In just a few short years since their debut in 1999, hybrid gas-electric vehicles are selling at over 300,000 vehicles per year in the United States, a trend that seems likely to accelerate.
The medium-term end-game will probably be plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), with a high likelihood of fully electric vehicles being mass-marketed in the longer term. Some $2.7 billion in direct U.S. government stimulus earmarks, supporting federal electric vehicle fleets, advanced battery system development, and end-user market development programs, will undoubtedly encourage the participants to speed up this market transition.
