Yes I also find these arguments absurd. These companies have been building cars for decades and now suddenly they would be somehow out of their element switchin

Yes I also find these arguments absurd. These companies have been building cars for decades and now suddenly they would be somehow out of their element switching complex combustion engines to much simpler electric motors? Unless Tesla makes some fundamental advancement in battery technology (which again as you pointed out, is not even their IP) it doesn't seem there is that much of a gap. This appears to have a lot of similarities with the dot-com bubble where the new internet companies were thought to quickly overrun the old, "uncool" companies. It just doesn't happen like that. Plus there is a vested interest in the home countries of these car companies to see that these companies survive. Sure some of them might be ripe for losing a lot of market share, but they still have time to catch up as the world is slowly turning to mostly EVs. It's not the same as with internet companies where people can switch their search engine the next day if they so desire.