CDTraveler

Electric vs. gasoline isn't the whole story. I bought a gas/electric hybrid last year, so the electricity it uses is generated within the car's engine/from braking, not from a power plant. My gas mileage has gone from ~22 MPG to over 45 MPG, meaning I'm using a lot less gasoline and generating fewer emissions. While this option isn't perfect, as an incremental step until fully electric cars are a) cheaper b) need less frequent recharging and c) can be recharged more easily from clean sources, the hybrid works well for me.

The road trip I do most often for work is Philly/DC. For a couple years it was all by Amtrak - until they jacked up the prices, eliminated most discounts and made changing your ticket much more expensive (you'd think they were an airline now!). With the more fuel efficient car, I find I'm driving as often as I take the train now.

WilcoRoger

Hybrids are the way to go. With full electric vehicles the target is having as long a range as possible = as large batteries as possible. As most trips made by car are below 20 miles (in Europe, anyway) so you just lug around oversized, heavy batteries for nothing. The small batteries of hybrids would just do fine. For rarer, longer trips the traditional petrol/diesel engine kicks in, case solved.