Pretty much all of the major car companies are making fully electric vehicles with ranges comparable to Tesla. (I know about Ford, GM, and Volvo.) However, a lot of the hype with electric vehicles is centered around Tesla right now, much like how the hype for hybrids was centered around the Prius. In my opinion, the Prius is one of the ugliest cars out there, and despite the fact that we have a lot of choices for hybrids now, the Prius is still one of the top sellers. I really hope the Model 3 does as well as the Prius has done, because (much like the Prius did) it will put market pressure in places that there previously was none.

Putting most of the current auto industry out of business by being way more awesome is "good" in the short term, but then comes the monopoly, which is never good for the customer.

And to the cell phone company argument, Look at LG, Samsung, and Motorola, all phone manufacturers that have been successful pre and post smartphone era.