> I would be shocked if they were able to maintain those margins.
I wouldn't be. They have fundamental and very broad patents on important things like:
* Pre-heating the battery on the way to a charging stop (enables the battery to accept faster charging without damage on road trips)
* Using motor waste heat for battery heating (increases range while use the above strategy)
* Dynamically adjusting charge rates due to real-time battery conditions (enables charging faster)
Those patents don't expire until the mid/late 2030's. That allows Tesla to force competitors to either pay a licensing fee or use more-expensive workarounds, like different battery chemistries, to match the battery range and charging rate. Either way, it means Tesla is likely to have larger margins than competitors.
I’m not intimately familiar with teslas patent strategy, but to my knowledge they aren’t enforcing any of those patents at all. Every single one of those features are present on competitor vehicles already.
Good. The fact that very specific mechanisms that anyone could have thought of for something everyone understands is beneficial (keeping your battery warm) is patentable to begin with is... not great.
I wouldn't be. They have fundamental and very broad patents on important things like:
* Pre-heating the battery on the way to a charging stop (enables the battery to accept faster charging without damage on road trips)
* Using motor waste heat for battery heating (increases range while use the above strategy)
* Dynamically adjusting charge rates due to real-time battery conditions (enables charging faster)
Those patents don't expire until the mid/late 2030's. That allows Tesla to force competitors to either pay a licensing fee or use more-expensive workarounds, like different battery chemistries, to match the battery range and charging rate. Either way, it means Tesla is likely to have larger margins than competitors.