[seanmcdirmid]

> I'm still not sure what Tesla gain from opening up SuperCharger for competitors.

They can actually charge for charging (rather than giving it away), and lots of people will pay for it, it also adds to their network effect (more customers for charging = more charging stations they can build).

I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now the US government will declare Tesla a charging monopoly and split it away from the car company.

[jopsen]

> I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now the US government will declare Tesla a charging monopoly.

Just asking a stupid question: isn't setting up a charging station relatively easy?

I mean is the barrier to entry not pretty low? Compared to say conventional gas stations, there are fewer dangerous things, etc.

The only barrier I see is that each charger network might want their own app, etc. Providing a poor UX. But that's entirely fixable, I already see contact-less card payments at gas stations today -- other charging networks could do the same.

What is the moat?

[SideburnsOfDoom]

> The only barrier I see is that each charger network might want their own app, etc.

It is noteworthy in this regard that part of the EU mandate for a charger network is "without requiring an app or subscription"... "They must also accept contactless payment and provide full pricing and live charge point availability information through ‘electronic means’ such as an app or sat nav system."

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/88920/electric-car-chargi...

https://www.theverge.com/23806690/eu-ev-fast-charger-60km-la...

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/07/eus-law-mandates-fast...

[SOLAR_FIELDS]

Tangent, I would love to see more contactless card payments available at gas stations. Using the strip is incredibly insecure. Where I live there are constant stories of people getting their details stolen via skimmers. We even have a list of gas stations to avoid paying at pump because they are so notorious for it.

Unbelievably, half the time when the NFC symbol is available on gas station machines it doesn't even work. About the only time I can reliably expect to pay contactless at the pump in Texas is at huge chains like QT and/or travel stations like Pilot/Flying J

[tim333]

Getting the power company to provide suitable electric lines to your location can be a bit of a business.

[cptskippy]

They already charge $ for charging. Free charging was only offered on select vehicles. Everyone other Tesla pays for it.

[AdamJacobMuller]

That would require some anticompetitive behavior, you can't simply split things up because they are a monopoly.

Future behavior not-withstanding, Tesla will (correctly IMO) point at the opening up of NACS standard and the supercharger network as a defining anti-anti-competitive move.

[seanmcdirmid]

You can split them up if they become so successful that uncompetitive behavior just falls out of it. Like people who want to split away the app store from the iPhone (regardless of the fact that other phones and app stores exist: Apple's vertical closed ecosystem makes the iPhone more popular).

[withinboredom]

You don’t need a monopoly to be anti-competitive and get broken up because of it.

[djbusby]

More popular than what? Android is 70% global market share.

[Guvante]

Apple had a 75% market share of phones that cost $600 or more in 2022...

[pests]

If you define your market small enough anything can be a monopoly. I bet Apple has a 95% market share on phones that cost more than $1500. I bet Google has 75% market share on phones less than $100. So what?

[Guvante]

We are talking about the App Store here, correct?

Do you think that for an App Store attached to a phone whether the phone cost $100 or $1,000 matters?

Because everyone related to those App Stores does.

[seanmcdirmid]

Profit share.

[blackguardx]

Alcoa aluminum is a counter example but that was in a different regulatory climate.

[akira2501]

Laws are laws. That they aren't enforced sometimes is a pity, but that doesn't negate their existence. The Sherman Antitrust Act is pretty broad, and even simply "dividing markets" can be a cause for action.

For those that dislike these laws so much they would rather pretend they don't exist, I wish they would spend some time reading and understanding the context under which these laws were passed. These types of arrangements, when allowed to balloon out of proportion unchecked, cause massive amounts of damage to the average american citizen and their individual and collective long term interests.

Lassez Faire style regulation was effectively tried and it was an unmitigated disaster for the citizen, who is, and should be, protected in our Constitution while our corporations must obviously be constrained to subordination by it.