I'm guessing that there are a few people out there for whom $12k isn't significantly different from $1200 (in the same sense that $1.20 and $12 aren't THAT different to me, on a one time purchase) - and that's probably the audience they're aiming at.
These guys are a little over half the price and much sexier, same with scootcoupes and tuk-tuk's..
So I'm not buying any of those things at this point, but I'm happy to see increased interest. Low(er) impact transportation making its way into the wild is always a good thing.