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Tesla open-sources all its patents

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that he's thinking about something, you definitely need to pay attention because it's likely something big. In an eloquently worded press release (a very rare thing indeed) Musk explains reason after reason why Tesla is opening up all of its patents, effective immediately.
According to the missive, Tesla initially applied for patents on its technology because it was afraid bigger, more powerful automakers would take its ideas and destroy the tiny automaker. However, that hasn't happened. Musk claims that while the company has grown, "electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn't burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent." At the same time, the global auto industry continues to grow, and Tesla's main competitors aren't from other electric carmakers, but the traditional internal combustion engine.
Musk claims that if you walk into the company's lobby right now all of its patent forms are gone from the walls. "We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform," he writes.

Elon Musk wants to build an Internet in space

The next James Bond film is called Spectre; if the villainous mastermind driving that Jaguar C-X75 isn't named Elon Musk, we'll want to know why not. The real-life Musk isn't evil so far as we can tell, but we gotta say he's just as ambitious as Ernst Blofeld ever was. While opening a SpaceX office in Seattle, the face of Tesla said that the engineers and software programmers in the Pacific Northwest outpost will be working on "a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date" on top of their Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule duties. Musk's idea is that hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit would get information around the world much faster, and be provide better Internet service for "people in sparsely populated areas." Once the folks in the terrestrial hinterlands are taken care of, Musk envisions the network providing the foundation for a satellite network that would provide Earth-to-Mars communications to the Mars-based colony that the SpaceX CEO expects will wear company branding. The idea isn't new - one of Musk's peers is working on the same concept, backed by Qualcomm and the Virgin Group. But Musk says that OneWeb, the competitor, has a different concept for the underlying architecture and that his satellites would be "an order of magnitude more sophisticated." If you're trying to figure out what the area code to Mars is, you're way ahead of things: Musk says the terrestrial satellite system won't be ready for at least five years. And since the average distance to Mars is 140 million miles, it'll probably be a few years after that before you can shoot a text to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya Green Tesla Technology Mars satellite communications

Tesla talking about first European factory, but it won't happen soon

Tesla Motors is, as always, thinking big. The company already has a factory in California with a lot of empty space. But with Model S deliveries happening in Europe and a right-hand drive version just launched in the UK, CEO Elon Musk is already talking about building EVs in Europe. We did some math and let's just say we think any such facility is likely a long way off. The California-based company plans on eventually building a factory in Europe, Automotive News Europe says, citing an interview with Musk. But Musk says Tesla would have to sell 160,000 vehicles a year in Europe to justify such a factory. Musk sees that many sales as a given, eventually, and is planning on building an R&D center in the UK within the next two years while expanding its assembly factory in the Netherlands. "It will take Tesla a bit longer to ramp up in Western Europe than in the US" – Ed Kim But just how long might it take to get to that 160,000 figure across the Pond? Well, through the first four months of the year, Tesla sold 3,467 units of its Model S electric sedans in Europe, Automotive News says, citing research firm JATO Dynamics. Extrapolating from Tesla's first-quarter 2014 delivery numbers (the company doesn't publish monthly sales totals), Tesla sold about 8,600 Model S sedans worldwide through April. Even if Tesla speeds things up in Europe this year and approaches, say, 15,000 units, that's still less than 10 percent of Musk's goal. Even with new models, 15,000 is a long way from 160,000, and it appears that Tesla will grow slower in Europe than it has in the US. "It will take Tesla a bit longer to ramp up in Western Europe than in the US," Ed Kim, vice president of industry analysis at AutoPacific, told AutoblogGreen. "This is partially due to infrastructure issues. In the US, most potential Tesla customers live in detached single family homes, making installation of a personal charging infrastructure at home a snap. In Western Europe, many potential customers – even affluent ones – live in communal living situations like condos and apartments. And even having assigned parking does not guarantee that they would be able to install chargers there." Earlier this year, Tesla dropped the prices of its Model S in Europe because of the strengthening of the Euro. The company initially priced the Model S in the UK at almost $20,000 above the US base price.