Also remember that they almost tripled profit in the last year, so that PE ratio will be 1/3 if they manage to do that again. Again, I'm not claiming that it is possible, or that that would be a sensible P/E ratio, or that they aren't overvalued, but P/E can change quickly.
They’ve faced relatively little competition in the EV space until this point and benefited from a shortage juicing prices. As demand eases and more entrants come into the EV space, they will have to lose margin, market share, or both.
I wouldn't be. They have fundamental and very broad patents on important things like:
* Pre-heating the battery on the way to a charging stop (enables the battery to accept faster charging without damage on road trips)
* Using motor waste heat for battery heating (increases range while use the above strategy)
* Dynamically adjusting charge rates due to real-time battery conditions (enables charging faster)
Those patents don't expire until the mid/late 2030's. That allows Tesla to force competitors to either pay a licensing fee or use more-expensive workarounds, like different battery chemistries, to match the battery range and charging rate. Either way, it means Tesla is likely to have larger margins than competitors.