There's a perception that Ford is particularly behind its competitors on Battery technology, after all they've never developed their own BEV and virtually stopped development completely around 2013 when things were just getting started for Tesla. The reality is that Ford has been working on this technology for decades, long before Tesla, but the problem for Ford and every other company is scaling and profits. There is an incredible amount of innovation freedom for startup companies like Tesla, there is no question Tesla is the most influential car company since Ford, they've charted the path for the future and absolutely none of this would be happening without them showing the way and we've never seen a single carmaker do that before since Model T. And what's amazing to me is that for the first time in my lifetime, an American car company is the influencer instead of the Japanese or Germans. But it's also largely true that Tesla could never have happened at Ford, nor could Ford sell those products nearly as well. We'd still be plugging away with boring low selling compliance BEVs if it weren't for Tesla. Tesla is more than just an EV, it's a fundamentally different way of developing and selling a vehicle, it still has a ton of advantages over its competitors which are still largely copying them, often with less capabilities and range. I don't think Tesla is going anywhere, and the success of Model 3 finally convinced me Tesla is going to make it.
There is still a TON of room for Ford to shine and for them it starts with redefining Hybrids while most are going straight to BEVs. This sounds like a half-measure unworthy of note, but it's a big deal considering how early we actually are in the electrification of the industry. And then they just have to sort out how quickly they are going to enter the BEV spaces, right now we have two major consumer options arriving in the next 3 years I believe (F-150 and Mach-E). We may see other commercial vehicles like vans, and hopefully a Lincoln but I've heard nothing about that yet. Either way Ford is mostly joining the chorus rather than innovating in BEVs, that's my only concern there, but their bet is on Hybrids being the ignored bridge that allows them to reach far more customers before BEVs really start scaling. I don't think that's going to change perception of Ford as a non-contributor because their flashy BEV ambitions are slower, but their business case should add up well in the end.