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- Musk isn’t entirely an altruist. Tesla makes electric cars, and will only succeed if the entire electric-vehicle industry succeeds. It needs other companies to help build charging stations, to improve batteries, and to change the perception that only rich guys in open-collared dress shirts drive these things. Tesla wins if its patents help Ford improve its batteries, which then leads Ford to make more electric vehicles, which then leads someone else to start a chain of charging stations. If open patents can promote standardization, that would likely mean faster innovation for all. An electric car is made up of thousands of parts; if more companies begin using the same ones, the process of putting cars together becomes simpler.