Text: | Print|

Tesla: offering to share patents, but is anyone out there interested?

2014-06-23 10:53 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Qin Dexing
1

At first glance, the motivation behind electric carmaker Tesla's decision to share its patents appears equally noble.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of the US-based company, wrote on the company's official blog site that the wall surrounding Tesla patents is being torn down, "for the advancement of electric vehicle technology," adding that the decision was "in the spirit of the open source movement."

With collaboration and transparency as its core values, the open source movement is the catalyst for many IT innovations and the cornerstone of the Silicon Valley, where Tesla got its start.

"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," Musk said. "We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform."

If there is anyone else wanting to use Tesla's technology in good faith, the company will look the other way instead of taking the case to the court, it said.

In a broad sense, the company is viewing copycats not as its rivals but as teammates, fighting abreast to address the "carbon crisis." Tesla, of course, is confident of maintaining its current market position as it attracts and motivates the most talented engineers in the world. It also clearly understands the importance of being able to set industry standards.

The company is probably feeling the pressure of being sidelined by other players. Just a few days before announcing the open source strategy, Musk said the company will make available the designs of its supercharger stations, Tesla's infrastructure, unlike that of BMW, has failed to become part of Shanghai's public charging system because of its incompatibility with other brands.

Ahead of time

The early commercialization of its full-range eco-system, which includes the self-developed charging system, put Tesla ahead of the game but perhaps ahead of its time.

"The standard of Tesla's supercharger is different from those in China, the US and Europe," said Liu Yongdong, deputy head of Center of Standardization Management of China Electricity Council. "That is its biggest development obstacle."

In April, 23 disgruntled Chinese consumers staged a protest against what they called Tesla's delays in deliveries to cities outside Beijing and Shanghai.

The delays were mainly caused by the lack of charging facilities that met the company's requirements.

The further Tesla goes in developing its supercharger network in China and in seeking commercial real estate partners for destination charging projects, the more isolated it may become from other market players. That, perhaps, is the least Tesla would expect from a market that has the potential to contribute to 30 percent of its global sales.

China is a market where electric cars are hailed as saviors in the battle against worsening air pollution and where domestic carmakers are seizing the opportunity to leapfrog technology in auto design and manufacturing. It might be called the policymakers' version of "killing two birds with one stone."

But it would be wrong to assume that Chinese carmakers will be all over Tesla's patents in the same way they scrambled to copy the technologies for internal combustion cars from foreign partners.

BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed progenitor of China's electric car industry, has made it clear that it has own patents, which are very different from those of Tesla.

Most Chinese electric carmakers use big lithium-ion phosphate batteries to power their cars, while Tesla prefers to combine small lithium-ion batteries — the kind commonly found in laptop computers — in a complex pack to attain high energy density.

The former is much safer compared to the latter, which have lower thermal stability, said Li Yunfei, vice general manager of BYD Sales Co.

Since 2013, there have been five reports of Tesla Model S cars going up in flames. It is not yet clear whether they were isolated incidents or related to its battery technologies.

That is a critical factor in determining the value of Tesla's patents, since most relate to battery management. Though never being announced officially, it is no secret that Tesla's other key technologies are not self-developed. The company's batteries are sourced from Japan's Panasonic, and its electric motors are supplied by Fukuta Motor from Taiwan.

As a Silicon Valley-originated company that grew up under the open source philosophy, Tesla knows and does what it does best. Perhaps among all the patents of this electric car legend, its way of thinking is beyond a doubt the one most worth sharing.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.