Calling all Chinese brands, Fiat-Chrysler, and other automakers without a developed electric-vehicle strategy: Ford’s got you covered. Starting now, Dearborn will license more than 1650 of its patented and patent-pending EV technologies to other manufacturers.
The goal, according to Ford, is to “accelerate the growth of electrified vehicle technology and deliver even better products to customers.” But unlike Toyota, which in January offered up 5680 fuel-cell patents under royalty-free contracts, and Tesla, which last summer said it wouldn’t sue anyone who copied its EV patents, Ford is all about that money. (Presumably because hydrogen needs all the help it can get, and unlike Tesla, Ford makes a profit.)
In 2014, Ford filed more than 2000 patents with about 400 of them directly related to EV and hybrid systems. The patents will be available for sale through the nonprofit AutoHarvest Foundation, which Ford co-founded in 2012 as a broker for tech-swapping deals between automakers and suppliers, or straight from the Blue Oval if you write Bill Coughlin, who oversees Ford’s intellectual property.
It’s a potentially lucrative reversal for Ford, which just a decade earlier had to license patents from Toyota when it developed the first Escape hybrid. Ford’s hybrid and plug-in powertrains, whether stuffed in the Fusion, C-Max, Focus, or Lincoln MKZ, are excellent, even if they don’t achieve the EPA-rated fuel economy of some applications of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive or deliver the Chevrolet Volt‘s electric range.
With zero-emission vehicle requirements tightening in the eight states following ZEV mandates and Tesla creating a sizable market for upper-class EVs, we’re sure a few companies will sign up with Ford, perhaps after they’re done combing through Tesla and Toyota patents at no charge.
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