• USA Today, Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:37 AM

The key to wide public acceptance of more expensive plug-in and electric cars is making them "fun," automotive industry insiders and outsiders seem to agree at the three-day "Business of Plugging In" conference in Detroit about the future of hybrids, Sharon Silke Carty reports.

Ford chairman Bill Ford also pointed out shifting expectations. Four years ago, hydrogen was going to save the day (and environment). Then it was ethanol. Now it's electric cars and plug-in hybrids. "The question is: Will the customers want these vehicles?" Ford asks. "The short answer is: It depends on how many trade-offs they have to make. It's our goal to make sure there aren't any trade-offs."

"Our job is to make this something they fall in love with, so they're not talking about the [higher sticker price], says Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for General Motors' Chevrolet Volt. "They're talking [instead] about how they want the car."

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