One of the many benefits of Tesla vaunted vertical integration is well illustrated by the announcement that off-peak charging will be free at Tesla Superchargers in the California over the Thanksgiving holiday period.

Because Tesla owns all its own charging infrastructure it has a comprehensive view of charging patterns and spikes across its network. This allows it to react to congestion which can be a major problem where there is a large concentration of Tesla EVs.

The company has already tried variable pricing during the day to even out spikes and it has even developed its own mobile Superchargers to boost capacity at high pressure sites. It is able to do this because it makes not only its own chargers but also Megapacks – very large lithium storage batteries which is sells through its power business.

Another reason why Tesla is going to be so hard for automakers to beat.