Not Even Elon Musk and Tesla Can Doom the US EV Charger Network

Elon Musk may not like to talk about this, but Tesla Inc. probably wouldn’t be one of the world’s biggest automakers today if not for a $465 million US government loan at a make-or-break phase in the company’s development. Tesla went on to repay the loan nine years early on the way to briefly having a market value of more than $1 trillion.

The lesson here is that sometimes a new enterprise needs a helping hand from a bigger player but can eventually thrive on its own. Musk is about to play a role in another demonstration of that lesson, but this time as the bigger player: Tesla has been necessary for kick-starting electric-vehicle adoption in the US. But the company is not necessary for its future success.