I don't believe that battery operated cars are the long-term future (if humans are around that long), just the current fad. Quite honestly, some type of hybrid propulsion technology would be much more efficient and not have the space and infrastructure problems of going all electric. Locomotives have been doing it for the last 60 years or so. Just need to wait and see what the next big revolution in propulsion will be, but I'm betting it won't be batteries.
compressed air?
the natural gas model is interesting, other than the BOOM effect.
and again, what happened to fuel cells? plug power was doing so well in the 90s(? early 2k).
i like the train generator/motor solution - using it in the car with batteries means the engine can be small as it needs to supply an average amount
of energy, rather than a peak amount, which could be drawn from the batteries.
....
eventually there will be a time where all cars are electric, parking meters will feature a charging cable and cars will be chipped and linked to your CC (similar to ezpass) so when you park you plug in, they charge your account for the energy you add to your battery, and for any parking fees associated with it (could even be as simple as an NFC chip to do this part, so there is no cheating on paying for your parking by only charging if needed). but again, thats a MASSIVE infrastructure change and will not happen quicly.
it is much closer than you think - both electric and fossil. car will talk to the pump, know your preferences, and start pumping. electric is easy.
and it will actually be integrated with ezpass functionality too. Also work trips will be submitted for reimbursement (or payment) directly.
since satellite radio is saturated, they are spending their money in this space - they have a universal downlink (almost) - which is why others are hurrying to put up more satellites.
it is all very interesting.