[KrautBurner]

I don't see it as disapointing

but I don't look at it as a "PRIUS"
it's just an economy car to me

for the $2200 I paid for it, I could have gotten a mid 90's civic that gets 5-10 mpg less (and I'd make that up in one year of commuting)

as far as bikes/sidecars
the URAL with a sidecar is going for $13,000 (about 6x the price of my car)

I did commute on a motorcycle for about 2 years
I had the choice of 75 mile ride or 20 miles and a ferry
ended up putting 28K miles on one of my bikes in 16 months

with the hours I'm commuting now (leaving my house at 5am)
and the elivation and likelyhood of snow/ice in the winter
I'm not too interested in riding year round for my commute

again,
I love diesels

but they are just demanding way too much money around here