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

Elon Musk is among the most controversial titans of Silicon Valley. To some he's a genius and a visionary and to others he's a mercurial huckster. Billions of dollars have been gained and lost on his tweets and 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 and 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.

About the Author

Tim Higgins the automotive and technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal -- one of the few journalists who have spent time deeply immersed in both Silicon Valley and Motor City. Tim has interviewed Elon Musk multiple times, and spent a decade in Detroit reporting on the U.S. auto industry.

Dimensions (cm): 20 x 13  x 3