Tesla Opens Up All Patents On Electric Car Programs

[Brett]

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

 

 

 

 Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

 

This is brilliant.

[Malcolm Robinson]

I like Nikola anyway!

[mercuryg]

Clever; they know the future isn't with electric cars, but with fuel cell technology, so are encouraging others to push the technology forward for their own good. Tesla makes some great cars, but electric vehicles will only ever be suitable for short run use, and are of no interest to the UK public at large. Still, kudos to them for sharing their knowledge.

[Malcolm Robinson]

I think Nikola was working on our future needs even back then.

If his technology works, or if we can get it to work, then we have access to electrical power wherever.

[mercuryg]

Malcolm, I think a lot of the stuff about Mr Tesla, a great man nonetheless, is vastly exaggerated. Much of his experimentation did not work, after all, and rumours that some of his work is still classified are believed to be untrue. Granted, he branched out into areas others did not understand, but he didn't really advance things.

 

The problem with the electric car is that manufacturers have jumped on the technology in order to look like they are doing 'something' in advance of the apparent demise of the internal combustion engine. In fact, the motor industry is not worried about its demise at all, and sees it very much as the staple power source for decades to come. More efficient, smaller, turbocharged engines with hybrid energy recovery systems are the way forward in the immediate future, while the hydrogen fuel cell is undoubtedly the engine of beyond that. It's a little known fact that, in the early days of motoring, electric cars were much more popular than ICE powered vehicles. This was largely because they were more reliable. Indeed, the first vehicle to top 100kmh was an electric vehicle, in 1899. It's notable that the range/mileage of the vehicles back then was not far short of that of current electric vehicles. In other words, the electric car is a dead end.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Current battery technology is a dead end Merc.

As for Telsa, great innovative man so far ahead of his time..........

Like so many others lived to see his work plagiarized and copied remorselessly by lesser beings!

Did he invent the AC electrical system, almost certainly, did he see any personal benefit for giving the world a staple electrical system, no.