#10(First)... get rid of the belt and go chain driven with a tranny and a shifter. By now someone would have figured out some kind of air-operated push-button shifting mechanism or something. These things would just rip!
Ever drive an off road car that you have to shift??
It's a complete and total pain in the arse. Fun for 5 minutes then it becomes a labor.
Actuating the shifting's not a problem. Air shifter, electronic shifter, manual shifter - easy to do, easy to operate and setup - but the whole shifting thing is a pain - remember, you have to add a clutch pedal/lever to have a manual tranny too.
The CVT setup really is the way to go in a small car. (and many of the larger off road cars run automatics)