I do think it is a chicken and egg thing.

First you gotta give Honda their due for coming out with the very first mass production hybrid, and then Toyota for following soon after. But really those were still not a giant leap for people to buy -- they still use gas you can find on any street corner.

But (though it kills me) I have to give GM credit for taking a GIANT leap and coming out with a fleet of flex fuel cars that take ethanol, when just a few major cities in the US had maybe a half-dozen or so pumps even selling the stuff. Sure, all it really requires is a stainless steel fuel system and a chip that knows what to do when you put gas or ethanol in it, but it was still a leap.

Just my own thoughts with nothing but common sense and marketing knowledge, but I would bet that we will see at least GM and Toyota and maybe Honda get more and more imaginative in what they are willing to try. And I base that on 1)current events, 2)the fact that most logical people know we need to get off the Middle East's tit, and 3) the pretty big successes they have seen in more recent years with hybrids, diesels, and flex fuels.