Food, Oil, and the Car of the Future?

Interesting FT article.  What seems missing from the list of items that might contribute to rising food prices, however, is, in fact, "higher oil prices".  How much of the cost of food at the consumer level is driven by the fact that it must be transported, at  higher rates?   That tractors and combines, etc., are all more costly to run nowadays?  That pesticide and fertilizers are also doubtless more expensive? 

Also watched "Car of the Future" on PBS lastnight with Click and Clack.  They are so cute.  But, what no one mentioned during the segment on plugin hybrids was the same set of things no one ever mentions:

• Where does the electricity come from?  The grid.  What powers the grid?  Mostly coal.  What is coal?  Foul and dirty, and also destroyer of land, whole mountains and their ecosystems, water systems etc. 
• Corollary:  This "carbon sequestration" sounds good, but I don't trust this whole "bury the waste underground" idea.  Because industry has such a great track record where that is concerned...
• Proponents say the grid can handle the demand of millions of plugin cars if they are charged off-peak.  But what are the chances, really?  You just know there will be tons of people who will drive the car to work and charge it there, all day long, because they are not paying the electric bill. 
• And speaking of electric bills, how many KWH will it take to charge a car?  Will my electric bill go up by an order of magnitude?  Double?  25%?  No one ever even tries to deal with that.  I mean, if you never have to buy gas, that's great.  But if you are spending just as much, if not more, on electricity (which, did I mention, comes from coal), where's the consumer's incentive to buy?  Now, if you're not - that's great!  Make it a selling point, idiots!
• Doesn't the desired widespread adoption of plugin hybrids only exacerbate our existing land-use problem?  I mean, I live in a mid-rise apartment with outdoor parking.  I can't buy one.  Where would I plug it in?  City-dwellers everywhere have the same problem!  Argh.

Finally, this program, while interesting, brought back another thought I've had before:  I wouldn't buy an electric or battery-powered car until it was demonstrated that it could go from the East Coast to the West just as a gas-powered car does now.  I mean, I mostly use my car to go to dad's house (a 70-mile roundtrip, more than the range of most electrics) and to mom's house (300 miles away).  Prove to me that an electric/battery car can do that, easily, and then MAYBE I'd get on board.