The Rivals Who Plug Into Tesla's ChargersNarrow moat

Almost uniquely among the rivalries in this collection, some of Tesla's competitors are also its paying customers. As the industry adopted Tesla's connector as the North American standard, vehicles from rival manufacturers began charging on the Supercharger network — and their owners pay Tesla for the electricity.

The strategic logic is worth appreciating, because it inverts the usual reasoning about proprietary infrastructure. Tesla could have kept the network exclusive and preserved charging access as a reason to buy a Tesla. Opening it traded that advantage for two others: a standard the whole industry builds to, which entrenches Tesla's hardware at the centre of American charging, and a utilisation-driven revenue stream from vehicles Tesla did not manufacture. The network becomes infrastructure rather than a feature.

The cost is real and is now visible. A Supercharger network open to everyone is no longer a reason to choose a Tesla, which removes one of the differentiators that supported pricing when rivals' charging experience was poor. Tesla gave up a product advantage for an infrastructure position.

Watch charging revenue and network utilisation as they are disclosed. If non-Tesla vehicles become a material share of Supercharger use, the trade worked and Tesla owns a toll road. If they do not, it surrendered an advantage and received little for it — at a moment when automotive gross margin, 16.9% in the second quarter of 2026¹, leaves little room for advantages given away cheaply.