Ford Motor Co. is offering competitors access to its electrified vehicle technology patents – a move to help accelerate industry-wide research and development of electrified vehicles.
In 2014, Ford filed more than 400 patents dedicated to electrified vehicle technologies. This accounts for more than 20 percent of the patents the company filed – totaling more than 2,000 applications.
Ford offers six hybrid or fully electrified vehicles, including Ford Focus Electric, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, Ford C-MAX Hybrid, Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. In total, the automaker has more than 650 electrified vehicle patents and approximately 1,000 pending patent applications on electrified vehicle technologies.
To access Ford’s patents and published patent applications, interested parties can contact the company’s technology commercialization and licensing office, or work through AutoHarvest – an automaker collaborative innovation and licensing marketplace. AutoHarvest allows members to showcase capabilities and technologies, then privately connect with fellow inventors to explore technology and business development opportunities of mutual interest. The patents are available for a fee.
Also as part of Ford’s increased focus on new and innovative technologies, the automaker is set to hire an additional 200 electrified vehicle engineers this year as the team moves into a newly dedicated facility – Ford Engineering Laboratories – home to Henry Ford’s first labs in Dearborn, Michigan.
