For hybrid cars and full-electric vehicles to take over the car market, manufacturers will need to attract millennial cash.

First, however, the technology will have to catch up.

The basic problem with EVs, as Erik Jonasson II puts it in a light-hearted column for The Spectrum at North Dakota State University, is “How on Earth will I remember to plug the damn thing in?”

Aside from price consideration, convenience and the network of charging stations aren’t yet well-established.

EVs might be a “glimpse of the future,” but they’re still far off from practicality. That hasn’t hampered millennial interest, however.

Americans don’t find EVs as “pleasurable to drive” or attractive in design, according to Autoguide. Millennials aren’t so confident in their future, either. Only 24 percent of drivers under 30 years expect to use one in the next decade.

Tesla has had astonishing success at attracting preorders for their Model 3 electric cars, but they tend to be out of the price range of millennials who are paying off student debt or are saddled with high rent burdens.

Millennials are open to “alternative fuel vehicles,” and more than their parents and grandparents. The issue is price and “range,” which means reliability.  Refueling a traditional car takes roughly five minutes. Plugging in an EV, or dealing with a hybrid, takes hours at a time.

Tax policy can assuage some of those issues, either through tax rebates, subsidies for research and development, or higher taxes on gasoline. While taxing gas to reduce pollution can be defended on the basis of public health, however, other meddling in car manufacturing can distort the market and favor larger companies over smaller startups. Tesla, for instance, is only about a decade old. When the government interferes, larger, established companies are adept at capturing the benefits of public policy and erecting barriers to entry for new challengers.

For now, EVs will probably remain out of reach for the average millennial. They’re still a luxury good. Innovation will gradually bring down those prices as millennials age and expand their incomes. The present might not be so bright for EVs, but the future is another possibility.