Re " In my opinion Tesla needs to prepare to be in the budget space." There are entire large traditional car companies that build no, or very few, budget cars.

To make electric cars cheaply, it will take several changes, some of which look promising, but should not be underestimated for time and difficulty:

It will take widespread adoption of level 4 autonomy to make crashes rare

Scaled-down lightweight EVs will have to become available and accepted, especially w.r.t. safety

It will take finding the sweet spot for some markets: E.g. on-demand scooters, privately owned semi-enclosed trikes with light-enough removable battery packs for apartment dwellers, etc. Vehicles will need a "Cambrian explosion" of variety.

It will take regulatory changes to support the above