There is considerable interest in electric and hybrid cars because of environmental and climate change concerns, tougher fuel efficiency standards, and increasing dependence on imported oil. In this article, the author describes the history of electric vehicles in the automotive world and discusses the components of a hybrid electric vehicle. Then, he enumerates the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles. Next, he discusses the importance of battery technologies and describes different kinds of incentives for purchasing or driving alternatively fueled vehicles. He also discusses the future for electric cars and presents a student activity that addresses the content standards in "Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology" (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007). The task is to design a futuristic dashboard for an environmentally friendly vehicle such as all-electric plug-in (BEV) electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles. The designs are prepared using drawing/graphics or 3D modeling software. (Contains 6 figures and 9 resources.)