Tesla sell real cars that happen to be all-electric. And by "real" I mean "practical". The leaf has a range of maybe 80 miles. And (according to a NIssan dealer) that drops to "maybe 40" in the Minnesota winter. Even if Tesla cars lose half their advertised range here, it's still more than the Leaf's optimal conditions range.
I looked into the Leaf last time I was car shopping. I went to a Nissan dealer. They told me they don't actually HAVE a Leaf, but they'd be happy to show me a picture of one. They said they'd have three of them in stock in three months, because people had pre-ordered them, and maybe I could look at one then. Not test-drive one though. Just look.
But it's really the range that's the problem. There's no competition for Tesla on practicality. There's definitely competition on affordability.
Leaf is definitely a niche vehicle for people who never commute very far. Ever. I'd love to have an all-electric car, but a Leaf doesn't have the range, and a Tesla is way the hell too expensive. I kinda liked the Volt (over-engineered UI notwithstanding) but I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a car. Plus that guy's half-gas so it's a totally different ballpark than a Leaf is anyway.