So what happens next?

Has the gas- powered, V8 engine gone the way of the dodo? Will the future bring Jetson-like flying vehicles fueled by household trash?

Or will the countries of the world destroy themselves fighting over what’s left of the globe’s oil?

No one knows for sure.

But if one University of Oklahoma professor has his way, the Middle East can keep its oil because the cars of the future won’t need gas — just an electrical outlet.

Dr. John Fagan, an OU professor of electrical engineering and director of the university’s Electric Vehicle Research Institute, said it’s time for American drivers to embrace the electric car.

“Electric vehicles are better for the environment and they can go about 100 miles on the equivalent of a half-gallon of fuel,” he said.

The cars, Fagan said, typically average about 100 miles per day.

“Most people drive around two. They run from home to work or the grocery store. And that’s where we need electric vehicles, in the cities.”

Today’s electric cars will go about 100 miles before needing a recharge.

“Right now, electric cars are not made to drive to Enid — that’s why God built the Lincoln Continental.”

Electric vehicles also have zero emissions, use renewable energy and are “much, much friendlier” to the environment. And while many are available for purchase now, Fagan said the country has yet to embrace them.

“There wasn’t much need for us when gas was $1 per gallon,” he said. “But with gas at $3.50 and expected to go higher, things have changed.”

That change could prove difficult for American automobile manufacturers.

Over the next five years, Fagan predicts foreign automobile manufacturers will “hammer” American car companies with wave after wave of electric vehicles.