Tesla Patents Growing Rapidly, Dominating Other Automakers

Aside from being a technology leader in today’s auto market, Tesla is also leading in the sheer amount of patents it has filed – a number that’s increasing rapidly year-to-year.

Tesla is dominating in more than just its technology, with 580 independent patents filed from its 2003 founding through March of this year, according to a study in applications and disclosures conducted by Nikkei.

The study was conducted with the help of Tokyo-based analytics company Intellectual Property Landscape.

While 281 of the filed patents are classified as electrical machinery, another 168 are specified in the name of transportation – which includes by definition the potential for user operation.

Tesla Patent Seeks to Use EV Motor Waste to Heat Battery https://t.co/tBLFC100Jd

— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) November 6, 2020

In addition, Tesla has 71 semiconductor-related patents, including a variety of solar cells, in what is likely the fastest growing area for the company’s patents. The company also has 60 patents dedicated to computer technology, including a number of systems for the company’s AI systems which run its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta program.

Tesla recently filed a patent for the design of its Cybertruck, a separately filed patent from the company’s Cybertruck Solar Tonneau cover patent, filed just a few months earlier. The company has also filed a separate patent for the Cybertruck’s user interface.

Another recent patent also detailed Tesla’s lithium extraction process, along with a number of other patents surfacing in recent months.