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You know, at first I thought this was a silly question, but as I think about it, there's a lot of merit to your point.

I've been thinking about it, and this is where I've landed.

Most companies develop technology as a competitive advantage these days, certainly any large company. Walmart has innovated a lot in the supply chain management space, but most people don't consider Walmart a tech company. It's a company that uses technology to deliver goods and services cheaper, more reliably, etc. This is essentially true for Ford also. People generally don't buy a Ford because of any technological innovation. So even though it is Ford's technology that lets them deliver an affordable, reliable car, people don't think of Ford as a tech company.

Whereas Tesla's primary focus is on developing new technology. Their product is not really cars; their real product is inventing and applying new scientific knowledge. The car is a way to fund that research, i.e., it's the opposite of a traditional car company where research is a way to sell cars. Elon Musk has said that Tesla is a battery company, not a car company. His stated goal of Tesla is to "is to change the way the world uses energy at an extreme scale."

So, that feels like a legitimate difference to me. But I think you're actually right that it's a tech company mostly just because the founder is Elon Musk, insomuch as he is the one driving the focus and vision of the company. That is, he is the one saying Tesla is a battery company instead of a car company.

A more interesting comparison to me would be Volvo. I don't know if it's still true, but for decades Volvo was a leader in passenger safety. They had the first 3-point seat belt, first side impact airbags, first blindspot detection system, among others IIRC. I'm still not sure they'd be considered a tech company, in that they were using the safety innovation primarily to drive sales of cars. But I think it's a bit more nebulous. If they'd had a marketing-savvy CEO who proclaimed, "Volvo is a safety innovation company, not a car company," I don't know. :)