Toyota might be smart enough to realize that Tesla has a supply chain that will be difficult to beat. It's going to be a shit-show among the remaining contenders once all of their hands are forced.
That said, I am bullish long term on EVs and hope to convert my primary car to an EV next year.
When people make the mistake of analyzing Tesla as a car company it always makes me smile, because it leaves me feeling secure that my (albeit small) position on Tesla is sound.
It's been said by others ad nauseum, but I'll say it again:
Tesla is a battery company with a car division.
They just have so much damn money because of their stock is so inflated.
Telsa will have to majorly mess up to lose its head start on the other companies.
The biggest bottle neck that is getting batteries made.
Yes, batteries are a limiting factor, but there are a lot of companies out there not named Tesla that know a hell of a lot about lithium battery cells and unlike Tesla some of these companies actually produce batteries.
The reality is other automakers can't put out EVs right this minute, even if they wanted to. There aren't enough batteries.
Tesla will likely continue to ramp up production while the other automakers struggle to get any going on the scale they need or want.
And the Telsa battery packs that they use (Panasonic or not) are way more advanced than many other companies can produce at scale right now, or likely in 2-3 years from now.
Notable exceptions being the Prius and some of the Lexus lineup.
Look at the new Bronco Sport as an example. It’s fairly small, but a 1.5L turbo 3? That’s not something that’s built to last 20 years without any major complications.