Peak oil is defined as the point where the oil companies can no longer increase oil production. One of the reasons to electrify transportation is the peak of oil production. For example many want renewable energy (solar, wind) to replace coal, but the only way for solar/wind to power vehicles is if the vehicles are electric.
Anyway ...
There is plenty of oil but . . .
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6041
It's an excellent exploration of the "huge amount of oil which theoretically can be extracted" and "whether the cost will be cheap enough for us to be able to afford to extract it". In many ways, the folks who say we a have lots of oil are correct. All one has to do is include the oil which is extremely expensive and slow to extract. Much of the cheap, easy-to-extract oil has already been removed.
An economist would say oil prices rise, and the higher price causes us to look for substitutes, which will tend to bring prices back down. Except ... the substitutes are poor. Biofuels compete with food production and/or land for food production. Or as I said, renewable energy sources that produce electricity does not power the majority of vehicles.
High oil prices means something has to give ... people might miss debt payments, or cut back on other things. This is how high oil prices cause recessions like the one we're in now.
..etc.. there's a lot more in the article. Highly recommended reading.
