Author(s): Steve LeVine

Science

A worldwide race is on to perfect the next engine of economic growth, the advanced lithium-ion battery. It will power the electric car, relieve global warming, and catapult the winner into a new era of economic and political mastery. Can the United States win?
Steve LeVine was granted unprecedented access to a secret federal laboratory outside Chicago, where a group of geniuses is trying to solve this next monumental task of physics. But these scientists-- almost all foreign born--are not alone. With so much at stake, researchers in Japan, South Korea, and China are in the same pursuit. The drama intensifies when a Silicon Valley start-up licenses the federal laboratory's signature invention with the aim of a blockbuster sale to the world's biggest carmakers.
The Powerhouse is a real-time, twoyear thrilling account of big invention, big commercialization, and big deception. It exposes the layers of competition and ambition, aspiration and disappointment behind this great turning point in the history of technology.
'[Steve LeVine] offers an inside look at the race among industrialized nations to develop a world-changing battery technology. The story's intensity is bolstered by the high stakes . . . But LeVine wisely stays focused on the competition as it unfolds, luring readers into the drama with clear explanations of the American players involved in both the public and private sectors.' Publishers Weekly
 
'LeVine is a masterful story teller and Powerhouse is a thrilling read about an innovator's quest to transform our planet and our lives. His goal, a revolutionary battery, has the potential to change everything.' Peter H. Diamandis, chairman of the X-Prize Foundation and author of Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think
 
'Steve LeVine has written a fast-paced, engaging account of one of this young century's great quests: the search for a technology that will unleash a dramatic transformation of the world with blockbuster new industries and culture-changing products. It's an amazing story, gripping in its surprising narrative and crowded with fascinating characters.' Marcus Brauchli, former Executive Editor, The Washington Post, and former Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal
 
'Gripping and mind-opening. Filled with astonishing research, The Powerhouse reads like a thriller. It's fabulous.' Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package