Ford sued over use of company's hybrid vehicle inventions (Detroit News)

Someone is going to have their nice person spank....

 

Both the Toyota / Ford Hybrids relied on Severinsky's patents. They'll both sacrifice good will by using delay tactics, but in the end, the delay tactics will save more than the loss of good will.
It's old news - all these parties have been going round & round for years.
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By the timeline published, Toyota already had the G1 Prius running around Japan by the time Paice had its first meeting with Ford. I suppose this adds a little credence to the argument that the Ford system is in fact a bit different than Toyota HSD. LOL

 

Except the Argonne National Lab seems to have had a chance to do some testing with an Escape hybrid before a 2000 Future Transportation Technology conference.
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/89.pdf
Perhaps Ford and Paice could have gotten a drive train together in time for testing, or Ford started on the Escape hybrid system during PNGV.

 

a lot of interesting and enlightening info in this article! i wonder how much severinski has collected from toyota? ford, hyundai and kia next? honda could wind up the big winner if thier new system pans out long term.

 

Toyota / Ford cross licensed their hybrids for obvious reasons, prior to fords Escape hybrid. It may simply be ford/severinsky negotiations have been ongoing - or attempted via arbetration all this time. I wouldn't put it past Ford to have stopped production on their Escape Hybrid just to avoid future payments. It was a great hybrid with much higher mpg's than their standard Escape.

I don't know whether Hundai/Kia (they're the same company) are using the same hsd .... yes/no? The Toyota/Lexus settlement was sealed, but rumored to be around $125 (± $25) per vehicle + his company's atty fees.
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pretty sweet deal for a guy who is very smart, but had no application for his idea. or did i read somewhere that he shopped it around to the automakers and was told to take a hike?

 

In the 1980s a supremely talented engineer who worked at the EPA developed on his own hybrid tech. He tried for over a decade to convince Detroit to produce cars without success.

The larger story of hybrid cars is that multiple technological advances have to come together. All the companies had some of the pieces; some refused to find the missing pieces; Honda and Toyota added the missing sauce from their own in-house expertise.

We know the HSD story the best, but it followed the above pattern: Toyota recognized that they should adopt the e-CVT from an expired US patent and make it work by building a semi-conductor plant for the dedicated hardware. To this day that programming expertise has been *very* difficult for the auto companies to reverse engineer. It is actually one reason why Nissan e.g. jumped straight to EVs: the software is much easier. Well, except for the BMS

 

Their system is a one motor paired with a step transmission. Something similiar to VW's, Honda's, and maybe Nissan's. We don't specifically what patents are in dispute though.

If you are referring to Wouk, it was the EPA head at the time that held his hybrid Buick Skylark back when he refused to do the final certification.

Briggs and Stratton even had a hybrid concept car at the time. As you mention, hybrids required technological advances before they could be successful. The lead acid battery for the B&S car was so heavy it needed a third axle in the rear to carry it.

 

No. Wouk was a CalTech Prof. Wouk's hybrid work was never adopted by Detroit or the EPA despite a near lifetime of effort, but he was eventually vindicated by parallel development at Toyota that became the Prius.

 

Found their filed complaint;

 

well well well .... your question regarding Hyundai /Kia was perfectly timed ... Guess who else just got dragged into court for patient infringement ....maybe the moderators should move the thread into the "hybrid news column" ... now that this is no longer just about Fords

 

i didn't see the venue. but when toyota lost thier case, i read it was a texas judge who routinely rules for patent holders.

 

MD

 

could make it interesting.