'4 purchase: balance battery to extend life, and regenerative system to drive further on a charge'
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2015/05/28/bill-ford-sell-patents-electric-vehicles-mackinac-policy-conference/28034775/ For sale: Ford electric vehicle technology patents By Alisa Priddle May 28, 2015 Ford plans to hire 200 engineers this year to work on electrification programs in the new lab Ford recently built in Dearborn to expand this work Bill Ford's sustainability efforts continue with the decision to offer competitors access to the automaker's patents on its electric vehicle technology as the company adds engineers to ramp up research for future vehicles. Executive Chairman Ford was to make the announcement today during a speech at the Mackinac Policy Conference, calling it a move to help accelerate industry-wide research and development of electrified vehicles. Ford owns more than 25,000 patents in the U.S. In 2014, Ford filed more than 2,000 new applications, of which more than 400 patents — or 20% — were related to electric vehicle technologies. As the automaker sells older technology, Ford plans to hire 200 engineers this year to work on electrification programs in the new lab Ford recently built in Dearborn to expand this work. "Innovation is our goal," said Kevin Layden, director, Ford Electrification Programs, in a release. "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." Ford's patents and published patent applications are available through the technology commercialization and licensing office. Interested parties can also work through AutoHarvest, a nonprofit group co-founded by industry expert David Cole to accelerate widespread adoption of new technologies. AutoHarvest posts technical worksheets on the available patents that can be purchased for a fee. Most automakers license their technology and then sell the innovations they no longer plan to use or license older versions of technology they still utilizes for a reduced royalty fee. Ford's patent division licenses everything from drawings to logos to inflatable seatbelts. The money is reinvested in engineering of new technology. Ford has six hybrid or fully electrified vehicles for the Ford and Lincoln brands. The automaker has more than 650 electrified vehicle patents and approximately 1,000 pending patent applications related to electrification. "As an industry, we need to collaborate while we continue to challenge each other," said Layden. "By sharing ideas, companies can solve bigger challenges and help improve the industry." Among the patents for purchase: a way to balance a battery charge to extend its life and a regenerative brake system to drive further on a charge. [© freep.com] http://www.autonews.com/article/20150528/OEM05/150529875/ford-to-make-ev-technology-patents-available-to-rivals Ford to make EV technology patents available to rivals Nick Bunkley May 28, 2015 The Focus EV is one of Ford's six fully electric or hybrid vehicles. DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is following Tesla Motors in opening up hundreds of patents on electric-car technology to competitors in a move aimed at accelerating development of electrified vehicles. Ford’s plan differs from Tesla’s, though, in that Ford is licensing its patents for a fee, whereas Tesla last year made its patents available to anyone for free. “Innovation is our goal,” Kevin Layden, director of Ford electrification programs, said today in a statement. “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.” Ford said it has more than 650 patents and about 1,000 pending patent applications related to hybrid and plug-in vehicles. The automaker said it filed more than 400 patents for those technologies last year alone, accounting for more than 20 percent of its 2014 filings, and plans to hire 200 more electrified-vehicle engineers this year to further its research in that area. Among the patents Ford is making available are ones covering a method for extending battery run time and overall life, a technology to maximize the amount of energy recaptured through regenerative braking, and a system that monitors a person’s driving and provides feedback on how to improve fuel economy. Obtaining patents Ford said its patents can be obtained through its technology commercialization and licensing office or through the AutoHarvest Foundation, a nonprofit that Ford helped found in 2012. Ford has previously made some patents, such as one for inflatable seat belts, available for licensing through AutoHarvest, as have other automakers and suppliers. A Ford spokesman said pricing for the patents varies, with “some in the hundreds and some in the thousands.” More specific dollar figures were not immediately available. The news comes nearly a year after Tesla CEO Elon Musk surprised the industry by releasing its patents into the public domain for free. In doing so, Tesla gave up significant potential licensing revenue in the hopes of promoting wider acceptance of electric vehicles and thus becoming a more successful company in the end. It also encourages other companies to adopt standards that Tesla developed, which would help position itself as the leader in such technology and benefit its customers. “Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world’s factories every day,” Musk wrote in a blog post announcing the move. “Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.” Musk