No they aren’t. Their sensor stack is handicapped and has literally murdered people. Sure they have “autonomous” cars in customer’s hands now, but that’s only because Musk is reckless, that doesn’t mean they are ahead. GM bought Cruise which I would say is definitely ahead of Tesla in their technology and ethics.
I don't write them off, by no means, even if I was sceptical a couple of years ago. Tesla will remain a car maker for sure.
Battery tech, so, is mostly Panasonic. And other are catching up. Esentially, there are ICE makers that don't have the best engines. And lately I sae mucj more, relative, innovation and transformation cing from the likes of VW than from Tesla.
They are starting to dry roll batteries, technology which no one has achieved before. And many other production innovations. And that was over a year ago.
I wouldn’t write them off just yet, they’ve got a lot more innovation in their DNA than the old car makers