[patrickk]

Look at the technology adoption lifecycle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Technology-Adoption-Lifecy...

The reason Tesla aimed upmarket first is to sell a somewhat mass-market, high-quality product (Roadster and Model S), when the underlying tech is still somewhat expensive - meaning the early products will be relatively expensive (think of early laptops, iPods, solid state drives, anything really). So you're getting a great product, just not cheap. Other electric car manufacturers try to make cheap, small, slow electric cars that are a joke and no one takes seriously:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REVA

Elon Musk is using rich dentists to finance the R&D of the mass-market, affordable electric car that regular middle class people could buy.

It's a very smart plan, in my opinion. Ensures high-quality products throughout the adoption curve, meaning that investors, future customers and even competitors will take Tesla seriously. Having rival car companies sit up and take notice is great, meaning competition. Look at the rash of MP3 players on the market after the iPod launched - this forces prices down, for both the raw materials and the finished products. We're at a tipping point.