Currently reading: Toyota offers to share electrified tech with rival firms

Japanese company will offer royalty-free licences to almost 24,000 electrified vehicle parts and systems

Toyota will offer other car firms royalty-free use of nearly 24,000 patents it holds for electrified vehicle technology, in a bid to accelerate the development of such machines.

The royalty-free technology licences relate to systems including electric motors, power control systems and system controls. While the bulk have been developed for Toyota’s hybrid technology, the firm says they can also be applied to plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.

Toyota will also offer fee-based technical support to firms producing electrified vehicles that feature Toyota motors, batteries, power and electric control systems. It says the guidance will allow firms to “achieve high levels of vehicle performance.”

Toyota executive vice-president Shigeki Terashi said: “Based on the high volume of enquiries we receive about our vehicle electrification systems from companies that recognise a need to popularise hybrid and other electrified vehicle technologies, we believe that now is the time for co-operation.

“If the number of electrified vehicles accelerates significantly in the next 10 years they will become standard.”

In total, Toyota will offer licences to 23,740 patents, with the grants available to firms from now until the end of 2030. The firm has offered 5680 similar licences for fuel cell systems since 2015. 

Toyota has invested heavily in hybrid technology since the launch of the Toyota Prius in 1997. The new Toyota Corolla is offered with a choice of two hybrid powertrains, and there is also a hybrid option for the new Toyota RAV4 SUV. It is currently developing its first pure electric cars, with the aim to offer 10 such vehicles by the early 2020s.

Toyota’s move echoes an offer by the Volkswagen Group to licence its new MEB electric architecture to other car manufacturers. It is another example of car firms aiming to pool resources to accelerate development of EV systems, which is needed as firms face increasingly tough CO2 emissions targets from legislators.

Toyota has already established partnerships with Mazda and Suzuki, which both involve the development of electrified technology. The Suzuki deal also involves Toyota producing Suzuki-badged hybrid models based on the RAV4 and Corolla Wagon.

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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nabytoh 17 July 2019

Toyota was going to offer and

Toyota was going to offer and share some of the details that have electrified the technician among all rival firms. There has many of the frictions that was on https://edubirdie.org/ this was the first site that work among these aspects that was useful to read at this discipline.

Deputy 3 April 2019

LP - supply chain

LP, if I understand it then it's free if you use their parts and supply chain. So if you can supply the power train to many other manufacturers you make billions! Think Apple and Samsung. Over half the value of an iPhone is supplied by Samsung

typos1 3 April 2019

But Toyota's hybrids are crap

But Toyota's hybrids are crap, why anyone would want to use their tech is beyond me.

scrap 3 April 2019

typos1 wrote:

typos1 wrote:

But Toyota's hybrids are crap, why anyone would want to use their tech is beyond me.

 

Dear me.