> Unfortunately now those 250K people who reserved a Model 3 could be driving a EV right now and making an impact instead of waiting for 3 more years.

This is a false dichotomy. As an anecdote, I started a 3 year lease on an EV two weeks before the Model 3 was announced and still put in a reservation.

Who cares if I can get a Volt for 33k right now? It still burns dinosaurs and has a terrible electric range.

Tesla is the press "darling" because it's doing something that the other manufactures aren't: Good looking, All Electric, High Range, Affordable Price. These are things people clearly want.

Every other vehicle sacrifices at least one of those.