I called it!

Consumers are trending toward electric vehicles for the all usual reasons:

1) They're stupid
2) They're sheep who are led by the media
3) They conveniently focus on the facts they find appealing and ignore the facts they find unattractive.

You correct in noting that by the time 2050 is here, the course of transportation will already have been determined. The laws are just one of several tools used to reach certain goals.

One thing is for sure....I don't see the human race getting any smarter....at least not in the '1st world' countries. For every kid in the USA or Canada or England, there are 5 Asian kids just waiting to devour them.