I just reviewed Ludicrous by Edward Niedermeyer. #Ludicrous #NetGalley. It was a tough book to read as the author was always negative towards the brand and its accomplishments. I have read a few books on Tesla but this was by far the worse.

The book is fascinating and well-written, and I’m better informed for having read it i learned a lot about the founding and running of the company though the people in the book are not portrayed in a positive way

"Optimism, pessimism, f*** that; we're going to make it happen. As God as my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work."         ---Elon Musk</b>

The high-flying entrepreneur, Elon Musk, known for PayPal and SpaceX, decides to tackle the auto business.  His approach: make a car like the Silicon Valley makes hardware and software technologies.  Like inventing successive versions of the iPhone.  Don't worry about "bugs" -- you just fix them with software updates.

In 2008, at the early onset of one of our nation's worst recessions, Tesla comes to market with a super high end electric car: the Roadster.  Priced over $100,000, it's prototype demonstrated blistering acceleration and a futuristic body style.  More importantly, it appealed to the egos of Californians wanting to show their dedication to the environmental solution of a low carbon footprint.  People lined up to buy them, and gave Tesla huge deposits to keep a place in line.

But, in a pattern which would become a Tesla hallmark, Musk would "hype" the newest model, in order to generate enthusiasm amongst both car buyers and venture capitalists, long before the engineering and design problems for these high-tech models had been solved.  As a result, "production hell" (Musk quote) would ensue.  However, Musk had no choice but to jump on this hamster wheel -- he needed the cash from investors in order to ramp up production, but would burn through that cash and need to hype the next model before production of the last model became profitable.

Short selling blogs would consistently remind stock holders of the problems faced by Tesla.  In addition to cash flow and production issues, the cars were becoming known for their defects.  At one point, Tesla was selling cars with "interim" transmissions, which would need to be replaced once a redesigned version could be produced.  Also, the SEC threatened suits for misinformation.  Finally, the purported "autonomous" self-driving software packages ran into potential liability when accidents occurred.

Ludicrous covers the years from Tesla's formation, up to current times.  The information is presented in a somewhat chronological manner, but sometimes it's hard to follow and to understand the points which are supposedly being made.  There is a lot of jumping around from point to point.  While the book strives to appear neutral, it's pretty clear that there is a strong biased against Elon Musk and his habit of over-promising (even making untrue claims) in order to generate hype.  Musk is portrayed as a promoter, over his head in a business which he has no experience.   There is obviously an element of truth, and the author's footnotes are extensive.  But I suspect this book presents just one side of the picture.  

Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the opportunity to provide my unbiased review.

As posted on Goodreads

I am not a car enthusiast. To me, cars are simply another means of transportation.  I chose this book because of what I have read recently about the automotive wave of the future.  Edward Niedermeyer managed to make the Tesla story interesting.  At times, Ludicrous read like a novel.  Do I feel more informed about Tesla?  My answer would be yes and no.  There seemed to be quite a bit of extraneous "opinion" injected into the supposedly unvarnished story.  I felt that Mr.  Niedermeyer didn't appear as much of an objective observer as I would have liked.  So, back to the purpose of my read; I wanted to read more about the phenomenon of Tesla and the future of the automobile, and the author provided me with information and insights that are now leading me to read more about the subject, so I think it's mission accomplished. 3.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

To see a different yet still objective view of the Tesla story. The author is open about their objective to stay neutral is hard at times.

This book focuses more on Elon Musk and his effects on the company, rather than the company itself. Hence, those who are looking to really reading on back-end decision making.
In this book, we get to see the ambitious, childish actions of Elon Musk, a huge departure from the pioneer that the media paints him as. The content is rich and engaging, but I could not help reflecting on their neutrality/ bias. Maybe it is true that clever minds mean terrible personality, but I would also like to see more of the actions of the other leaders in his company.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a lifelong car enthusiast, I was intrigued to read this book. However this is not strictly about cars, or even about the character that is Elon Musk. It is about start-ups, modern manufacturing, management and the principles that have guide the market.

 It is a very informative read, not just about Tesla but automotive manufacturing in general. The author has done an excellent job in sorting out the details from the hype, news and social media stories, and then presenting them in a readable context.

This is not a book about cars. It’s not about Elon Musk. It’s about modern manufacturing and management. Tesla is one of the most talked about companies in existence today. Everything they do is analyzed, hyped, derided and used as social media fodder, even by Tesla. Niedermeyer does an excellent job of sorting out the details and putting it all into context.

Edward Niedermeyer is a young journalist who knows an impressive amount about these topics. As he explains in the book, he sort of fell into auto writing and you can tell because he’s not the typical, tedious, petrolhead who is writing from the legacy magazine perspective of more horsepower and more supercars. His rational, objective and analytical look inside Tesla is refreshingly different and informationally dense. A very pleasant (and welcome) change from the vast majority of auto writing.

“Ludricrous” is a fascinating look inside Tesla. It’s one you will enjoy and learn from no matter what your perspective is. I sat down and read it in single day. Yes, it was that good. I was drawn in that much and I think you will be

Having read and enjoyed Ashlee Vance’s biography of Elon Musk, and frankly being a little in awe of the effect Musk has had on the industries he has worked within, I was looking forward to a more in-depth look at Tesla. 

I know that Musk himself is a little eccentric, and lacks some interpersonal and empathy skills, but the world sometimes needs ruthless ambition to advance mankind. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that he can be given a ticket to do whatever he wants, but his ability to achieve goals is exemplary. Well that was at least my opinion before reading this book.  

Needless to say, my opinion already started to change in the ‘Note To Readers’ which gives a brief insight into the lengths the company would go to, in order to maintain the reverent image it was portraying to the world. From there on out, as the Tesla world is portrayed as a battle between fantasist and realists my opinions definitely started leaning towards those that see Tesla as a pioneer and solely responsible for the acceleration of the industries adoption of EV’s, but also one that is inherently flawed, that has blatantly manipulated markets, environmentalism, and consumers naivety alike, and is likely to be left behind going forward.

I do wonder how Tesla still has such a strong stock price, and whether a fall back down to reality is imminent (and surely it is). Is this what this book is trying to portray? Is this some short investment advice? I personally hope and believe this book depicts a neutral perspective (even though the author openly divulges his personal interactions with Tesla).

This was definitely an informative read, not only within Tesla itself, but also in automotive manufacturing and the principles that have guided the market over the last century or so.

This book about Tesla is interesting. Interesting from the learning use of it (I found that is has so.e emotional background). If you focus on the story of the company, it's leaders, how things were invented and innovated and why, you can really learn a lot about how brands are built, products developed and what it takes for an innovative startup to survive. The challenging part is to survive in general. Even if you have funding, it doesn't mean you are sorted. You have to work hard and chase your dream hard. The finding part can make your  path more complicated. Very interesting book to have a deep dive in the world of startups and big money.