Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has just shown that he's as dedicated to sustainability as he claimed. He announced that his companywill not “initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.”
“The mission of the company is to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric cars,” explained Tesla spokesperson Simon Sproule in an interview before the patent announcement was made. “If Tesla acts as the catalyst for other manufacturers … that will have been achieved.”
As stated in the linked article, his patents would be useless if Tesla can't break out of their niche market and reach a wider audience for their cars, so that's gotta be a big motivator to offer up the innovations and techonology his company is using.
Regardless of his motivations, this is good news for fans of Tesla cars and for fans of the environment.
As a bonus, here's a hysterical comic about the car:
2:16 PM PT: UPDATE: Just a few additional thoughts to give this some meat.
First, as stated in the article, it's incredibly important for this technology to not only spread to other auto companies, but it needs to do so affordably and quickly. The current price range is well above the majority of the country, and as a result, this will be seen as some sort of luxurious status symbol, as opposed to a viable alternative to traditional cars and buses.
Secondly, if this technology could be applied to different industries, that would make a HUGE impact on getting people used to the idea of electric motors. Even something small like lawn mowers (if possible) would be great. Get people used to the idea of gas-less motors, show them it can work in multiple applications.
Obviously I don't even know how possible that is, but expanding the reach of this technology would only help make it more and more possible for affordable electric cars.
Also I REALLY REALLY want one.
Just, so bad, you guys. You don't even know.
4:02 PM PT: UPDATE 2: Check this link about Tesla's direct sales model and its affects and consequences:
http://abcnews.go.com/...