[motorsportnerd]

Originally Posted by henk4

It can be safely said that within 10-20 years the years of cheap, individual motoring will most likely be over, and the biggest consumer in the world, the USA might start to realise that there are limits to freedom. It is interesting to see the Pavlov like reaction of the consumers there to fuel prices which are only one third of what we pay in Europe. They might be in for a shock.

You're probably right, unfortunately. As an enthusiast who isn't particularly rich, I do hope your prediction turns out to be wrong. I hope I'm not forced to give up my private car due to the reasons you've just mentioned.
To inject a touch of optimisim...I've read that current fuel cells vehicles can be compared to the early petrol cars of the 20th century. And that in 1900 it was hard to find a petrol station, but by 1910 a massive infrastructure for the petrol car was already in place (in the US at least). Maybe history is repeating itself, and hydrogen (or some other alternative) will become the cheap source of energy that oil was in the 20th century. It may come down to simple supply and demand. I recognize the problems we face, but lets hope that a cheap source of energy can be found and the infrastructure to support it developed.