"I'm not a salesman for this technology, because the technology really sells itself," says Brian Wynne, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), the voice behind the future of green transit. "My job is to try to make sure people understand the value of electricity as a fuel versus petroleum. The beauty of having a plug in our future is that there’s a ubiquitous infrastructure known as the grid that is already available."

Wynne, who joined EDTA in 2004 after serving as senior vice president for business and trade at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, says doing that job involves "bringing together a very diverse community of interests—policymakers, industry people, technology developers, automobile and battery manufacturers, and utility companies—so that, working together, we can develop an entirely new transportation system."

All planning aside, Wynne is pragmatic about weaning the United States, with its century-old love affair with its automobiles, off the internal combustion engine. "That's not going to happen overnight, but right now, every single one of those parties I just mentioned is more motivated than ever before to make this happen," he says. The salability of electric drive vehicles in the marketplace "that will make it sustainable is getting better and better all the time."

For many in the industry, it's no longer a question of if electric cars will happen—it's when. The current financial crisis has forced the American auto industry to rethink, retool and reimagine its products—and how fast they can be market-ready.

In addition to taking his message around the country, Wynne is becoming a regular on Capitol Hill. In mid-September, he urged the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee to get the petroleum monkey off America's back. "More than the price of oil, the cost of oil to our security is enormous," Wynne says. "[We are] 97 percent dependent on petroleum for transportation, and close to 60 percent of the petroleum we use is imported. If we switched the U.S. light duty fleet—cars and SUVs—over to electric drive vehicles, a combination of plug-in and standard hybrids, battery electric and fuel cell vehicles, we would cut liquid fuel consumption by 83 percent."

Wynne does more than sound the alarm. He describes what he sees as the bright future of electric drive vehicles and explains why he's so bullish. "The technology has, in essence, been proven in the marketplace—you can pull a train with the electric motor," Wynne says. "Because of the need to move away from oil, we are very focused on solving the energy storage conundrum ... everybody's asking me the same question: How can we make this happen sooner?"

With the future of the American auto industry in flux, the pressure is already on the Big Three auto companies. On the day Wynne testified before the subcommittee, General Motors unveiled its long-awaited electric car, the Volt, which will be available to the public in 2010. In September, Chrysler also revealed plans for three electric vehicles, from a sports car to a minivan, to be rolled out by early 2010.

More electric drive vehicles have left the drawing boards and are revving up to appear in showrooms across the country.

For example, German-owned Daimler recently announced plans for serial production of its line of battery electric Mercedes-Benz and Smart Cars in 2010 and entered a joint agreement to provide more than 100 of them in Berlin in 2009. Nissan will introduce a battery electric vehicle in late 2010, with a plan for mass-market rollout by 2012. In 2010, Mitsubishi plans to produce a battery electric vehicle known as the iMiEV.

As Wynne points out, the term "electric drive vehicle" covers a lot of ground. It can apply to any vehicle in which electricity provides part or all of the motive power, including battery only or battery plus gasoline.

So far, there are electric vehicles of all sizes and configurations, from the 35- to 55-miles-per-gallon Vectrix maxi-scooter that uses a nickel hydride battery to huge buses. The 213 hybrid electric buses introduced in the Seattle area have already reduced emissions by up to 70 percent, in addition to displacing a huge amount of oil. New York City also has nearly 700 hybrid buses in place and is debating a hybrid taxi and limo fleet.

Smaller communities are also getting on board. "There are communities that are now being set up with lanes that accommodate vehicles that can easily be plugged in," Wynne says. "I live in Reston, Va., and we aren't set up for this, but frankly I will now be saying, 'Why would we not want to accommodate a transportation system that's good for us and the environment?'"

Yes, but what about the nostalgia factor, Americans' love for speed and big engines with throaty exhausts? Is there such a thing as an electric drive "muscle car"?

Wynne is unfazed by the question: "Take a look at the Tesla Roadster, which, operating on a lithium-ion battery technology, can go from zero to 60 in just 4 seconds, making it the fastest off-the-line vehicle, and it can travel 220 miles on a charge. I've been in that car, which is available today, and it is very, very high performance." With a price tag of $100,000, though, not everyone will be able to own this all-electric sports car.

The excitement doesn't mean the traditional limitations of electric have all been overcome, either. The iMiEV travels only up to 85 miles before needing a charge, and will take 14 hours using a normal power outlet for a complete charge. And don't expect to see any electric car for less than $30,000.

Wynne doesn't see these drawbacks as insurmountable problems. He thinks the best argument in his favor is simple logic: "For decades, we have benefited from surplus, low-cost energy, and everybody set up their lives around this, including commuting long distances into the city center," he says. "But now... people are beginning to look at driving less, and reconsidering whether or not they want to commute and how they want to do that. The more people want to get closer to where they have to do their daily business, whether it be work or health care or shopping or whatever that is, the more they get closer to that source, the more electric drive becomes a natural solution."