There at least has come some good out of it. Electric vehicle, including hybrids with great gas mileage, have come a long ways.

I think electric cars are firmly in our future as economy roundabout town vehicles. Other market segments, anybody's guess. May or may not become a big or little thing. 

Society has learned a lot by the forced down out throats technology. In some ways ethanol kind of came about the same way. It wasn't because the market demanded it.