The Tesla Roadster is a serious shot across the bow of big oil producers, and the Chevy Volt which will be the first primarily electric-powered car that is really available to the masses. Those that focus, or more accurately, obsess about our country's oil consumption and the rising cost of oil forget that more and more money is being invested by various sectors of the economy to reduce the consumption of energy by various new products ranging from cars to computers. It is very probable that by 2020, even if they aren't the majority, that electric cars will be widely available to those who have at least $40,000 to spend on a new car. By 2030, electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars should be pretty much the norm among new cars.

It's also worth mentioning that the United States has decidely not exhausted its oil reserves. Between ANWR and the large find in the Dakotas, the United States only needs to allow drilling in order to ease off some of the pain that has been felt over the last few years. That said, it's only inevitable that as battery technology advances and brings electric cars more into reach for the average person, that the public's demand for electric cars will start to grow. Between that and a national initiative to build more nuclear power plants across the country, oil really doesn't have to be that big of an issue over the next decade or two.