Publicly, most automakers are ducking the issue and emphasizing
potential pitfalls of building hybrid cars with plugs, but pressure is mounting behind the scenes to give the idea some life... «Such development should have the highest research and development priority because it promises to revolutionize transportation economics and to have a dramatic effect on the
problems caused by oil dependence,» write George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state, and James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in a June position paper on oil and U.S. national security... They argue that
battery development for plug - in hybrids «should for the time being replace the current research and development emphasis on automotive hydrogen fuel cells.»