| "Is he wrong? Did Tesla not prove to the rest of the auto industry that electric cars are not only viable but also profitable and inevitable?"
No, they didn't. Nobody doubted they were viable or profitable, only desired. If TSLA accomplished anything, it was convincing people they are desired. That demand definitely did not exist before TSLA. Your comment implies all these things were already the case. That electric was "always inveitable", and tesla just proved it. That's, IMHO, quite wrong. as is this:
"Would we have the Bolt, Spark, Fiat e500, eGolf without Tesla?" You understand, for example, the bolt started design in 2012, right? IE At the same time the model S did. Others in your list are similar. It's like saying success of the iPhone caused Google to release Android. I'm with the OP, every single one of these threads seems some combination of cultish love for tesla and messianic adoration of elon. As a complete outside observer, the distinct impression i get is of people who always loved electric cars, etc, who felt like the rest of the world was "wrong" about something, thinking they have now been proved "right" about something. The only practical difference between TSLA and the other auto makers I see is that the others by and large followed demand (IE they wait for people to want a thing, then build that), and TSLA was able to create some demand. That's awesome and a testament to great PR/etc. But it's pretty also pretty normal successful startup behavior,and may or may not be related to any of the "moral goodness" people see in electric vehicles. |