Tesla can be credited for igniting this full-on electric car movement we’ve been witnessing over the past couple of years, with Dieselgate acting as a catalyzer for Volkswagen AG but also for other German brands, BMW included.

Well-established carmakers have been on a spending spree trying to develop electric powertrains and EVs and BMW CEO Oliver Zipse believes they will soon catch up with Tesla and even get ahead of it.

Mr. Zipse told Automobilwoche that in his view, Tesla will not be able to keep up with rival carmakers.

In all fairness, Tesla did have a head start since it focused solely on EVs from day one. However, this EV movement that’s currently developing under our very eyes has seen the big players entering the race at a high pace, fueled by huge budgets and past expertise when it comes to building the cars themselves but also in terms of market knowledge, market presence, and delivery networks.

At the same time, Mr. Zipse decided to flex in favorable times for BMW. Munich recently announced the arrival of the iX all-electric SUV, the iX3 EV is already out on the streets meeting the medial, and the i4 is expected to show its face soon. And that’s just BMW we are talking about.}

Audi just unveiled the Taycan-based e-tron GT and is brewing the Project Artemis, Volkswagen has the ID.3 out and about, the ID.4 has been already unveiled, and there’s more to come out of Wolfsburg, including the ID.6 and possibly an all-electric van.

As for who will have the last laugh, well, that’s an issue only time will sort out. In any case, whether it’s Tesla, Audi, BMW, VW or Mercedes-Benz, the fact that so many companies are racing to churn out EVs (we didn’t include the likes of Hyundai, Kia, and Mazda which are also gaining momentum) can only mean one thing: the EV pool diversity is going to be high, and that translates into plenty of buying options for those looking to switch to batteries and electric motors. Ultimately, that can’t be bad, can it?