Patrick,
I just finished reading your entire thread. You have more patience than Mother Teresa did
As a fellow Elise owner, it pains me to say this but I also think it's time to call in the Lemon Law.
My wife and I had a lemon too - her '93 Ford Probe - don't laugh
We bought it new back in 1993 and in about 1 year of ownership, it had its entire brake system replaced 3x which was enough to kick in the Lemon Law. We got a full refund after 3 months of submitting supporting documentation.
Your CEL issue is much more severe IMO and you have given Lotus US enough chances to correct them.
Best of luck.