[mparr4]

I'm not quite sure if the Tesla is to electric cars as Apple is to smartphones analogy works just yet.

Perhaps it will, but I live in the US and have still never even seen a Tesla vehicle. I've seen Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts. My town even has charging stations.

Maybe that's how things will shake out, but I don't think they're there yet.

[marssaxman]

It must be a local thing. Here in Seattle, I see a Model S on the road at least a few times a week. It's not just the same car, either - I've seen them in black, white, grey, and red. Two of my co-workers have them!

[nrb]

FWIW they are all over the place in Chicago, and presumably the other major metros.

[toomuchtodo]

I work for a major broadcast network in Chicago. Our owner owns both a Model S and Roadster.

I too see Model S vehicles everywhere in Chicago.

[mtgx]

Apple only had 1 percent of the smartphone market in the first year (which was much smaller than it is now). It took a few years to become what it is now. And even now Apple only has 13 percent market share globally with the iPhone.

The car market is also much slower to change, since you don't buy a car every 1-2 years, but once every 10 years. Plus, they are much more expensive than phones. That's why we're talking about thousands of cards vs millions of smartphones.