Tesla is different and mostly because of who is running it. Elon Musk is already a successful billionaire. He co-founded Paypal which Ebay bought. He is also a major stock holder of Tesla, Solar City, and Space-X all of which he runs as CEO. When he says his Supercharger stations will be solar-powered, he isn't bluffing. He runs a solar energy company as well as Tesla. In fact, some stations are already powered by the sun.
Musk is charismatic but is also very devoted to this products, ideas, and commitments. It's his leadership that's really driving Tesla to success, much like what Jobs did for Apple upon his return to the company he co-founded. However, Musk is less of an asshole.
While there is some resistance to Tesla, especially with their direct-sales approach (who loves dealerships anyways?), most of the traditional auto industry used them as a guinea pig to see how consumers would react to a full-fledged EV company that made EVs that were more than grocery-getting commuters (Nissan Leaf) or glorified golf carts (Mitsubishi i-MiEV).
Think about it. The Japanese had the technology and the money to create viable EVs a long time ago, but didn't. They, much like the big companies from Germany and the US, wanted to maintain the status quo and not take risks.
Tesla came about as an independent company and even named themselves after the genius Nikola Tesla who gave us alternating current, radio, x-ray, and of course, the electric motor among other things. Nikola Tesla was also gracious enough to have loose patents and allow people to use his inventions and discoveries to benefit humanity. It's mostly thanks to him that electricity is so widespread and affordable to most people. However, Tesla died alone and broke in a hotel despite being one of the most important people in history. It's because he deliberately let his patents expire so his inventions could better serve humanity. It's of no surprise the company named themselves after him in his honor.
Now that Tesla (the company, of course) is doing well, making profit, and gaining popularity, some companies are starting to follow suit and invest in EVs and hybrid powerplants. Just go look at the BMW i3 and the upcoming BMW i8. If it wasn't for the Model S's success, I doubt BMW would have invested in developing them.
Electric motors are also now getting considered as serious performance components and supercars like the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 use them in addition to engines. Basically, some of the fastest and gnarliest performance cars are hybrids.
I really don't think Tesla is going anywhere. In fact, the astonishing growth of their stock prices in the last few years is proof that they are getting stronger and stronger by the day.
They are also releasing their SUV very soon. It's called the Model X and will be AWD. It will have two motors, each driving an axle.
In a few years, they plan to release a $35,000 model which some people call the "Model G". There are many who are excited about this model and will probably jump ship from ICE vehicles to EVs when it debuts. I plan to drive my Kizashi for a while, but will most likely go to EVs after that.
It's obvious that I'm a Tesla fanboy. I used to be a skeptic initially, but after learning more about the cars, the technology, and the leadership, I had to change my mind. They are creating and delivering today the kind of amazing shit you read in sci-fi books or see in movies about futuristic vehicles. A 400 HP car powered by the sun!? Yup. Tesla makes it and offers it TODAY.
Here's the Model X SUV:
