[phkahler]

>> I still struggle to see how this ends up favorable for Tesla in the long run.

This will allow the rest of the charging infrastructure to become Tesla compatible. That may reduce the load on Teslas network, which they only built so their EVs could go cross country.

[bluGill]

More importantly, there are not a lot of chargers. Gas stations are on every important intersections, chargers are much less common and only rarely in places as convenient. (part of this is charging takes longer and there is the expectation the people charging are willing to go a little farther to find someplace where there is something else to do). As electric cars become more common every car manufacture needs to be able to say you can get anywhere with no worries as there are chargers. Tesla can get you across the country but you often have no choice where you stop to charge - if you pass a charger at 25% charge you are likely to run out a long way from any charger, while if you pass a gas station at 25% fuel you can probably pass several dozen more before running out and then are close to a station (more than walking distance, but an easy hitchhike) There are exceptions - I've been in remote areas where gas stations are that far miles apart, but they are rare, while that is still normal for EV charging outside of cities (and inside of a city you are more likely to charge at home and thus not care).

[gwbas1c]

Uhm, that's no longer true. There's a lot of new charging stations.

This summer, I drove from MA to Washington DC and every other rest stop had chargers; sometimes multiple brands. I also drove from MA to Montreal and there were plenty of chargers.

Basically, every time I needed to pee there was a charger 5-10 minutes ahead of me. Plugged in, went to the bathroom, and then I had more than enough charge to go to the next bathroom.

[maxerickson]

There can be enough chargers without them being anywhere as prevalent as gas stations.

In this rural area, there's generally more gas stations near the chargers than there are plugs at the chargers (like within a 1/2 mile or whatever).

[bluGill]

Depends on where you travel, I travel a lot in the west. Gas stations are not as common. I'm glad and not surprised to hear denser parts of the us are getting reasonable charger density as well.

[devilbunny]

... in the most densely-populated area of the country.

Within one mile of my house, I have access to 4+8+12+10+8=42 gas pumps.

There are 129 "public" chargers total in my metro area, and a decent number are at car dealerships (presumably mainly for use for vehicles left there for service) or hotels (overnight stays). I don't know how actually public the chargers are.