I noticed that a car I drove by yesterday was a Tesla. But I didn't notice immediately, because it looked like a Buick or something.
I don't understand why, if they're trying to do something radically different, their cars look pretty much like everyone else's. Perhaps they are trying not to scare off potential buyers, but it seems like people are already interested in trying something different when they buy a Tesla. I personally would never drop whatever crazy prices their cars cost for something so mundane looking, though.
There's more volume in conventional-looking cars. Look at the responses to the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3, two electric cars that are legitimately funky-looking; something that looks weird will turn more people off than will be turned on.
I think the key point here is that Tesla is not trying to make the world's best electric car, they're trying to make the best car, period. If they try to make something radical and different looking, then they're going to gain some extra traction with people who want to stand out and be different, but they already have those people in the bag anyway.
On the flip side, making their cars deliberately strange looking is likely to turn a lot of people off. People who might otherwise be interested in buying a Tesla simply because it's a high-quality, practical car that competes well with other cars in its price segment, gasoline or not.
I don't understand why, if they're trying to do something radically different, their cars look pretty much like everyone else's. Perhaps they are trying not to scare off potential buyers, but it seems like people are already interested in trying something different when they buy a Tesla. I personally would never drop whatever crazy prices their cars cost for something so mundane looking, though.