What Tesla’s Open Source Design Means for Auto Careers

Traditionally, in the business world, if you’re the owner of a patent on an extremely successful business venture, you do everything within your power short of burying it underground to protect your rights to it. With a successful design or innovative technology, retaining the patent and ensuring no one infringes on your design or copies your success is common practice within the realm of business, especially in auto careers. That’s why it’s such a surprising decision for electric vehicle juggernaut Tesla Motors to turn over their patent on their highly successful fully electric car to the public.

Public Patents

In a shocking move last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a blog that he was making his award-winning electric engine technology open source. This means that there are now no legal boundaries to those that want to emulate Tesla’s model and produce their own supercharged electric vehicle. Anyone who has the capabilities is album to obtain the information about the Tesla electric vehicle, and produce pretty much a carbon copy of it. While most people are heralding this as a great innovation and act of altruism by Tesla, there are also those decrying it as little more than a meaningless publicity stunt. So what does this really mean for automotive careers?

An Increase in Electric Vehicles

Whether or not it’s an increase of vehicles that are Tesla clones, or it’s just a jumpstart for the industry, there’s no denying that Tesla’s move is going to increase the number of fully electric vehicles on the roads. It’s safe to assume that many automakers, and even some wealthy auto enthusiasts, will be taking advantage of the open source patents to Tesla’s Model S vehicle. Not only has Tesla proven that its vehicle is a top-notch product – it got 99 out of 100 in its Consumer Reports rating, the highest score ever recorded – but the promotion and press buzz around this announcement is sure to make them even more of a noticeable brand.

Not only will this press do wonders for Tesla themselves, who will no doubt see a rise in sales because of this, but other firms will be investing in this technology as well, and even the big automakers will be more heavily pushing their electric and hybrid options, as the concept is one that’s on everyone’s radar right now.

Just check out this video of what the Tesla Model S is capable of:

A foreseeable advantage for Tesla is that more electric cars on the market can mean greater availability of supporting infrastructure, such as electric charging stations on the highway, which Tesla has had to install. Just this week it was announced that top electric automakers Tesla, Nissan and BMW, which together account for about 80 percent of the global electric vehicle market, are in talks to collaborate on standardizing car charging. Spokespeople deny that this development is related to Musk’s announcement.

An Increase in Mechanics

This news is also great for an auto mechanic, because with an influx of new electric vehicles on the market comes an influx of demand for skilled automotive technicians that know how to work on the new electric engines. While it’s still a niche market, getting in on the ground floor of electric vehicle repair will definitely pay off in the years to come. So taking a course or two and learning the ins and outs of the motor are great ways to position yourself at the forefront of the evolution of the automobile, and be ready and waiting when people roll into your shop with a Tesla or another electric vehicle.

Keeping up to date on the latest trends is extremely important to a successful automotive career, especially with the industry and technology changing so rapidly.