For nearly two decades, automakers have had a keen awareness of America's infatuation with sport utility vehicles. And though the SUV market may never again reach the heights that it did during the early-2000s, the question for carmakers isn't so much whether Americans still want to drive the vehicles but whether they can be made practical in an era of energy uncertainty and rising fuel economy standards.

Although Ford's electrification strategy calls for releasing one plug-in hybrid electric vehicle before the end of 2012, the automaker remains mum on which one that will be. But the evidence is mounting as to what vehicles will get the PHEV treatment for both the U.S. and Europe.

The San Francisco Bay Area and eight cities will receive nearly 5,000 charging stations and residential charging equipment courtesy of the federal government. The Department of Energy has funded a $15 million project that will provide equipment from Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, California. Coulomb has not announced pricing or availability for its upcoming residential charging product, but CEO Richard Lowenthal assured me that it would be available in advance of any electric vehicle deliveries.

Major car companies are working on ways that plug-in cars will communicate with the electric grid. Ford, Nissan and Volvo have displayed their visions. We spoke with Greg Frenette, Ford manager of battery electric vehicle applications, to learn which driver controls are essential and feasible—and which charging technologies are more fantasy than reality.

Ford Motor Company has developed an intelligent charging system that previews how its production vehicles will interact with the grid. The unnamed system enables all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners to restrict charging to when electricity prices fall below a certain threshold, or even "when the grid is using only renewable energy such as wind or solar power," according to Ford.