Electric carmaker Tesla is giving up its patents in an effort to encourage other car companies to abandon fuel-run vehicles.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in his blog titled All Our Patents Belong to You that the decision was made “in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”
Electric vehicles currently constitute less than one percent of total car sales. Musk believes that throwing away the patents will make this number go up, and result in worldwide benefits.
“Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology,” Musk assures skeptics.
The CEO made his initial fortune with the start of PayPal, an online payment system.
Musk told reporters that he has been in communication with BMW about future collaboration, according to The Wall Street Journal.
And the collaboration does not end there. Tesla is already manufacturing electric systems for Daimler and Toyota, as reported by The Guardian.