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"You'll tell me if it ever starts getting genuinely insane, right?" --Elon Musk, TED interview Hamish McKenzie tells how a West Coast start-up's audacious dream came true. Elon Musk created a car company that would go up against not only the might of the government-backed Detroit car manufacturers, but also the massive power of Big Oil and its benefactors, the infamous Koch brothers. The new Tesla Model 3, now on sale with a price tag of $35,000, is set to transform the public perception of Tesla. Around 400,000 people put down $1,000 to preorder the car; meanwhile Tesla's debt is teetering on "junk bond" status, and some on Wall Street are betting the company will fail under the pressure to deliver. . . . As McKenzie rigorously reported story shows, Tesla has triggered frenzied competition, but it remains ahead of the pack because it is building the highest-quality cars and infrastructure that a new era of transportation will require. The popularity of electric cars is growing around the world, especially in China, and McKenzie interviews little-known titans who have the money and the market access to power a global electric car revolution quickly and decisively. Insane Mode is not just a button on the dash of the Model S that gave you acceleration like a Ferrari; it isn't even just a description of the 24/7 energy of a visionary car company - it is a story about the very best kind of American ingenuity and its history-making potential.



About the Author

Hamish McKenzie

Hamish McKenzie is an independent journalist, co-founder of subscription publishing start-up Substack, and author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil. In recent years, he has been the lead writer for Tesla, an advisor to Kik, a tech reporter, and a freelance journalist covering everything from the World Beard and Moustache Championships to the world's most comprehensive face transplant.Hamish's work has appeared in a wide range of international publications. His interview subjects have included Sting, John Cleese, Robert Smith, Bret McKenzie, Billy Corgan, Wayne Coyne, Ndaba Mandela, and Cory Booker, among many others.He is a New Zealander who lives in San Francisco.



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