Not defending Tesla, but it seems R&D costs need to be factored in. Tesla likely spent a lot upfront to develop the cars, so even if they don't cost that much to make, they need to cost more to recoup that money.

This is what being a market leader gets you. Tesla does not have real competition. At one point they had the worst manufacturing process in the industry. And currently they have the best one. All of this allows them to set the price as high as they like.
The thing is - this is bad for consumers as they pay higher prices. Some of that "premium" goes into the supercharger network. But most likely most of it goes to stock dividends.
90% of pharma profits go to shareholders. And only healthy competition can change that.

Isnt this a must to compensate for the lack of maintenace needed compared ice vehicals ?

Guess that 25k Tesla they used to talk about was always BS.