Do you remember EVs before Tesla? They were glorified golf carts using lead-acid batteries. The performance and range were awful. The Roadster and the Model S changed all that. I'm not saying I remember this perfectly but as I recall, Tesla's original objective was to show that an EV could be a real car, look attractive (or at least normal), and to create demand for EVs that would force all manufacturers to start making them. The ultimate value in Tesla was supposed to be batteries, which all cars would eventually need.