Comment by caminanteblanco
4 days ago
For anyone who is concerned that this only applies to Toyota drivetrains (which was true for quite some time), Toyota made nearly all of their HEV patents (24,000 of them) completely royalty-free in 2019 [0].
At this point, I assume the only thing stopping manufacturers is their pre-existing investment in other technology.
[0] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/27512455.html
Ford Kuga (EU) / Escape (US) is built from those patents. It’s basically a copy of Toyota’s hybrid system. And it’s actually quite great, until it catches on fire.
> It’s basically a copy of Toyota’s hybrid system
That is a myth which refuses to die. Ford developed their own system, and cross-licensed with Toyota over 20 years ago due to commonality of design.
Similarly the cmax transmission is great unless you got an early one and it bores a second output shaft from the inside (bad bearing)
> until it catches on fire
minor details
but does it catch fire and halt?
From what I know (granted I’d rather have a bev, but alas) this also applies to the Honda hybrid system, I’m sure there are others.