For one, because they see Tesla as "winning" this "paradigm shift in cars", which could be (will be, in my opinion) just as disruptive as Apple's touchscreen wa

For one, because they see Tesla as "winning" this "paradigm shift in cars", which could be (will be, in my opinion) just as disruptive as Apple's touchscreen was to the former cellphone industry. In such a situation having the paradigm shift happen in the first place is bad news for you, especially if you're a leader of the old paradigm. Microsoft, RIM and Nokia were all laughing off the iPhone in the first few years, so people would stay away from them and keep buying their "old stuff". So yeah, I can very much see how companies like Toyota and whoever else is promoting the totally unworkable fuel cell car "revolution" would be in bed with the oil industry. They'd rather push for something that barely changes the status quo, but at the same time is seen as "revolutionary" in the media, than go into electric cars.