A meaningless correction given the relatively early date in Tesla's history that Musk took control of the company, the fact that he substantially changed the trajectory of the company for the better and was the primary reason it was able to survive financially to be here today. The present incarnation of Tesla was clearly founded by Musk. It's quite well known that Musk didn't technically found Tesla.
> He only popularized it in the US. The rest of the world was already building EVs.
The rest of the world was not already building EVs. That's plain false. The rest of the world is still not mass producing EVs, 18 years later. One look at EV sales vs ICE sales reveals that story.
There was Nissan and there was Tesla doing serious scale EV manufacturing in the early days of Tesla. That's it. All you have to do is go back and look at the best selling EVs in the automotive industry at the time the Model S launched into manufacturing. Global automotive EV sales by vehicle were still largely measured in the low thousands of units circa 2012, a decade after Tesla's founding. That was the year the industry finally started its ongoing upward trajectory, with the Volt moving 31k units and the Leaf moving 26k units.
You shouldn't be so dismisive. Tesla's battery technology is superior.
If indeed other countries were so into EVs, as you claim, one must wonder what is lacking in the other countries that all their years of expertise building EVs for the general public, they weren't able to replicate Tesla (which at the time was quite the ragged automotive startup) and its energy management system.
Teslas strong dominance in the EV market is quite US-specific it seems. E.G. in France Renault sold more cars, and Peugeot is head to head with Tesla. In Germany VW sold multiple times as much as Tesla. In China BYD sold more than Tesla etc. (all BEV, not plugin hybrids).
1) He didn't start Tesla.
2) He only popularized it in the US. The rest of the world was already building EVs.