Toyota to Offers Patents for Free, Will Advise Others on How to Make Hybrid Cars

Since the late 1990s, in a time when no one really believed such technologies will take off, the Japanese carmaker has been at the forefront of hybrid car production. And after an equal amount of time of chasing after its secrets, others will now have free access to some of the tech that made Toyota great.

On Thursday, the carmaker announced it “will grant royalty-free licenses” for about 24,000 patents it holds for vehicle electrification-related technologies. And not only old ones, but also some pending applications.

In addition to opening the floodgates for patents, the carmaker has also committed to providing free technical support to all the other carmakers interested in using Toyota-sourced motors, batteries, PCUs, control ECUs for their own cars.

"Based on the high volume of inquiries we receive about our vehicle electrification systems from companies that recognize a need to popularize hybrid and other electrified vehicle technologies, we believe that now is the time for cooperation," said in a statement Shigeki Terashi, Toyota vice president.

"If the number of electrified vehicles accelerates significantly in the next 10 years, they will become standard, and we hope to play a role in supporting that process."

Toyota’s idea of granting free access to patents for electrified cars is not the first of its kind in the industry. The biggest announcement of this kind was made in 2014 by Elon Musk who said All Our Patent Are Belong To You.

It’s not clear how Musk's decision influenced today's industry, as it is not clear how Toyota's will influence the industry of tomorrow. 

What is obvious is that the auto world is now clearly pushing toward a fuel-free future, and perhaps for the first time in history big players are crowdsourcing ideas for a common goal.