They have a "patent pledge" for their patented parts, at least -- they will "not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology".
Yeah, and they define good faith in that document as:
A party is "acting in good faith" for so long as such party and its related or affiliated companies have not:
asserted, helped others assert or had a financial stake in any assertion of
(i) any patent or other intellectual property right against Tesla or
(ii) any patent right against a third party for its use of technologies relating to electric vehicles or related equipment;
So, if another company rips off your IP but Tesla doesn't think it is a "knock-off product", you sue that other company, you're now in violation of Tesla's "patent pledge". Its an attempt to use a carrot of Tesla's patents to make all the other rightsholders essentially give up all their IP. If you sue anyone protecting your EV IP, you're in violation of this agreement and will be open to litigation by Tesla.
https://www.tesla.com/legal/additional-resources#patent-pled...