I mean the answer to your last thing is battery technology. the lithium ion battery boom is the real driver of EV’s in general. you really gotta understand the role that Tesla played here is to surf on the wave, not create it.
a bunch of weirdo cars came out that were based on lead acid batteries in the 70s? i think, that killed that market
Prius proved the market existed with their Hybrid, that demand was there. they also totally dominated the market with their brand and no one else was tooled up for it.
Batteries with the capability of pushing hybrids, ev’s boomed into mass scale in the mid-2000’s
Tesla and many others take advantage of both of these things happening to great success.