No matter what your opinion of Elon Musk, his dogged determination to position Tesla as the leading purveyor of electric vehicles (or EVs) has successfully catapulted the United States back to the top of the automotive world. It has not only awakened Detroit automakers to the road ahead, Tesla’s success – and eventual profitability – has inspired any number of Musk wannabes to follow in his footsteps, spawning such American electric vehicle startups as Rivian and Lucid. All of a sudden, auto industry pundits no longer marvel at the wonders of German engineering, or the genius of Japanese indus…