It's a lot easier to spread out development costs over a $70,000 car than a $7,000 car. Musk has a LOT more wiggle room than Elio. It's not even remotely a fair comparison, and that right there illustrates the point. If you want to make a handful of million dollar cars to suit the ultra-rich go right ahead, but if you want to make tens of thousands of cheap cars for the average guy you're hosed. I'm sure not by intention, but by result again the rich are catered to and the poor can't get a break.

Having been in a couple VC-funded businesses, there is a lot of complexity when it comes to management salaries. The $1 CEO looks really bad to investors - like either an acknowledgement the business won't work or an indictment on his talents or a concern that he's not adequately incentivized to stick around. When seeking funding, maintaining appearances is important.