Rob Stark
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NACS patent is open and free to use. There's no need to ask for permission or royalty payment.
However, I think Ford/GM deal goes beyond the patent and patent royalty.
It deals with individual adaptors for Ford/GM owners currently only available as "Magic Dock" at very few Superchargers.
Access to the Application Programming Interface to seamlessly make the Ford/GM charging from the navigation screen to the payment system. Customers see Ford/GM and not "Tesla" in the billing.
Those extra things would cost money. Tesla may get a percentage from each transaction, but customers wouldn't even know.
You can install a NACS port on your vehicle without permission from Tesla or paying a royalty fee to Tesla.
You would still be software locked of using the Supercharger Network. In the same way Rivian fast chargers use the CCS port but only Rivian cars can access the Adventure Network.
Tesla/Ford/GM owners will pay the same rate at Superchargers.
Additional a portion of the price of a Tesla car goes into building out the Network. In some fashion Ford/GM BEV owners would logically be required to pay for Supercharger station buildouts as Tesla owners.
Conversely, the Supercharger Network could become a self-sustaining entity and everyone pays a new higher rate.