By Mike Ramsey
Tesla Motors Inc. is offering the proprietary technology at the
heart of its Model S electric car to any company that wants to
build vehicles, and its chief suggested BMW AG already is
interested in sharing certain patents.
Chief Executive Elon Musk said in an interview on Thursday the
offer is intended to help spur wider development of electric
vehicles. Mr. Musk said one topic discussed with BMW executives was
sharing Tesla's technology for rapidly recharging batteries, part
of the company's "supercharger" stations.
The Palo Alto, Calif., maker of $71,000 and up luxury electric
cars decided to offer open access to Tesla patents out of
frustration that electric vehicles remain less than 1% of new cars
and light trucks sold each year.
BMW couldn't be reached for immediate comment.
Mr. Musk also hinted at another reason for the offer: achieving
greater economies of scale. For example, Tesla's patents for its
vehicle Supercharging stations could be shared with other auto
makers, which could help Tesla spread costs and more quickly make
more stations available.
More manufacturers should use small battery cells, as Tesla
does, Mr. Musk said. "That would be one thing I would recommend."
He has outlined plans to build a large battery factory, which he
calls the gigafactory, to produce more battery packs in the
U.S.
Tesla has "several hundred" patents related to all areas of its
electric vehicles, Mr. Musk said, including batteries and electric
control systems. Tesla isn't worried a competitor could use its
patents to undercut the company, he said.
"We wouldn't someone to mimic our car to...trick people into
thinking it's our car when it's not," Mr. Musk said. The company
expects to continue to file patent applications, but won't
enforcing its patents.
"If a company is truly relying on patents it means they aren't
innovating, or not innovating fast enough," he said. "But this can
be of some modest help to others."
Mr. Musk said he initially received some "wide-eyed looks" from
members of his board of directors and other managers. He said open
sourcing its technology can help attract top engineering talent who
want to see their inventions spread and not just be bottled up into
one company.
"This is actually good for Tesla and the electric vehicle
industry. I really do believe that," he said.
Mr. Musk teased Thursday's announcement as a controversial move.
But after promoting his decision, he described it on Thursday as "a
modest thing." Patents, he said, shouldn't be so important. "You
want to be innovating so fast [that] you invalidate your prior
patents."
The auto industry has had its share of epic intellectual
property fights, including a battle in the industry's earliest
years over who held patent rights to the idea of the automobile.
During the 1970s, General Motors Co. shared its breakthrough in
developing the catalytic converter, which scrubs smog-forming
pollutants out of exhaust.
Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com
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