My confusion with Tesla is this: around the rest of the world - outside of USA - there are already very fuel efficient automobiles. 60, 80, even 90 miles per gallon are common and applauded in Europe. America has the opposite approach and appears to optimise for size, comfort and perceived safety. (SUVs, Trucks, large saloons.) None of the things American consumers appear to value are correlated in the Tesla. When I…
Euro testing cycles are more generous, MPG figures are quoted in Imperial gallons (which are larger), and probably because of less dense cities they tend to be more tolerant of smog belching diesels. Diesels are fuel efficient but it's expensive to make them pollution efficient enough to pass American regulations. Many cars are the same in both countries. There isn't anything about America that makes them less effici…
Not only that, but diesel is rare in North America. You cannot guarantee that the next gas station you pass will serve diesel. That alone is enough to put people off buying them.
Ford, General Motors and all the Japanese brands offer diesel models of their fleet in Europe but they don't tend to sell them here.