Dude, the Tesla is a mirage, much like the Prius' ultra-green image. The British show Top Gear took a couple of them out, and within a few miles of track duty one was out of juice entirely and the second cooked its motor within a couple of laps. I mean, they're showering money on this guy Elon Musk to spread these things, and he's barely put any Roadsters on the street and the sedan he's being paid to make is supposedly still in concept form.

Not to mention that, much like the Prius, it'll be a quiet eco-disaster. For example, a Prius starts life with a bigger carbon footprint than a Range Rover. How? The main reason being, that though it may run on happiness and emit nothing but sunshine from its exhaust pipe, the dorky looking thing's parts are outsourced all over the world. And they're heavy. So, transporting all of those parts, the electric motor, the battery packs, the low-rolling resistance tires, uses more fuel than the Prius could ever make up by being efficient. I'd imagine the Tesla must be the same way to justify it's seventy grand price tag.

What we really need here:
Manual Transmissions- Not to mention they don't drain as much power as automatics, manuals let you pick the right gear at the right time, thus letting you keep the revs where they need to be when they need to be. Add in that you can coast downhill and at lights, and you have a recipe for efficiency. And fun, that might actually get a few people off their phones.

Diesels- The clean diesels that are being smothered here get stupid good mileage in Europe. Again with Top Gear, the one host drove a Volkswagen Lupo (think slightly smaller VW Golf) Diesel and a Prius through the same route. The Toyota got 45mpg, the VW got 75 miles per gallon. Yes, 75.

Weight reduction- Lighter cars are less drain on the motor, meaning it needs to do less work to propel the car along. Less work, ala revs, is less fuel consumption. A smaller motor, in a small lightweight car, with a manual trans, can provide hybrid fuel efficiency for a fraction of the cost and while still providing more fun. Think of the old CRX Si' or even the failed Geo Metro, they got gas mileage figures twenty years ago that many new "hybrids" (Tahoe Hybrid?) can't come close to.