Well, *we* don't need SuperChargers at every rest stop. And the UK isn't that big of a country. There has to be something deeper going on. Perhaps once they are all set up, Ecotricity is planning on charging EV drivers as suggested by someone already.
They are definitely planning on charging customers in future. This has been clear from day one, and Ecotricity are publicly open about it.
The real problem here is Ecotricity has signed exclusivity contracts with the Motorway Service Areas. These are absolutely prime locations for Supercharging in the context of enabling long range travel.
The Electrical grid runs alongside the motorways and they are mandated by law to be open 24x7 and provide food and restroom facilities. They also have the benefit of being places you don't want to stop at for any longer than needed.
Dale Vince has in this case been very shrewd securing such a deal, and Tesla were playing from a very weak hand at the negotiating table. Elon's complaints about "outrageous demands" may very well be true given the clash of egos, but ultimately what is outrageous given this backdrop.
Of course none of this is helping us UK drivers out. Tesla are scraping around for sites which meet their own 24x7 access, restrooms, and facilities requirements which aren't exhorbitantly expensive to run electrical supply to. They can't just build there own mini-version of a service centre due to legislation and planning restrictions, so at the moment they are choosing to place Superchargers in small car parks near hotels with 24x7 facilities. These so far seem to be supply constrained to 2 bay sites, which will creak under the strain as more cars hit the UK.
There are rollout problems too. Even suitable hotel sites are in fairly short supply, we have seen a definite lacking in certain areas of the country, where MSA's are pretty much the only option, leading to a heavy clustering of SpCs in some regions, and void in others. Tesla have been in talks with supermarket chains, but the big problem with those is they are generally not as easily accessible, and they will end up supporting the penny-pinching owners as the charge time nearly matches a weekly shopping time, so there is no inconvenience to using them.
With Ecotricity the gatekeeper to the locations, it would appear Tesla's fat fingered email, showed Tesla were trying to buy off the lease agreements between Ecotricity and the motorway service operators, probably figuring this would be cheaper than paying Dale the price he demanded for allowing Tesla to share the sites, or trying to upgrade sub-optimal locations infrastructure to support Supercharging.
Now the crux of this particular lawsuit, i.e. breach of NDA, and I suspect specifically access to the key stakeholders at the Motorway Service Operators, may or may not go Tesla's way (I suspect Tesla may lose if pressed to gamble on it). However, I suspect in reality, it is a more long term strategy for Ecotricity to ring fence and protect their lease agreements with the motorway service operators. Given the current legal backdrop, I very much doubt any Motorway Service Operator would now consider breaking a lease agreement with Ecotricity, as it would be a pretty open and shut case.
Further muddying the waters is now UK Government are wanting to get in on the rapid charging scene, and I suspect they will gladly pay Ecotricity's fee for entry, after all it's "Someone else's money"