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There are plenty of reasons to doubtTesla Motors (TSLA). Competition from big automakers like Ford Motor (F) and General Motors (GM) might not be one of them.

Associated Press

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas and team note the failure of the big automakers' push into electric vehicles:

Tesla aside, the auto industry's push into EVs has fallen far short of expectations. Just a few years ago, forecasts for global EV penetration were as high as 5 or 10% by 2020. From today's perspective, we think penetration in the 1% range would be respectable.

Fiat- Chrysler

CEO

Sergio Marchionne

recently said he loses $14,000 on every

Fiat 500e

, adding "I hope you don't buy it." [General Motors']

Chevrolet Volt

sales are down 7% YTD despite attractive leases. The

Ford

Focus EV

accounted for 0.07% of Ford's 1Q US volume. Other OEMs including

Renault-Nissan

,

PSA

and

Toyota

(

) have de-emphasized or significantly scaled-back their EV sales targets.

Jonas explains why Tesla has been able to succeed where the others have failed: