Population density (source:wikipedia)
US 31/km
Netherlands: 396/km
Netherlands has about 12 times the population density of US and are also among the absolute cheapest.
Keep making up excuses.
If you define looking at the pretty pictures as "reading" then sure I did!
Of course it is very small, even as a production car it is unfair to compare it to a regular multi-seated car. This is more of a personal vehicle, it has a different use. What it does show is possibility. It is possible to build an extremely efficient car if you put your mind to it. A smart car sized version would probably not get the same mileage but if it got even close, that would be fantastic!
I, and many others live in a city where parking space is expensive and hard to find. If there was cars like this we could have miniature parking spaces, maybe even put the cars standing up. In the same space for one normal car you can park four or five like this. I don't really need a bigger car for almost any trip. If it had place for two then it would cover 99% of my needs, the rest i can rent a car or borrow one for. It is much cheaper than to pay a lot of money for parking, gas and of course finding space for it.
It is time for small cheap cars. In cities and in developing countries they WILL sell like crazy soon.
We don't have that problem in Europe, especially in the richer countries. In Holland it is very popular with cars in sizes from smart cars and a bit larger. Then again fuel here cost about $6.5/gallon. And even while driving much smaller cars than north Americans do we still have less people killed in traffic here in Europe. You are doing something wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OECD_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. -- Ambrose Bierce