[Big Dave]

I agree that almost all commuter cars travel the rush hour with a driver and maybe in 5% of the cases one passenger.

That said, people are flat NOT gonna cough up $12,000 for a one-seater and a like or greater amount for a vehicle to ferry the tribe about with. They will pay maybe as much as $18,000 for a single vehicle that meets both missions.

The case against the one-seater:
Cost of one-seater: $12,000
Cost of four seater:$15,000

If you have to justify the cost of the one seater over the life of a five year loan you have to save $2,400 per year.

Picking arbitrary numbers:
Single seater: 50 MPG
Four seater: 36 MPG
Cost of gas/diesel fuel: $2.00/gallon

Fuel cost:
Single seater: $0.040/mile
Four seater: $0.056/mile
Delta bucks + $0.014/mile
Annual mileage to justify: 171,428
Even if we arbitrarily set the MPG of the single-seater to 100 MPG the payback distance is still 66,000 miles a year.

Now basjoos drives around a car that is still a four-seater (no, you are not gonna stuff me in his back seat) and has actually enhanced his stuff-carrying space. Get the EPA to back off on the Tier II nonsense and put a good efficient diesel in the basjoos-mobile and you can scare 100 MPG. I just don’t see a clown car matching that.

If you insist on short (wheelbase and overall length) cars for ease of city operation, you inevitably wind up with a clown car or an X-box. Aero=brick. Or something vaguely hedgehog-shaped. To get better aero (hence better highway MPG) you have to have length. Greater length exacts a price in vehicle weight, but pays you back in capacity and lower (potential) coefficient of drag. For ultimate economy a long tandem vehicle could give you the balance of aero and weight.