From SpaceX to his "Hyperloop" monorail, Elon Musk is no stranger to bold ideas. Going open source with his patents for Tesla's electric car engines is more than bold. It's a dangerous, daring, astonishing move, and it might just be exactly what the auto industry needs.
Why would a forward-thinking inventor like Elon Musk go to great lengths to create sustainable technology that could power the future of human transportation, and then refuse to protect his ideas from patent infringement? According to Musk, it's because he's so forward-thinking that he's making his technology freely available. What good is it, after all, to discover a way to save the world if 99.99% of the world doesn't have access to it?
Via a blog post on the Tesla website, Musk has announced that his days of patent mongering are over. "Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport," says Musk on the blog. "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." Effective immediately, Musk vows that neither he nor his company will pursue patent lawsuits against anyone who wants to use Tesla technology.
In other words, it's open season for electronic motors. Musk hopes to foster innovation and inspire other car makers to jump feet-first into the electric motor business.
Some have already accused Musk of making this move out of more selfish reasons than he's letting on. It's undeniable that Musk stands to benefit should the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Ford adopt his electronic motor technology, Tesla would be viewed as the new industry's pioneer. The same way that Steve Jobs and Apple are credited with originating the touchscreen smartphone business and remaining at its forefront for years, as the first to use it, Tesla would be hailed as the purest and most authentic use of electric motor tech.
Unfortunately for Musk, the auto industry has never been quick to embrace change, and Tesla's open-source idea is unlikely to change that trend. Sure, it may be the morally right thing to do, but big companies aren't known for valuing morality over money.
Changing an entire industry is an extremely expensive proposition. Changing the auto industry is probably even more so.
