I would have said sorry Tesla, you didn’t use your first mover advantage at its best. Why?

I totally agree with you saying that people associates EV with Tesla. And that makes sense since Tesla was convinced that the time for EV will come whenever its rivals were skeptical about it - Fun fact mercedes was one of Tesla’s shareholder then sold its shares around 2010 thinking that the EV breakthrough will never come-
However, for me Tesla is now just another car competitor in the automotive market, their unique selling point is not unique anymore. They are not only competing with the premium brands like Mercedes,BMW anymore but have to deal with other brands like BYD, Volvo, MG which successfully manage to take on the race of the EV.
In the first half of this year, headlines mentioned that Tesla models lead Europe EV market but what they didnt mention was Tesla has offered a great discount on their vehicles during this period. So now Tesla is in a position where they need to adjust their price to stay relevant in a market where the competition is rude.

On the other hand Mercedes adjust its strategy and doesn’t want to be seen as a premium brand but just as a luxury brand. They have embraced the batteries technology but what they aspire for their customers is not just to provide a good (or Tesla like) EV but to give them a luxurious experience. So Mercedes is repositioning itself to stand out from the crowd whenever Tesla is still organizing itself around the brand of Elon Musk :)