If one day, China drives TSLA out of country and takes over technology, there is no point in investing in TSLA. If the technology is moved, they will face - same or more - challenges than current AAPL.
Batteries cost a ton of money. They’ve always been the expensive part of an EV. I don’t think there is a huge price difference in the motor vs engine. The EV saves on not having a transmission. EV brakes are quite a bit more expensive. The wiring for the high voltage stuff in an EV costs more.
My personal take is that China will definitely come up with some version of a Tesla clone to rival TSLA. Like what Xiaomi is doing to AAPL. It could be Nio or some other company. But they will come and come fast.
However, this should not prevent anyone from investing into TSLA. I have never given up on AAPL because of Xiaomi.
I don’t think there’s anything to worry about here. China needs Tesla. China wants to go 100% EV in a couple decades. It will work with Tesla hand-in-hand to achieve this goal. Shanghai factory is just the beginning. There could be 10 more Tesla gigafactories opening up in China within the next decade.