I'm not taking Musk's side on this, but let's face it... the man had a vision and largely delivered on it. Many details are still amiss, but consider:
Tesla (started in 2003) and Musk (joined in 2004) started with a high end roadster in the luxury market.. something like $99-120K from 2008-2012?
The angle was by starting at the high end and stripping things down to become more affordable, it was easier than trying to add features and details.
The Model S and X followed arguably still luxury vehicles, and then these were followed by the Model 3 and Y which were supposed to be more affordable.
Real world shenanigans of course saw these vehicles still holding a more expensive ticket.
Speculation is strong that the purported Model 2 will hit the market at $25K.
Add to this a robust charging network across the country.
Aside from Musk's personality and politics, Tesla has shown pretty ridiculous success thus far.
Now, what have all the other actual electric startups delivered?