> ...if at any point one of the big three see Tesla as a threat they will put efforts into... They will pull every dirty trick in the book, i.e. Laywer up, bef

> ...if at any point one of the big three see Tesla as a threat they will put efforts into... They will pull every dirty trick in the book, i.e. Laywer up, before they build a competing car to the Model S. (see Tucker 1948: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tucker_Sedan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tucker_Sedan) Then there are more modern scenarios like the Bricklin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklin_SV-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklin_SV-1) and the DeLorean. All of those never made it as far as Tesla has, for a lot of reasons, but failed mostly the Big Three's stranglehold on the market. In the Bricklin's case I would point to the parts/supplies cartel at the time. Elon has a good opportunity in today's market with the decline of the Big Three's influence.