The short answer, the Model S blew away my short list of criteria when nothing else could tick all the boxes.
I was looking to replace my 24 year old ICE and I wanted/needed the following:
1) I needed seats that could go back far enough for my long legs and I could get into a comfortable seating position for my damaged tailbone (from a fall as a kid). That pushed me into a larger car, but even many larger cars don't work.
2) I wanted at least 20% better gas mileage than my old car (18 miles per gallon city, 25 highway, awful for Europe, but was normal for a US large car in the early 1990s).
3) I wanted at least equal 0-60 mph acceleration (about the same as 0-100 kph acceleration) as my old car, which was 7s. I just wanted enough umph to get on a freeway safely.
4) I wanted at least 80% the cargo space as my old car. It had a big 20 cu ft truck, which was large even when it was new.
I couldn't find a single ICE or hybrid that could meet all 4. I was looking in the $30K-$40K range, but when I found the Model S, I was amazed it not only met but exceeded every item, mostly by a massive margin. So I started saving.
I do understand all the environmental concerns, but for the mainstream car buying public Tesla beats ICE in every area except
1) Fast fueling time on a road trip
2) Range, the Model S LR is getting up there in range compared to ICE, but there are still a lot of ICE with more range
3) Price - Electrics still cost more than equivalent ICE, but that's getting better every day
In everyday convenience (charging at home and running around locally), performance, cost of ownership, and to a large extent comfort Teslas are vastly superior to ICE. The refueling on the road is made vastly easier by superchargers (as well as free for life for me) and I've found being forced to get out and walk around a bit while the car is charging is much easier on the body when driving long distances. The price issue will resolve itself over time.