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Calling All "Tesla Killers" - Where Are You? We've Been Hearing About You For Years - You Cannot Replicate What Tesla Is Doing, Here's Why

So many vehicles have been claimed as Tesla killers, and yet none have been able to do so. Where are the Tesla killers? You cannot replicate what Tesla is doing and there will be no Tesla killers - here's why.
Calling All "Tesla Killers" - Where Are You? We've Been Hearing About You For Years - You Cannot Replicate What Tesla Is Doing, Here's Why

Calling All Tesla Killers

A "Tesla Killer" as called by many media outlets, is a vehicle that will overtake Tesla and be better and sell more than Tesla is right now. Another phrase that many will use is "the competition is coming." My big question is, where is it? And even further, I say, "Tesla is the competition."

I did some digging in the historical archives of the internet to see what people have written about Tesla killers over the year.

An article, from May 8, 2018, from Motortrend talked about Tesla killers, the rise of the e-machines and asked if Tesla could survive the competitors from Jaguar, BMW, VW, and others. They even said, and I quote, "Six year on, Tesla is in trouble."

There are countless articles on the Internet archives like this over the year. It seems, negative press against Tesla sells... even if it isn't correct.

Now, Tesla did have to pull together all-hands on the Model 3 launch, that is true, but that was in 2017 and 2018. Since then, Tesla has been on the upward trend and profitable in 2020 and every quarter since then. And they are barely 10% of the way to their stated production goal of vehicles, 20 million a year.

The reason people say that "Tesla Killers" are going to happen is because they think it is easy to replicate what Tesla is doing. But, you cannot replicate what Tesla is doing, I'm sorry to say.

The reason is pretty clear when you look at Tesla. There were 3.5 million job applicants at Tesla who were applying for 30,000 jobs. That's less than a 1% rate of getting a job. "It's harder to get a job at Tesla or SpaceX than it is to get into Harvard," Ron Baron said.

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You Cannot Replicate Tesla or Have Any Tesla Killers

The reason you cannot replicate Tesla or have any "Tesla Killers" is due to the exceptional people that work at Tesla. When you combine that with a CEO who is a once in a generation human, you simply cannot beat them.

Find any other auto company on earth and see if the top graduates and applicants are first applying to those companies. They aren't. They are applying for Tesla and SpaceX because those companies are on the leading edge of technology and disruption.

If I were another automotive company, I would look at partnering with Tesla as much as possible. I wouldn't simply adopt the NACS standard. I would license FSD and I would try to find other ways to work with Tesla on my vehicles and charging.

Tesla also has a huge lead in data for FSD and is about to release its version 12, which will be nothing but neural nets. This will eliminate human error in programming, and it will simply then be a matter of time before a car drives far better than a human.

One day, Tesla vehicles are going to be absurdly cheap. This is the right direction to go with EVs. It's just like computers getting better over time and smaller, you get more for your money as time goes along. Batteries are going to be very inexpensive in the future, too, which will benefit companies making their own batteries in-house like Tesla. Tesla will have hordes of batteries while mining its own raw materials for them.

You can't kill Tesla with massively expensive sedans, like Lucid Motors is doing - even if they have better range. That is a recipe for disaster. They are too late to the party to do that and should have started with a much more affordable, smaller, and less range EV. Build a 250 range EV that is small and efficient. Tesla isn't doing that yet. But, a compact Tesla is coming, and then a sub-compact, so time is running out for other auto companies.

Lucid vehicles surpass Tesla vehicles in range and some other specs. But, that isn't what matters for widespread EV adoption. A solid range matters, and a low cost. And a charging network that is fast, reliable, and everywhere. Plus, building those EVs for a profit and not a loss. That's really what is going to do it. You can't have a 500-mile range EV that is cheap right now - it just isn't going to happen.

Ford has also cut its planned 2024 production of its electric F-150 Lightning in half... Legacy auto companies are serving two masters: ICE (gas) and EV, and they can't do both. They are going to build gas cars because their money is there, but over time as EV adoption increases, that will prove a bad decision and those companies will merge with others, or greatly downsize.

This is why I like Aptera. They aren't a Tesla killer - they are a unique vehicle that nobody has made. And the vehicle is cost-effective, below $30,000 in some cases. I think Aptera will do well with their unique design and Tesla may buy them some day.

In Other Tesla News: Do you need to be rich to afford a Tesla? Not Exactly - Model 3 RWD With Incentives Priced At Ridiculous $22,590

What do you think about the supposed Tesla killers? Will there ever be a Tesla killer some day?

Share this article with friends and family and on social media - or leave a comment below. You can view my most recent articles here for further reading. I am also on X/Twitter where I post more than just articles daily, as well as LinkedIn! Thank you so much for your support!

Hi! I'm Jeremy Noel Johnson, and I am a Tesla investor and supporter and own a 2022 Model 3 RWD EV and I don't have range anxiety :). I enjoy bringing you breaking Tesla news as well as anything about Tesla or other EV companies I can find, like Aptera. Other interests of mine are AI, Tesla Energy and the Tesla Bot! You can follow me on X.COM or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow my Tesla and EV news coverage.

Image Credit, Tesla, Screenshot

Article References: Motortrend

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