Will Tesla “lose” its advantage over other manufacturers by selling the technologies that have allowed it to become the undisputed leader in the production of electric cars? That’s a question we could ask ourselves, especially with a new announcement just made by Elon Musk, the moody boss of the American firm.

After the agreement with Ford on the introduction of new NACS sockets and access to the Supercharger network, Elon Musk returns to charging and offers other players of the automotive market another “his” technology. The leader did say on Twitter that it would “I am happy to provide driver assistance licenses.”

An interesting but not new approach from Elon Musk

Elon Musk even added it “other technologies developed by the company will be available”. An interesting move that coincides globally with an announcement made by the American brand in 2014, when he made all his patents available to anyone who wanted to use these technical solutions.

Tesla strives to be as useful as possible to other car companies.

A few years ago we made all our patents free.

We are now making it possible for other companies to use our Supercharger network.

Also welcome to license Autopilot/FSD or other Tesla technology.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2023

Nine years ago, Elon Musk even wrote a post entitled “All our patents belong to you”in which he explained how applying the open source philosophy to Tesla’s patents would lead to “a fast-growing common technology platform” within reach of other electric vehicle manufacturers.

Today, in his latest statement, Elon Musk clarifies that Tesla is ready to “offer” its autopilot to other manufacturers. “Tesla strives to be as useful as possible to other automakers. We made all our patents available for free several years ago. Today, we allow other companies to use our network of Superchargers. We will be happy to license Autopilot/FSD or other Tesla technologies”.

Is Tesla “licensing” soon?

But while Tesla’s lead in the world of EV chargers is undeniable, with its Supercharger network topping the list, it remains to be seen whether there will be customers for Autopilot or Full Self Driving.

Although Elon Musk continues to say that his Autopilot and FSD are among the best driver assistance systems in the industry, several specialists agree which is bettersuch as Ford’s BlueCruise or General Motors’ Super Cruise.

However, this solution proposed by Tesla can certainly appeal to other manufacturers who are not necessarily ahead of the curve in this field. At the same time, this will allow the American firm to diversify its source of incomebecoming not only a “car seller” but also a manufacturer of sorts in the field of technology, offering these famous licenses.