I regret having monopolized this thread so far for a subject near to me and totally 'wrongly blogged'. As a last take on this subject I would like to suggest you take further information in three places.
First, as mentioned before, rent the movie documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car" if only for the good music!
http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/
Second go to the site
http://www.thewatt.com/ where they have an excellent podcast on energy, where every episode is available.
And third,
http://www.homepower.com/resources/links.cfm Home Power magazine where they have the best links page I know of.
Thanks for being patient with me.
Especially you NatCh!