Commuter Cars Tango  The Commuter Cars Tango is a series of prototype ultra-narrow electric sports car designed and built by Commuter Cars of Spokane, Washington. Commuter Cars was founded in Spokane, Washington by Rick Woodbury and his son Bryan Woodbury in 1998. Woodbury says his father came up with the original idea some time in the early 1980s. Woodbury learned that 106 million U.S. commuters were driving to work alone. He decided to produce a single occupant fast electric car. Starting in the 1980s, Woodbury started researching hydrogen power leading to fuel cells. The weight of fuel cells led to the idea of a stable, narrow vehicle with a low center of gravity. While waiting for fuel cell technology to catch up, he eventually settled on a design for the car to have individual small electric motors for each wheel. In his spare time, he worked on building his first car. In 1998, he sold his yacht to fund the company. He eventually settled on a plan to use parts that were already produced, instead of producing every part for the Commuter Cars. Commuter Cars uses various assemblies manufactured for other, more common cars. Among those assemblies is a safety cage made to NASCAR specifications. Production of the first of their line of ultra-narrow electric sports cars began, the Tango T600. The company designed a small ( 69 in. long and 29 in. wide) electric cars. Commuter Cars said production of the first version, at a rate of about 100 cars per year, was set to begin in late 2005. Actor George Clooney took delivery of the first Tango kit on August 9, 2005, which was a major milestone for the company. Clooney appeared in the press with the car, explaining and promoting it. Difficulties with their UK manufacturer forced Commuter Cars to take over manufacturing themselves; for this reason the second vehicle did not ship until February 11, 2008, and was completely assembled in Spokane, Washington. The second car eventually found its way into the second-floor office of Google CEO Eric Schmidt as part of an April Fools' Day joke. By 2008 Commuter Cars had only produced 10 cars which sold for an average of $121,000 each. The first production car was sold to actor George Clooney who took delivery on August 9, 2005. The company generated a significant amount of media interest with the sale to Clooney. However, that initial media attention did not lead to a production deal. In 2010, the company entered the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize in the "Alternative" category.