How many people have put down their hard earned cash to purchase this vehicle?, 12,000. How many of those have seen standard analog dashboards in every version?, 12,000. How many have seen three wheels and a tandem seating design?, 12,000.
Now - How many do you think would be really mad if Elio changed the vehicle design to a one wheeled unicycle, with a single seat, no a/c and a plywood interior, but still achieved 84mpg, costs $6800, has a 5 star...blah blah blah? My guess is 12,000.
12,000 people bought into the "whole" concept , not just the specific mpg/cost criteria. Every "design" change to what they have been shown in the prototypes will make many frustrated and angry. And don't say..."well it had gauges before...", it also has a seat and if they changed that to a hard plastic bucket seat from a dune buggy because it was "cheaper and lighter", ask yourself just how many would be really PO'd? I'd say about 12,000.
The bad news for everyone is that Elio's only goal is to meet that fixed mpg/cost/5-star criteria. So if they want to make changes, they can. Heck, even that criteria is not fixed in place since no one has actually bought anything but t-shirts and bumper stickers so they have no legal obligation to meet.
I won't judge anyone for their design opinions because personally, I think the dash design is