　　當特斯拉於2003年創立，「電動車」仍是相當新穎的嘗試，一個多世紀以來，汽車製造商紛紛投入資金進行研究，卻都以失敗告終。但當大多數人只看見失敗，有一小群矽谷工程師與企業家，卻在其中看見了發展的潛力：這個世界已經準備好迎接升級版的代步工具。他們因此站出來挑戰全世界最巨大、最嚇人的競爭對手，企圖製造出速度更快、外型更吸引人、行駛更平穩順暢，且能源更乾淨的汽車。
 
　　但就像在業界流傳的一句老話：想在這行賺小錢，就得先砸入大錢。面對瘋狂的燒錢速度，在競爭對手圍攻、投資人施壓、內部人士告密的牽制之下，特斯拉因此進入地獄般的十五年。而在重重挑戰之中，馬斯克本人更是經常成為特斯拉本身最大的威脅，他的舉止多次將公司推向崩潰邊緣。究竟這個讓支持者崇拜不已，同時也受到許多人嘲諷的爭議人物，是受到打壓的劣勢者、跳脫傳統形象的英雄，還是騙子？或者三者皆是？
 
　　華爾街日報記者提姆．希金斯，在本書中精彩描繪出特斯拉崛起的故事：充斥連環事故、控制權爭奪戰等危機，以及看似最不可能發生的結果──成功。這部高潮迭起、引人入勝的作品，帶我們看見一群創新者如何克服重重難關，並改寫了未來。(文/博客來編譯)

　　The outrageous inside story of Elon Musk and Tesla's bid to build the world's greatest car—from award-winning Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins

　　Elon Musk is among the most controversial titans of Silicon Valley. To some he's a genius and a visionary; to others he's a mercurial huckster. Billions of dollars have been gained and lost on his tweets; his personal exploits are the stuff of tabloids. But for all his outrageous talk of mind-uploading and space travel, his most audacious vision is the one closest to the ground: the electric car.

　　When Tesla was founded in the 2000s, electric cars were novelties, trotted out and thrown on the scrap heap by carmakers for more than a century. But where most onlookers saw only failure, a small band of Silicon Valley engineers and entrepreneurs saw potential. The gas-guzzling car was in need of disruption; the world was ready for Car 2.0. So they pitted themselves against the biggest, fiercest business rivals in the world, setting out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, cleaner than the competition.

　　But as the saying goes, to make a small fortune in cars, start with a big fortune. Tesla would undergo a truly hellish fifteen years, beset by rivals, pressured by investors, hobbled by whistleblowers, buoyed by its loyal supporters. Musk himself would often prove Tesla's worst enemy--his antics more than once took the company he had initially funded largely with his own money to the brink of collapse. Was he an underdog, an antihero, a conman, or some combination of the three?

　　Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins had a front-row seat for the drama: the pileups, wrestling for control, meltdowns, and the unlikeliest outcome of all, success. A story of power, recklessness, struggle, and triumph, Power Play is an exhilarating look at how a team of eccentrics and innovators beat the odds--and changed the future.