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Musk Will Open Up Tesla Supercharger Patents To Spur Development
redletterdave (2493036) writes "Elon Musk has said repeatedly he wants to 'do something controversial' with Tesla's collection of electric car patents, but he finally offered specifics at the UK launch of his Tesla Model S on Sunday. The Tesla Motors CEO said he would like to open up the designs for his Supercharger systems — the free fast-charging stations designed to quickly refuel Tesla's electric cars — to create a standard for other car makers to use. Musk previously said he didn't want Superchargers to become a 'walled garden.'"
... a very smart man.
Elon Musk wants more quick refuel infrastructure on the interstates and local roads/cities, which will advance Tesla's and others electric cars. This is not controversial but does provide probable wider support for Tesla's collection of electric car products, patents, and parts. Open up the designs for Tesla Supercharger systems — the free fast-charging stations designed to quickly refuel electric cars — creating an ISO/OASIS standard for other car makers to use makes prescient business sense.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
1. Build an electric car that's heads and shoulders above the competition.
2. Build an innovative charging infrastructure to allow for long distance driving.
3. Open up the technology for that charging infrastructure so that gas stations and the like can start getting in on the action and making some profit.
4. With charging infrastructure becoming ubiquitous, that takes away many people's concerns about buying your car.
5. Also, with charging infrastructure becoming ubiquitous, that may encourage other auto manufacturers to move past compliance cars and actually start selling quality vehicles.
6. Tout competition's success as your own success, as it's built on your platform. Competition isn't only good PR in this context, but it carries with it the subtext that electric cars are a product category that is here to stay.
To some degree, I still like the idea of plug-in hybrids for the time being. But if this "open supercharger" thing is as successful as I think it's going to be, there could be a sea change in the consumer automotive market.
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This should be interesting, and should spur some development,
but...
I doubt that you could use a Tesla-like Supercharger to charge a battery other than one made by Tesla. I'm not talking about DRM, I'm talking about the architecture of the battery pack itself - its charging characteristics, its safety features, its cooling system, and so on down to the level of the individual 18650 cells. Those aspects are still heavily protected - licensing and manufacturing the packs and powertrain is a side business for Tesla. So what looks like a move to open up the world could, like other standards, become a way to lock in a particular proprietary design.
I still think it's pretty cool, though. If it sheds more light on how Tesla has designed and constructed their pack, which is a fine technology, as well as directly showing ways to charge Li-Ion packs quickly, then I think this is a benefit to anyone interested in how electricity is used and stored (i.e., everyone). But I also like to keep in mind that Musk, for all his altruism, is still a capitalist and wants his vision of the future to be the one to succeed.
No, cynicism is what YOU are experiencing. This seems like a profoundly optimistic act on his part.
Electric cars are not ubiquitous because range and ability to charge is a concern. Charging stations are not ubiquitous because electric cars are not ubiquitous.
Gasoline automobiles were able to take off when they were invented because the liquid fuel infrastructure was in largely in place prior to their invention. Kerosene for lamps was distributed by metered pumps that were easily converted to dispense gasoline.
Establishing a standard charging station would allow companies to make the investment in charging infrastructure, confident that it would be widely applicable to different vehicles and would not disappear overnight. When you can pull into the CircleK and purchase a few kWh of juice while grabbing a burrito, that's when electric cars will really take off.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
Tesla isn't just a car company, they are a technology firm. The *real* value of Tesla (hence the stock price) is in the technology they own and control.
If Teslas chargers become "the standard", then the rest of the world will likely have to license Tesla's other technology to be compatible. This is akin to; anyone can build an ARM-based chip, but you have to license that right from the ARM group, which makes their stock (currently) more valuable then Intels.
Tesla running gear may also become the defacto standard for electric cars, and once the price drops, near unbiquitous -- which will make Musk extremely wealthy. Tesla won't have to make cars anymore, simply license the tech to everyone else to build.
They then can pour that money into more R&D and build even better and better running gear which in turn, all other manufacturers will need to license to keep up with the competition.... Which of course, will keep them very wealthy.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
"It was also the only car to ever receive a 99 out of 10 from Consumer Reports"
The Mode S is so good that it broke the scale by a factor of 10!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
There's two sides to it. Other cars that can recharge from Tesla supercharger, and third party charging stations that can supercharge Tesla cars. Both are good for Musk's company.
Supercharging sites they can afford to slowly build out. They do not lose money with these charging stations; the one I've seen was clearly a smart move. They bought the land around the charging station as well --- now something is being built upon it! The SMART move is to buy the space put in the chargers; make them free-- then RENT the commercial space around the charger! You make $$ either way.
Fast charging still can hold the customer long enough to buy some junk while waiting. Slower charging means the customer has to wait 10s of minutes... and buy more or eat a meal...
It is not pro-business to allow others to lure customers in with their charging stations when your proprietary ones make you money. Sure, long term being open helps; but that isn't modern business thinking.
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This general attitude is why Tesla is such a disruptive force, and why the rest of the automotive market and their ilk hate them. I for one am happy to see the status quo get genuinely threatened for a change.
Just because the recharging stations will be everywhere and be compatible, does not mean they will all be free to use.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
In most, not sure if all, cases Tesla didn't buy the land for the charging station. The land owner agrees to let Tesla locate the charger for free for 5 to 10 years. Tesla pays to install and maintain the charger and pay for electricity usage. The land owner theoretically gets extra business from Tesla owners.
http://insideevs.com/tech-crunch-what-it-takes-to-be-a-tesla-supercharger-partner/
So even better than buying the land, Tesla gets to use it for free.
The irony being that Tesla's system (AC) is now powering everyone's home, but Edison's system (DC) is powering the car named after him.
Electricity is dead cheap.
A full charge cost a lot less than the equivalent range in gaz.
Tesla will probably center around a different model to attract customers.
One very possible model would be for Telsa to keep the charging either free or with only a small monthly/yearly fee, and earn most of the money through the services next to the station. (The charging is going to last up to 30 minutes any way. The driver and passenger are very likely going to take some time eating or drinking something).
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Well after reading a bit on-line, it seems that they have a business model running a bit differently:
- they "almost give-out" the charging station to terrain owner (owner of highway shop/gaz-station, etc.)
- the owner only has to supply electricity (and as said electricity is cheap)
- in exchange, the owner gets an increased traffic in the shop/restraurant
(people, who have 10 to 30 minute to kill until full charge and buy food/drinks).
In that context, it's in the land owner's best interest to have a open technology in the charging stations:
- the more open the standard, the more different drivers can stop to charge, and thus the more customers.
And Tesla in turn has a small advantage too:
- the more shop/restaurant along the highway are likely to rent such stations, the more charging spots there are going to be overall, and the less potential customer will be afraid by range problems.
- thus market for eletrical vehicle increase (of which Tesla has a substantial mind-share, and produce the longest-range vehicle)
- thus market for car lithium batteries increase (a field where Tesla is leading, to the point that some people want to persuade them to drop the Model S and concentrate entirely on batteries for other companies).
Or to put it differently: all this charger will need batteries to charge, and Tesla is apparently the best game in town for batteries.
(It would be as if Sanyo started to provide "free charging station" around in a country where Enloop have the strongest market penetrance)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]