Ford, Toyota to work together on hybrid trucks

[FoMoJo]

Ford, Toyota to work together on hybrid trucks

Egads!

I hope this doesn't mean I'll have to become a Toyota fan.

Ford Motor Co. Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. say they'll work together to develop a gas-electric hybrid system to power pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

The companies signed a deal Monday to share development costs, saying they want to make the technology more affordable for customers and bring it to market faster.
Both companies now sell hybrid cars, but trucks need a different system with power to tow and haul heavy loads.

Hybrid trucks would help auto makers meet stricter government fuel economy and pollution standards in the U.S. and other countries. In the U.S., the fleet of new cars and trucks will have to average 56.5 miles per gallon (4.16 litres per 100 km) by 2025, although trucks will have lower mileage targets.

It will take a year for the companies to figure out who will do what research, Ford product development chief Derrick Kuzak said. He said it would be at least two or three years after that before a system can be developed. The companies aren't sure yet what kind of gas mileage it will get.

The system would power some of Ford's F-Series pickup trucks, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S., and it would run the Tundra, Toyota's full-sized pickup truck. It also would be used in rear-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles, the companies said.

?Trucks and SUVs are indispensable for the U.S. society,? said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's executive vice president for research and development.

Ford and Toyota also said they will work together to develop standards for the way electronic devices such as smart phones link to cars and trucks.
Ford said it's the first time it has worked with Toyota on any project.

?There are no future plans beyond that point,? Mr. Kuzak said. He said the companies would save money on developing the system but he did not know how much. It's important, he said, to share costs to make the system affordable to customers.

Discussions between the two companies began in April.

[MX793]

IIRC, Ford already leases Toyota's hybrid technology for the Fusion hybrid (and its sister cars).

[FoMoJo]

IIRC, Ford already leases Toyota's hybrid technology for the Fusion hybrid (and its sister cars).

Not quite that simple.  Ford independently developed its hybrid technologies but overlapped on some (21) Toyota patented aspects for which it trades technologies.  However, both Ford's and Toyota's have infringed technology patents of Paice.  Both Ford and Toyota have ongoing long-term licensing agreements with Paice but still there are patent disputes.

It is a misconception that Ford 'uses' Toyota's hybrid technology as explained in this article...Ford Fusion Smokes Camry Hybrid on Fuel Economy.

First, the headline. The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid scored a sizable improvement in fuel economy over the Toyota Camry hybrid. The Fusion, on sale in March, has been certified at 41 city/36 highway, compared with 33/34 for the Camry.

That is especially sweet for Ford. When Ford launched its Escape Hybrid SUV, it didn?t seem to get full credit for having the first hybrid SUV on the market because it used some of Toyota?s patented technology. Even though, Ford developed the system, the false perception was created that the whole thing was copped from Toyota.

The fact was that Ford ended up using a few bits of the Toyota technology that was patented. The truth is that it is hard to do a hybrid system today without running into some patents held by either GM or Toyota.

But it goes to show how much room there is for engineers at two different companies to take essentially the same technology and achieve different end results by creating their own unique systems. Not that Toyota, I?m thinking, couldn?t have achieved comparable numbers for the Camry. But after you take the battery and other hybrid controller bits and pieces and mate them to a unique engine, and then allow for differences in weight, tuning, features, wheel-base size, there is a lot of room for fuel economy variation.

Ford prioritized scoring the highest possible fuel economy number without compromising performance. Indeed, driving the Fusion Hybrid the last several days, I can attest that I did not miss any performance aspects as I got an average of 37 mpg in combined driving. A good deal of my driving was highway. In city, mileage was closer to 50 owing to the fact that you can go up to 47 mph without using any gas.

[cawimmer430]

You should protest this despicable move by buying a Ford F-650.