A consumer who knows that his local powerplant uses renewable resources to generate some of its electricity has no way to discern whether the electricity he uses is powered by renewable or fossil resources. Moreover, because electricity has been a regulated industry for the past century with monopoly status within service franchises, consumers have little experience making electricity purchase selections. The electricity industry is rapidly changing and consumer choice is becoming a reality. Consumers will have to learn what selection criteria exist in this new area of consumerism, what their opinions are about those selections, and how to make those preferences known through purchase decisions. Education is critical if consumers are to make informed decisions about their future electricity options. However, such education is not as critical in transportation, where a larger, educated and experienced consumer base already exists.

Consumers are bombarded daily with advertisements aimed at influencing automobile purchase decisions; they have a great deal of experience making these selections in the face of intense pressure. There are more than two hundred automobile models for sale in 1997, and purchasing an automobile is one of the most costly and deliberate decisions most consumers make. The perceived importance of the automobile has reached stratospheric levels in American culture, not only as a transportation medium, but as a reflection of psychologically complex consumer preferences about unrelated characteristics, such as color, comfort, and horsepower far exceeding the requirements for legally permissible driving.

A transportation market entry approach for advanced technologies based on renewable energy, therefore, may find a receptive audience among some consumers. They may appeal, for example, to "innovators" and "early adopters" who wish to be among the first to own and test new technologies. They may appeal to environmentally-concerned, "green" consumers who wish to reduce their personal responsibility for creating tailpipe pollution. Such consumers can directly verify that their actions make a difference because their vehicles have no tailpipes, yet alone tailpipe emissions. Because of the risks involved in purchasing advanced technologies for such an expensive product, these early market participants may be limited to the risk averse; however, the initial buyers may prove crucial to generating wider consumer acceptance.

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