The one thing that could separate Tesla from others the most is their full self driving tech. I see today they announced an upcoming robotaxi reveal. I think it has the potential to be huge if they can convince people it’s safe.
Yes, add that to the list of future possibilities that has the stock market mesmerized.
Right beside Tesla in the global EV market is BYD (Build Your Dreams), a Chinese maker that is neck and neck for market share, despite not yet participating in the US/Canada market (with cars at least; they do manufacture electric buses in California and Ontario). Like Tesla, they are completely vertically integrated, including designing and making their own batteries. They even own their own car transporter ships for export to offshore markets.
BYD have the low cost angle sorted and their inexpensive EVs are rapidly penetrating markets worldwide. In Australia, a market with similar size and pricing to Canada, they have two models under $45,000, undercutting their Tesla counterparts handily, and a light truck is on its way. By the time Toyota, Honda and Nissan have true EV platforms to launch, virtually all of the early adopters worldwide will already own an EV - made by someone else.
BYD are reportedly building a small but upgradeable production facility in Mexico, which could be come the basis for entry into the US/Canada market. Obviously there are fairly serious political and trade parity objections to any Chinese builder intending to sell vehicles in the US, one can't help but think they'll be watching the US election closely this year. Or maybe it doesn't matter to them. With the volume of vehicles they're moving around the rest of the world, they could conceivably ignore nth america and hone their product line, manufacturing efficiency and battery technology in all the other markets.
I'm long-winded as usual. Suffice to say, there's another huge player on the world stage we barely know about here.