"And yet not a single one of them was able to make electric cars attractive enough to buy until Tesla showed them the way." First, that's only partly true i.e.

"And yet not a single one of them was able to make electric cars attractive enough to buy until Tesla showed them the way." First, that's only partly true i.e. a matter of timing. Second, it doesn't really matter though. They will sell cars and trucks that are much the same as today, that people want, but are electric.