Gating Factor in EV Migration: Technological or Cultural?

I notice that there appears to be pretty solid consensus among readers (at least among those who leave comments) that the real problem in EV migration is more cultural than it is technological. As an example, Mike writes:

Resistance to change is systemic in (North American) society and institutionalized through numerous government agencies at all levels. Tens of thousands of people are employed to maintain and defend the status quo governing who drives, what they drive, where they drive, how fast they can or should drive and what multitude of standards they have to meet to drive at all…..To motivate people to change, innovation needs to be demonstrated and implemented at the local level in willing towns and cities but this would require changes at NHTSA, DOE, state legislatures and municipal councils.

I agree with all this, but I think the die is cast, i.e., that we’re far past the point of no return. It’s true that the low-speed vehicle laws may not change at the state level anytime soon, and that’s bad news for the NEV manufacturers like ZENN, Zap, Miles, etc. But there are so many people working to develop clean power generation and transportation solutions that the status quo you refer to is going to be under enormous pressure soon, regardless of how hard certain agencies work to keep it in place. And this isn’t because people like change; they clearly do not. Rather, it’s due to the fact that technology is improving rapidly every month – and the cost of cutting-edge renewable energy technology is falling fast.

I really can’t see a long-term future for big oil. My parents, whom I’m lucky enough to still have around, have considerable holdings in ExxonMobil, which I’m anxious to have them sell. Chevron’s ads would have us believe that they’re vigorously pushing for clean energy, but it’s obvious that this is completely untrue. Truth, eventually, will win the day.