My prediction has always been that all traditional car manufacturers will jump into the market with gusto at the next inflection point in battery technology.

The current state of the art battery technology for vehicles is heavy and has less than desirable energy density.

The minute a new technology can deliver twice the energy density at the same or lower weight and lower cost most established car manufacturers will jump in.

Electric cars are very easy to build when compared to IC cars. The simplest fact being that you are eliminating thousands of mechanical components and replacing them with an electric motor and hundreds (or thousands?) of electronic components (for motor control). Electronics design and manufacturing is easier, cheaper and faster than mechanical manufacturing.

I believe Tesla is positioned to take a big hit when that inflection point happens. They are inexorably married to a battery technology. The Gigafactory, as awesome as it might be, is now a large ship with huge mass that is very difficult to turn around.

The next battery technology might very well turn the Gigafactory into a huge anchor for a few years, during which all other car manufacturers, lacking that commitment, are likely to leave Tesla in the dust.