Rising oil prices and improvements in battery technology are fueling new interest in developing electric cars. Spencer Michels reports on how industry giants and start-up car companies alike plan to release new vehicles by 2010.

In another of the NewsHour's ongoing 'Costly Crude' series, geography professor and famed author Jared Diamond discusses the future of oil in view of current high prices.

Question/Comment: Has there been a shift from petrodollars to petroeuros in world energy trading? I read that such a shift would result in less demand for the dollar, resulting in a drop in the dollar's value. Paul Solman: "Petrodollars" was…