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This whole thing may be much more benign: there is still a shortage of money, and in order to stretch things until they get the DOE loan, Steve Fambro is taking a long vacation, and he'll be back the first of the year, and Chris Anthony has two other concerns (Epic boats and Flux Power battery systems) that he will focus fully on until the production gets going. It would be much more reassuring to see some photos of the production model, and hear lots of details, and hear about work that may be happening on the 2h (serial hybrid) model.
The change to front wheel drive came about 1 year ago, and it added regenerative braking and better handling. The more recent big changes were narrowing the front (it should under 7' out-to-out now) which was made possible by lowering the whole vehicle and moving the batteries under the floor -- and the roll down door windows. That may sound simple, but basically everything changed: the section is now more square and there is ~10% more interior room. Other big changes are: it has a front bumper (and a hood), the doors open up a lot wider (you do not have to duck to get in) and the rear is more substantial -- and they claim to have lowered the drag by 9%.
They have said in the past that they plan on a 2g gasoline version (diesel would not pass CA emissions) that should get ~100mpg. It probably would use a turbo 660cc power plant from a Japanese Kei car, so if it weighed ~1400 pounds (the 2e will weigh ~1700), then it will still be very good mileage, if not nearly as quick accelerating as the electric version.
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