{"id":52862,"date":"2014-06-16T21:49:59","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T01:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=52862"},"modified":"2014-06-16T21:49:59","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T01:49:59","slug":"did-tech-company-tesla-just-commit-the-ultimate-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2014\/06\/did-tech-company-tesla-just-commit-the-ultimate-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Tech Company Tesla Just Commit the Ultimate Sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"
June 16, 2014<\/div>
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By MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

When you think about some of the most influential people in the world, there’s a name that probably doesn’t come to mind at first.<\/p>\n

The first name you probably think of is the President of the United States (whoever that is at the time). And then a few others probably spring to mind; Angela Merkel maybe…David Cameron? Oprah? Beyoncé?<\/p>\n

I’m not sure who you think of first, but usually there’s only one person I think of when someone asks that question. It’s Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

Musk is the CEO of two companies. This in itself is an unusual prospect. There are not many people in the world who can successfully run two companies. In fact, many struggle to run just one.<\/p>\n

But not only does Musk run two companies, he runs two of the most innovative pioneering companies in the world, SpaceX and Tesla.<\/p>

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However, according to ‘traditional’ business principles, Musk just committed the ultimate sin at Tesla.<\/p>\n

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Most businesses would sack their CEO for this<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

If Musk was in charge of any other company (one that wasn’t made in his own image), it’s possible he’d now be facing the sack.<\/p>\n

Not only has he opened the door to competitors, he’s basically given them the key and the security codes as well.<\/p>\n

Here’s exactly what Musk has done at Tesla, according to the company blog, <\/p>\n

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‘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.<\/em>’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The blog continues, ‘Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology<\/em>.’<\/p>\n

What that means is anyone, in good faith, who chooses to use Tesla patented technology<\/strong><\/a> can now do so without fear. In effect they are giving away their ‘trade secrets’ for the good of technological progress.<\/p>\n

Tesla is now ‘open source’.<\/p>\n

This trend of open source is good for technology, good for innovation and good for the world. Once the ‘instructions’ are out in the wild, it allows for others to get involved.<\/p>\n

This is good because it gets an entire industry, a community, together working on a shared goal.<\/p>\n

This kind of sharing attitude is a rarity in today’s technology environment. Some of the biggest headlines of the last year have been in regards to patent lawsuits. Apple vs Google, Yahoo vs Facebook, Twitter vs IBM…just some of the tech giants that go toe to toe over patents.<\/p>\n

It’s one of the biggest issues in tech right now. None of these companies want to give away an advantage to the competition. By protecting their patents, they’re protecting their market position. They’re protecting their technology.<\/p>\n

By protecting their technology they’re of course trying to act in the best interests of the company and shareholders. But in all reality, they’re holding back the speed at which technology can advance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There’s a widely held belief that all the current patent litigation is in fact slowing the pace of innovation. This may be true, but if so, Musk’s actions mean we could be in for a distinct change of pace.<\/p>\n

By releasing all of Tesla’s patents, the entire industry can leverage off the world’s leading electric carmaker. This means the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen and Toyota will be knocking on the door pretty soon.<\/p>\n

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The key to Tesla’s strategy all along<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Actually it seems like BMW is already in the door. There’s a bit of chatter going around that suggests BMW is going to partner with Tesla on their Supercharger network.<\/p>\n

Tesla’s Superchargers are key to their electric car strategy. You see, with an electric car<\/a>, when it runs out of charge, you need to plug it in to get going again. Now, in a petrol car, when you run out of petrol you’re never too far away for a petrol station to refuel. <\/p>\n

However, with an electric car, there are not many electric recharge stations around. And even if you do find one, it can take hours to recharge your car. Not with Tesla’s electric cars, though.<\/p>\n

The Tesla Supercharger is like a petrol station for electric cars. And importantly, it does what its name suggests; it supercharges. A standard 30A public charging station will give about 10 miles of range with a 30 minute charge. A Tesla supercharger will give about 170 miles of range with a 30 minute charge.<\/p>\n

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\nA Tesla Supercharger station. Source: Tesla Motors<\/strong>
\nClick to enlarge<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n

Both Tesla and BMW have officially met to discuss partnering on the Supercharger network. That would possibly mean supercharger stations as regular as petrol stations, or that every petrol station has a supercharger point.<\/p>\n

It also means that the next generation of BMW electric cars will be compatible with Tesla superchargers. And now that Tesla’s declared open season on their patents, perhaps every new electric car will be Tesla supercharger compatible.<\/p>\n

This can only do one thing…drive the electric car industry forward. It means there’s a real likelihood of electric cars in greater number on the roads than petrol cars.<\/p>\n

This is only achievable because of shared information for the good of the industry. And it seems as though with this approach from Tesla, they have positioned themselves as the industry standard. <\/p>\n

The sales of Teslas won’t decline because they released their patents. They won’t stop innovating, and none of the big carmakers will put them out of business. What they’ve done is say, here’s the model for electric car success. But this is the Tesla model, and it’s what we all should use. <\/p>\n

The way I see it is this will help the widespread acceptance and use of electric cars. And to recharge on a road trip it’ll be the Tesla supercharger network we all<\/em> use. If you own a Tesla, you use it for free. If you own a BMW, Toyota, Audi, etc., then you’ll pay per kilowatt, or pay per minute.<\/p>\n

Perhaps all along Musk and Tesla planned to release their patents. Perhaps they always knew it wasn’t the electric cars themselves where the money is. <\/p>\n

I think that all along, since Musk started Tesla, he knew it would be the Supercharger network that’d really be the big winner. And the cars…they’re just the icing on the cake, a means to an end.<\/p>\n

Sam Volkering+<\/a>
\n Technology Analyst, Money Morning<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ed note:<\/strong> The above article was originally published in Sam Volkering’s Tech Insider<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\nBy MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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