One of the greatest factors contributing to the ensuing world energy crisis is our dependence on the humble automobile – or, more specifically, the oil on which it runs. Not only does the oil that feeds our daily commute erode our already vastly depleted oil stocks, but running a car also emits Carbon Dioxide – over 314 million metric tonnes of it annually in the United States alone. But people need their cars to get around. The entire international economy depends on a solid transport base. So since it’s clear that the car can’t go, the materials that fuel it will have to. There are two major alternatives to oil, both of which result in zero emission transport at the point of use. But while Hydrogen power, running cars on fuel cells, is still decades away, the electric car has been with us in one form or another for a long time, and some of the latest developments mean that very soon we may all be saying goodbye to oil and plugging our cars in to charge them next to our mobile phones.