Well i guess Tesla means a lot of things nowadays:

- Most advanced Technology in a Car at this moment both battery-wise or SW. - People are starting cults around Tesla, specially geeks and nerds. Similar to Apple :) - Tesla means today EV.

Everybody identifies Tesla with the most advanced EV.

You are right, they were probably not the first ones, but the ones easily identifiable as the EV and Car Technology. This is what they have as advantage compared to other EVs.