In short haul markets, it seems like a plug in hybrids might be the better option from the infrastructure point of view.

In long haul markets, it seems like having highways rigged with overhead lines is the best option.  Not to mention that I imagine that these same highway right of ways could be used to run HVDC and other powerlines.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

One of the big fights going on at the moment in SW Ohio is the effort to install a streetcar from the downtown Cincinatti area to the university district about 3 miles (5 km) to the north up a hill.  

The planned path passes through a neighborhood called Over the Rhine that was built by German immigrants who migrated after the 1848 revolution, but now has become majority African American.  In 2001, the largest civil disturbance in the US since the 1992 LA Riots took place there.  But over the last decade it has been gentrified. Locals see the new streetcar as part of an effort to force long time residents out in favor of hipsters.

Because of the geography of the city inversions are a real problem, trapping fumes in the old city center. What's interesting is that for the cost of installing the line is budgeted for $100-200 million, or about $50 million a mile.  Running a trolley bus with overhead lines, no track, would cost about $1-2 million a mile.

Even at the high end, it's clear that the cost of the initial fixed track line could have been used to replace most of the lines coming into the city center.  Which would seriously improve air quality in the city.  Of course hipsters don't ride the bus, but light rail is trendy.  Alas, that hasn't been the way that the discussion has gone.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg