As the Gulf of Mexico disaster casts an ugly spotlight on the pitfalls of global oil dependency, Japan's auto giants are moving into high gear in a drive to mass-market electric cars.
Nissan, Honda and Toyota are among car-makers now gambling that electric vehicles (EVs) with their zero tailpipe emissions will catch on and, some time in the future, start to drive traditional gas-guzzlers off the road.
If their bet pays off, green car proponents say, it could ring in a revolution that changes the very idea of what an automobile is, turning cars into electric appliances that drive smoothly, cleanly and silently.
US President Barack Obama called last Tuesday for a "national mission" to develop clean energy, speaking from the White House as gushing crude oil kept fuelling his country's worst environmental catastrophe.
"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," he said in a sombre prime-time telecast.
Battery-powered cars will be a crucial part of that future, manufacturers promise, even as critics point to tough hurdles -- including higher sticker prices and 'range anxiety' -- to gaining wide consumer acceptance.
An EV's energy consumption and carbon footprint are determined by the way its battery is charged -- meaning it can effectively be powered by anything from fossil fuel or nuclear plants to hydro, wind or solar energy.
A critical question will be whether sufficiently large networks of electric re-charging stations are built -- a chicken-and-egg question that has long held back the development of EVs, analysts say.
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