Even more incredible to me is the elimination of pnuematics and the majority of hydraulics. Electric A/C packs, electric starters, electric brakes and electric leading edge heat to name a few. After reading some of the reasoning on a Boeing release, basically they said that pnuematics had reached nearly the pinnacle of efficiency for those type systems. Electrics however were just now entering a period of great advance and had the most future potential for efficiency gains.
Just as the A380 will need some obvious airport upgrades to accomodate, so shall the B787 require mods to provide the electrical demands an "all electric" commercial jet will create.
It will be an amazing machine and I'm sure there will be growing pains but as fuel prices go up, so does Boeing's stock as more and more carriers look for efficiency.
Due to Boeings recent debaucle with the Air Force tanker and their stained reputation from that ugly episode, the company has gone full force to set a corporate culture of accountability and ethical standards. They can not afford to allow anything to come to the market place not ready. Therefore, from a business persective, if they are not sure the composites are ready for any potential exposure, I don't feel they will field it.
Since the proprietary information on the technology is a closely held secret, this is of course speculation on my part. Just a reasonable guess. Cheers!