Ford is making its patents on electric and hybrid vehicles openly available to competitors in order to “accelerate industry-wide electrified vehicle development”.
Following the example of Tesla Motors, Ford is releasing its EV patents but unlike Elon Musk who made all of their patents free for everyone, Ford will charge a fee to the parties concerned.
“Innovation is our goal,” said Kevin Layden, director, Ford Electrification Programs. “The way to provide the best technology is through constant development and progress. By sharing our research with other companies, we will accelerate the growth of electrified vehicle technology and deliver even better products to customers.”
The company says that it has more than 650 patents and about 1,000 pending ones on electric and hybrid vehicle technologies. Ford has also announced its plan to add an additional 200 electric-vehicle engineers this year to its team which moves to a newly dedicated facility, the Ford Engineering Laboratories.
PHOTO GALLERY
