How is Tesla trying to engineer around culture? If anything, they are engineering for our culture that is fascinated with high speed performance cars(Lamborghinis and Ferraris an example) and luxury cars(Bentleys and Lexus an example). Their models are giving what the customer wants. An electric car that is still fashionable in today's taste of cars. Of course the early models will have a few problems, but their widespread popularity after such a limited existence as a car company shows that Tesla is exactly what the consumer wants.