The Tesla and T-zero are a "top-down" approach, making sexy electric dream cars. That does more for our cultural attitude toward electrics. Chrysler will be introducing an electric model of the Smart soon, having a range of 70+ miles per charge for the rest of us.

Electric cars do have a lot of potential to replace most daily use of internal combustion driven autos, but the battery issue is a strong point, and could become a problem if there were a surge in demand for electrics. Ultra capacitors using nanotube surfaces are can almost match batter power today, never need replacing, and have no hazardous byproducts. The current timetable is 10 years, but considering the circumstances and how rapidly technology has been progressing, I'm optimistic.