Not sure how much patents would be a problem. They aren't selling car assembly robotics, so the biggest issue (one would think) would be acquiring the robotics

Not sure how much patents would be a problem. They aren't selling car assembly robotics, so the biggest issue (one would think) would be acquiring the robotics in the first place, as it would be the theoretical company selling the robots that would be infringing any patents. Tesla is (to my understanding) free to use whatever technology they like in their factories, patented or not, so long as the products they're selling are non-infringing.