look for the nissan leaf (compact), and the coda (midsize sedan) to be the two main leaders. tesla is putting out a midsize sedan, but it is expensive, and they still have not chosen between long beach and downey as the site for the plant. so they are far behind, and not in the game plan for the average person.
the coda will be sold in california exclusively for the 4th qtr of 2010. i think the leaf comes out about that same time.
california is gonna be the main testing ground, as far as evs, and their charging stations, etc.
once some bugs get worked out there, it will spread to other big cities, and from there to the suburbs, etc.
the battery situation is pretty good right now, and there is still probably room for lots of improvement over the next 5 years. but even so, we can get 100 miles per drive, which is more than enough for a large percentage of people going to work and back each day.
they even have some big rigs with electric motors in them. i think it is gonna be the biggest thing in bringing back the world economy. if at the same time we can get rid of all the govt waste, we may not have another economic disaster.