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The problem with the auto industry is that it has produced too many small, low-emissions green cars. A little foresight - the wisdom to look a few years down the road, see the coming market and build some gas-guzzling SUVs while there is still time - could save some of the big automakers. But, lacking that kind of business sense, they've gone right on building fuel-efficient cars Americans don't want...

What a minute. What?

Apparently, that's the scenario some analysts believe the auto industry could be facing in a few short years.

Reuters reports, "According to some industry observers, we're on the verge of a global glut of plug-in cars." J.D. Power analyst Mike Omotso, for instance, told Reuters "There is a strong possibility of an EV glut" occurring "within the next decade."

Why? According to Reuters, the danger lies in "the simple fact that government and environmental groups may want electric cars more than the general public does - at least at current vehicle and fuel prices"

Autoblog Green explains, "Right now, governments and greenies are the driving force behind electric cars. With the high cost of the plug-ins and the low cost of gas, there just won't be enough customer demand for EVs once the initial rush (and the first wave of subsidies) is over."

Business Insider thinks "There are two fundamental problems with the EV market: Gas is still cheap and the projected sticker price for electrics will scare people away. If an ‘affordable' electric car costs $45,000, then it will be hard to get buyers on board."

Omotso continues, "As much as we all want clean air for ourselves and our children, when gas is cheap we tend to buy large vehicles without too much concern for the environment." He notes that the only time in recent memory that Americans sought out small, fuel-efficient vehicles was last summer, when gas prices peaked at more than $4 per gallon nationwide. "It wasn't their environmental conscience talking," he told Reuters. "People were thinking with their wallets." Americans have always bought as much horsepower as they could afford, and paused only when gas prices made it unaffordable.

But, with many major automakers planning an electric or plug-in car, and a handful of small start-ups appearing to build them as well, there are too many electric cars on the way to count. Business Insider speculates that only five can survive: the plug-in Toyota Prius, the Chevy Volt, the Tesla Model S, an undisclosed Nissan electric car and the Chinese-built Coda EV.