With the launch of the Tesla Model S all-electric premium sedan, it is evident that, in at least some segments of the automotive market, there is significant demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that have fundamentally different, and for these segments at least, superior attributes to conventional gasoline-powered, gasoline-electric hybrids or previous generations of battery-powered electric vehicles. It appears that BEVs may be in the trajectory to become the dominant design in the automotive industry, replacing the internal combustion engine (ICE) architecture. Tesla's architectural innovation is both in the product and the process domains, its essential difference being how the system architecture evolved from clearly defined stakeholder's needs to elements of function and form as the embodiment of a state-of-the art concept.