> Tesla is building the infrastructure for a supercharger network. If Tesla has any common sense at all, eventually all electric cars, not just Tesla's, will de

> Tesla is building the infrastructure for a supercharger network. If Tesla has any common sense at all, eventually all electric cars, not just Tesla's, will depend on this network. . . . It will control the national, and likely global, infrastructure for all electric cars in the future. I really disagree with this conclusion, especially that it would be simply a matter of "any common sense at all." Tesla currently has an incentive to develop this infrastructure — to encourage people to buy their cars — and so they are currently the only major player. But this head start is not as valuable as you might think. As soon as the electric car market is big enough for widespread demand for charging stations, other companies will build them as well. You don't think BP or Exxon could install charging stations at hundreds or thousands of their gas stations in a matter of months? It's not like there is anything prohibitive to creating a charging station, barring Tesla's ability to secure some truly essential patents on charging or (more likely) battery swapping technology. But even if they play their hand perfectly I don't give them good odds of controlling a significant portion of electric vehicle infrastructure; a head start that could be wiped out in a month by companies with much deeper pockets just won't get them there.