I had an odd realization the other night as I was showing off my new(er) car to my friends: it is possible that this is the last gas powered car I will own.

Now I now that we are a long way away from Jetson’s flying car that seems to run only on the hopes and dreams of the American spirit – but it is not unreasonable to think that there will be a viable option for the car buyer in 10 years to be able to purchase a fully electric or hydrogen powered car.  After all, in 2001 when I bought my last car, the idea of a hybrid was just starting to get kicked around. Now the Prius is not only a commercial success, but they are sticking solar cells on the damn things.

The wildly popular “cash for clunkers” program proves that people are willing to shift into smaller, more efficient cars, if given the incentive to do so – is it so hard to conceive of a “goodbye to gasoline” program being enacted as we start to get ourselves off of an oil based economy? This, combined with a more socially aware generation making purchasing decisions, may force automakers to speed up their production on cars that have a high “distance per charge.”

At least I hope I am correct – things can’t keep going the way they are.

But don’t just take it from me: