Topic > Key Features and Benefits of Tesla's Extensive Charging Infrastructure

Tesla is a very special case in the automotive industry. The infrastructure that the company is building for its electric vehicles can represent a real source of competitive advantage. In fact, it adds value to the company's offering in the market, because not only do they produce some of the electric cars with the highest range, but they are also building their own network infrastructure to charge Tesla cars. Furthermore, by applying the VRIN framework it becomes clear that charging infrastructure represents a precious and rare resource on the market. In fact, fast charging networks are not widespread worldwide and only Tesla and CHAdeMO are well underway, with the important difference that Super Charger networks are made specifically for Tesla vehicles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned'? Get an original essay Furthermore, the presence of a well-known widespread charging network reduces customers' range anxiety and adds value to the product, also due to the annual charging credit granted to each Tesla buyer. Furthermore, considering the electric vehicle market and the importance of building an adequate infrastructure explained in previous chapters, it is clear that Tesla's network will have an impact on competition. In fact, a network has value when it is widespread and when it has a high number of users. Certainly Tesla's charging infrastructure is widespread throughout the world and already has many users. However, one recommendation that can be made for Tesla is to look for partners for its charging infrastructure. In fact, its CEO has already said that they are open to this idea and that they have made some important steps forward, such as making their patents open source, but they need other manufacturers to adopt their standard, making it possible to charge non-Auto Tesla at Super Charger stations. This way other manufacturers will be able to rely on Tesla's network and use their technology. Thus, their network will have a stronger impact on the competition and will also be more valuable, because there will potentially be more users. This certainly creates economies of scale on the demand side, allowing the value of both the product and the network to be increased. Furthermore, the more other companies adopt Tesla's standard, the more difficult it will be for others to build their own network. Today, therefore, Tesla is the only manufacturing company to have a widespread fast charging network and it represents a competitive advantage, but to maintain it in the future it will have to find more and more companies willing to share the costs. In fact, considering its balance sheet and the speed with which it burns liquidity, it will probably not be able to finance its network expansion plan on its own and could lose its main competitive advantage in the coming years. So it is true that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has declared that he is ready to open his network to other manufacturers, but it is necessary to move from words to deeds. Furthermore, it is clear that a charging infrastructure like Tesla's is expensive to imitate. In reality, only CHAdeMO has a similar diffusion, while the others are in their infancy and will probably reach Tesla only after a few years of intense work. This is enough to say that the hypothesis has been confirmed and that the competitive advantage resulting from Tesla's charger network is potentially able to guarantee a sustainable advantage for the company over competitors in the most important markets. Indeed, it is not even completely replaceable, because the advantages of the charging network are not simply the possibility of charging the vehicle's battery, but also the possibility of doing so in twenty minutes. Tesla's Super Chargers represent.