It's a good sign for Tesla that the charge stations are so popular. Sure it might be a pain for now but if consumers like them so much the charge stations could become a compelling product differentiator for a long time to come.
The part that really hurt my non-american sensibilities is when the letter points out a cost of 12cts/kWh.
I wish my electricity was that cheap.
As for the main point itself, I can imagine the intent was to make sure supercharger station are actually available for someone on a long distance trip, but it is quite poorly worded.
> The part that really hurt my non-american sensibilities is when the letter points out a cost of 12cts/kWh.
That's commercial/industrial pricing. If Solar City is able to obtain status as a generator that can sell power on the open market (combining rooftops into blocks for firm generation using controlled release of power to the grid from sunlight stored in PowerWalls), they'll be able to "sell" power to Tesla at a much lower rate.
As a residential customer in Illinois, my cost is 6cents/kwh, and as low as 1cent/kwh between midnight and 5am.