Are electric cars the wave of the future?  Ford and Nissan seem to think so.

Ford Motor Co., working to make a quarter of its vehicles run at least partly on electricity, plans to invest $135 million and add 220 jobs at three Michigan facilities to help it introduce five such models by 2012.  The automaker “has said it will begin selling two electric vehicles and three new hybrids by 2012 and that such models will constitute 10 percent to 25 percent of its worldwide fleet in a decade.”

However, the Wall Street Journal notes it is estimated that the growth in fully electric vehicles market will not accelerate. A 2010 study by Deloitte Consulting concluded that these vehicles will constitute no more than 5% of the US market by the end of this decade, citing vehicle high costs and limited driving range.

The Wall Street Journal reports Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn said the world market for electric vehicles is poised to surge, and if that happens automakers would be unprepared to support demand. The CEO said he is more worried about building more factories to meet the demand than about the $5.03 billion investment that Nissan and Renault SA have committed to the first versions of electric vehicles. Ghosn also noted he is optimistic about the rebound of the auto market in the US, and forecast that sales would get to 12 million vehicles in 2010, up 15% from last year.

I’m pretty optimistic that we’ll see more electric and hybrid vehicles become available.  However, when I was car shopping in 2006, I chose a regular gas engine vehicle.  The reason I chose a regular gas vehicle is because unless I was going to drive a hybrid for 150,000-200,000 miles, it just didn’t save me any more money.  In fact, it would have cost me more.

Now, I haven’t done a breakdown recently.  So that might be a good idea for an upcoming post.  I’m sure the technology has advanced even in the last 4 years.  It seems that the hybrid and electric cars are becoming a bit more affordable for the “average joe”.

What are your thoughts on hybrid and electric cars?  Do you think they are the wave of the future or is there another technology that could be it?  Would you buy a hybrid or electric for your next vehicle?  Comment below.