Certainly does not seem to be vaporware - or bollox for that matter - Eclipse appear to be very well-funded.
Its not about "hiring one and crashing it" - its that numerous corporate and business travellers are losing/have lost faith in commercial carriers and the FAA's ability to provide adequate security screening. These biztravellers fear their fellow passengers more than before, and having 3-4 of their co-workers as their only co-passengers is very comforting.
Also, the price of $850k makes large volume acquisitions believable (around 30-40 for the price of a BBJ)- although there is some doubt that the E500 will actually sell for less than a million (still cheap though...)
Only problem is that Eclipse do not believe that the E500 will meet FAR Part 25 engine-out climb perf...