Somehow I doubt this will continue in a linear fashion...at some point, getting up another 10mpg will not be quite so easy.
hybrid powertrains will be the standard....
As they should be. Diesel efficiency is starting to show that it is not the future. Traditional ICEs are showing incredible efficiency potential without sacrifice. Adding some electrification, especially in plug-in form, have the promise of no range anxiety, better acceleration (in the case of electrically-driven wheels with ICEs as generators primarily), and the possibility for 0.0 units of fuel used as the norm.
Telsa is very impressive with its range and simplicity, but until such a time as Level3 chargers are installed everywhere, I fear that even a 1,000km range Tesla would be a hard sell to 'everyone'.
OTOH, driver-less cars will be, I think, the norm within 50 years...
