Short answer.....Physics, Economics and Government Regulations

Long answer.....

I can make you a car that gets 100mpg easily. Heck, we did that about 20 years ago;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Ultralite

It just won't carry 5 people, 10 airbags, have creature comforts like Nav and heated seats, start in climates from -20F to 120F, last for 200k miles, and all of that costing only $30,000.

I can however recommend a great car that does all that and gets 52mpg hwy.....

http://www.autonews.com/article/20170220/OEM06/302209945/how-chevy-coaxed-cruze-diesel-to-52-mpg

Later,
EV

P.S. Full disclosure....I work for GM in Fuel Economy, and these are my opinions, not those of GM, yada, yada, yada...

No worries...

Ol' Elon has some neat ideas, but when it comes down to it, Tesla's sales are quite small compared to any full-line manufacturer. When he can produce a $20k sedan and a $30k pickup truck in any volumes over 100k, then I'll mayyyybe show a little concern.

Besides, why wait for a Model 3 when you can get a car with the same price point and capability right now?
http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html
(although I will admit, the Model 3 is wayyyy prettier).

Just like pinball, make ONE car or pin is easier. Making thousands of a thing *exactly the same way each time* is whole orders of magnitude more difficult.

Competition is good. The existence of Tesla has totally made us step up our game.

Later,
EV

While the Tesla is admittedly a cool car, let's not get carried away with thinking they are making some magical wunder-mobile here. It's simply a very nice car with an electric drive train instead of a internal combustion engine.

Only 16 moving parts? Umm, one suspension corner has that many (brake disc, pads, caliper, shock absorber, etc.), regardless of if it's electric or gas.

In fact, what most people don't realize is that a lot of the engineering for the Model S was done here in good "old tech" Detroit by former big 3 folks.

Once again, what Elon and friends have put together is a nice package. But they still don't make a single dime selling cars. Almost all Tesla profits come from selling ZEV credits to other automakers (like FCA and Mercedes).

TLDR

Tesla guys aren't any smarter than the rest of us....they just have better PR...

Later,
EV