was later asked if there was a licensing process required to access the patents. “No. You just use them,” he said. “Which I think is better because then we don't need to get into any kind of discussions or whatever." Not popular Despite enormous hype while cars such as the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and all-electric Nissan Leaf were under development, electrified vehicles have not proven popular among U.S. consumers. Alternative-power vehicles represent just 1.6 percent of total industry sales in 2015 through April, according to the Automotive News Data Center. The Toyota Prius accounts for almost two-thirds of the volume in that segment. Yet automakers continue to roll out more nameplates as they work to meet rising fuel-economy standards. “If you look at the growth in nameplates and models, it has been incredible and yet the percentage of the industry has actually declined year-over-year,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said in an April 30 interview. “So that’s one pressure point. You just have so many models and no growth.” Ford currently offers six hybrid or fully electric vehicles. Its C-Max, the only Ford vehicle offered exclusively as a hybrid, has been among the company’s slowest sellers. The cost of electric vehicles is a big reason they haven’t caught on, as the technology remains relatively expensive to produce on a small scale. Lower gasoline prices have made them even less practical from a financial perspective. “As an industry, we need to collaborate while we continue to challenge each other,” Ford’s Layden said. “By sharing ideas, companies can solve bigger challenges and help improve the industry.” [© autonews.com] ... http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA99754527.PDF Ford EV patent press release http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/ford-tech-patents-industry-drive-ev-development-8494 Ford opens its tech patents to industry to drive EV development by May 28, 2015 ... What’s on offer Here are some of Ford’s electrified vehicle patents available for competitors to purchase: • Method and Apparatus for Battery Charge Balancing, patent No. US5764027: The patent covers passive cell balancing: discharging a cell through a resistor to lower the state of charge to match other cells. This innovation extends battery run time and overall life. This is the first invention to enable battery balancing at any time, instead of only while charging, and it enables the use of lithium-ion batteries in electrified vehicles. It was invented long before lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles became commonplace – truly ahead of its time. • Temperature Dependent Regenerative Brake System for Electric Vehicle, patent No. US6275763: The technology works to maximize the amount of energy recaptured in a hybrid vehicle through regenerative braking. By improving the interplay between normal friction brakes and regenerative braking during stopping at certain air temperatures, a driver is able to recapture more energy than previously possible, helping the motorist drive farther on a charge. • Driving Behaviour Feedback Interface, patent No. US8880290: The patent provides a system and method for monitoring driver inputs such as braking and accelerating, and vehicle parameters including energy consumption to assess driving behaviour. The feedback can be used to coach future driving behavior that may translate into better long-term driving habits and improve fuel economy. This technology also has enabled drivers of non-electrified vehicles, such as a Ford Focus, to develop better driving habits. [© autocarpro.in] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/news/trans-canada-highway/why-electric-vehicle-intellectual-property-is-worthless/article24669806/ Why electric vehicle intellectual property is worthless Jeremy Cato May. 28 2015 - Ford cannot make any money selling or using the more than 400 dedicated electric vehicle technology patents it filed in 2014 alone ... For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.autoblog.com/2015/05/30/chevy-bolt-trademark-application-suspended-uspto/ 200mi GM EV trademark application suspended by USPTO http://thenewswheel.com/update-chevy-bolt-name-denied-by-us-patent-office/ ... http://www.leftlanenews.com/chevy-ev-denied-trademark-for-bolt-name-88648.html Chevy EV denied trademark for "Bolt" name http://www.torquenews.com/3618/smoking-hot-electric-cars-chevy-volt EVS less-likely to catch fire, non-EVS are more likely to burn http://michiganradio.org/post/lawmakers-eye-electric-vehicles-road-money MI Rep Lawmakers eye EVs as source of road-tax money May 25th 2015 http://www.autoevolution.com/news/the-gas-pump-is-more-germ-infested-than-money-maybe-it-s-time-to-switch-to-evs-95904.html The Gas Pump is More Germ-Infested than Money, It's Time to Switch to EVs ... switch to an electric vehicle, but that shouldn't stop you from washing your hands ... http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/12961020.Electric_charging_point_in_Beeches_Car_park_Cirencester_up_and_runnning/ Multi-type EVSE @Beeches Car park Cirencester.uk + EVLN: I really love how EVs are utterly &ridiculously cheap to operate {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Ford-selling-out-w-the-old-hiring-in-w-the-new-EV-engineers-tp4675940.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
