Environmentalists are hoping that electric cars will dominate the
roadways of the
world in the near
future. However, at this point, the
technology is very limited by the
inefficiency and
cost of conventional
batteries. Electric cars tend to be expensive to produce, have poor performance, and take a long time to
charge.
An interesting alternative to conventional batteries is the fuel cell, which combusts hydrogen in air to power an electricity-producing mechanism. The best part is that it creates only water as exhaust. Fuel Cell technology is already developed enough to be incorporated into normal automobiles, but right now the necessary infrastructure, including manufacturing facilities and hydrogen refueling stations, does not exist to make them of much use.
Until electric cars become a viable alternative to fossil fuel powered vehicles, the trend will be to create more and more efficient gas-powered cars. Some gas/electric hybrids are on the road today, but they look kind of weird.
That is, this will be the trend that people who care about the environment will follow, whereas everyone else will continue to buy SUV's which they need for driving up wooded hills, over piles of big rocks, and through wide expanses of open desert.