EP, you've been pounding the table for many months on the viability of plug-in hybrids, and I think you are spot-on.  The future of auto transport in the developed world, IMHO, lies in electric hybrid (or perhaps one day fully electric) vehicles.  Battery life and charging times may improve dramatically as a result of nanotechnology.


We don't need radically improved batteries either; we can do one heck of a lot with old, cheap lead-acid.  We'd have to redesign our vehicles to make good use of them, though; this prevents e.g. Toyota from turning an Echo into a plug-in Prius with 50 miles of gas-free range.