In a surprising move, Elon Musk has offered to share the technology behind Tesla's Supercharger battery refueling as well as access to the entire Supercharger network to any auto manufacturers that want to take advantage. The only caveat for the manufacturers is that they would have to keep the charging stations free to their customers and pay to support the nationwide infrastructure.
The proposition might seem quite generous at first, but when you consider the deeper implications it actually makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. Tesla wants electric cars to succeed, and for that to happen they need broader support for electric car infrastructure on a national level. If by opening up the technology Tesla gets the funding to enable a much more aggressive rollout of charging stations across the U.S., the electric car manufacturer and its customers are the ones who stand to gain the most.
What do you guys think though, will electric cars catch on fast enough to take over the car world, or will competing technologies like fuel cells beat all-electric to the punch?
