UNTIL RECENTLY Elon Musk had little have to look over his shoulder. He as soon as described competitors for Tesla, his electric-vehicle (EV) firm, as “the big flood of gasoline vehicles pouring out of the world’s factories day-after-day”, reasonably than the “small trickle” of different EV-makers. SpaceX, his rocket agency, had so undercut and outwitted the bloated aerospace incumbents that it had developed an virtually invincible aura.