(6/3/16)
Tesla has always understood that it will have to have pay-per-use for charge stations, that "free...forever" charging was a marketing gimmick, and that would only be available for a limited number of buyers.
Where TSLA was delusional, IMO, was in it's contention that electricity would remain cheap, and it could afford to subsidize "free...forever" charging until it sold ~ a million BEVs, both of which you can hear about at ~13 minute into this Video of JB Straubel, Chief Technology Officer, Tesla Motors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQs1k_0Yys
Tesla never understood the reality of time-of-use Home charge pricing For BEV drivers, which will probably be almost all BEV drivers, within a few years.
I am on PG&E E6 smart rate, as I expect are quite a few Northern California Tesla owners.
We will be paying over $.90 per kWh this afternoon, from 2 until 7 PM, or close to $100 for a full charge for a tesla owner.
"Free" public charging would be a congestion disaster during peak demand periods, once more BEV driver's rates are rationalized for actual costs per kWh, and even more so if Tesla is unable to maintain its current prohibition on its BEVs vehicle-to-grid use.
Which is why I doubt that Tesla will ever offer "free...forever" charging for the 3, at any price.
Yes, TSLA could impose any level of complexity to regulations on public chargers to limit their use.
But the reality is, no method of rationing is as efficient as market pricing.
Something Tesla definitely seems to understand, when pricing its vehicles...