The automotive world is generally all about competition, but on Thursday, Tesla began a shift: now, it’s about progression. The electric auto company announced on Thursday that they would be removing all of their patents, opening up the automaker’s highly innovative practices for all the world to see, copy, and improve.
The reasoning is both simple and admirable: Tesla believes that the cars they produce are the way of the future, yet the big automakers are lagging behind. Or, in the words of the company’s famous CEO, Elon Musk,
“At Tesla, however, we felt compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn’t have been more wrong. The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to nonexistent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.”
In his statement, Musk later implied that removing patents is not only the right thing to do, but will ultimately help Tesla. As electric cars become more and more popular, Tesla will presumably grow, as the clientele for their vehicles grows as well.
It’s just another innovative step for arguably the world’s most creative CEO since Steve Jobs. And hopefully it has the exact impact that Musk is aiming for: a significant increase in the technology and production of non hydrocarbon-burning vehicles.
Photo Credit: Tesla Motors
