I think that Paul made several early "emotional" decisions that may have delayed the project. That's understandable when the product is "your baby" - you're a little too close to the design to make the cold, practical decisions that need to be made in the development of the product. He set some lofty goals, and it appears the latest engineering model is still meeting them. I applaud the decision to go with a standard instrument panel versus the "Elgin" dash. I believe Paul's homage to his father's legacy was well-intended and certainly laudable. But as an instrument, it is fatally flawed in that small moving numbers are difficult to read and interpret at a glance. Building a custom panel was never a business-driven decision. There are plenty of instruments available on the aftermarket at a small fraction of the cost, and building a bespoke unit seemed never to be a cost-driven consideration, but an emotional one.
The steel body was another good decision. In volume production, a welded-up roll cage on which plastic panels were to be hung was simply a non-starter. It would be slow (and expensive) to produce in volume and add a number of steps to the assembly process. It was useful in the prototyping process, but now we have to think about production in volume. The steel stampings can perform in many cases as both structural members and body panels - the whole idea of a monocoque body is that can be at once lightweight and immensely strong.
I'm glad to see that some consideration is being given to fog lights and possibly some "clearance" lamps on the fender pods in recent posts. Just this weekend on a dark road in a heavy rain, I nearly pulled out in front of a Jeep Renegade. His very narrow headlights gave the impression that he was nearly a block away, but it was the presence of marker lights on the fenders that showed he was MUCH closer than I first thought. That's always going to be a problem for other drivers if the perceived distance of the Elio is confused by the necessarily narrow placement of the headlights. I'm considering a set of LED's or maybe electroluminescent strips on those pods just to remind other motorists that this is a rather unconventional vehicle coming toward them.
Finally, there have been a great number of detail changes in the transition from prototype to production, and they have been handled well. The exhaust pipe is one development shown to be made necessary through the prototyping process. Obviously it can't hang below the vehicle - because ground clearance would be an issue. Tucking that exhaust line into a "tunnel" up into the body was a good idea, but could transfer a lot of heat into the cabin. So putting it in a slight "pod" along the right-hand side of the body may not please the purists, but it is an excellent, practical decision that solves the problem of space and sound coupling with the cabin without a total rework of the interior.