Toyota makes 5,680 hydrogen fuel cell patents available royalty-free

[Shawn Knight]

In a bid to further the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology among other manufacturers, Toyota has announced they are making 5,680 patents relating to hydrogen and fuel cell technology available royalty-free.

Included in the bundle are 3,350 patents related to software to manage a fuel cell system, 1,970 patents that pertain to fuel cell stacks, 290 for high-pressure hydrogen tanks and 70 that cover production and supply.

Those related to production and supply will remain royalty-free for life while those dealing with the actual vehicle will be good through 2020.

While no doubt a significant advancement, whether or not it’ll be enough to advance the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology past the budding electric vehicle movement remains to be seen. The move also isn’t unique.

Last June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk essentially did exactly the same thing, vowing not to initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use their technology. Musk said it was done in the spirit of the open source movement for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Key to the adoption of fuel cell technology, as was the case with Tesla, will be refueling stations. Tesla already has a relatively vast network of recharging stations dotting the map but the same can’t be said about hydrogen fuel.

Do you believe hydrogen fuel cell technology is the future of automobile transportation? Or does Tesla have it right with its fully electric approach? Or are we destined to continue our reliance on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59307-toyota-makes-5680-hydrogen-fuel-cell-patents-available.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Fossil fuels will still be around for a long time yet but I'll be interested to see hydrogen & electric duke it out. As for who wins... I don't really care but for now but I am leaning towards hydrogen a wee bit.

 

[Jonas Blomberg]

All-Electric has definite advantages, but the ultimate low cost and weight 100 KWh battery which can be recharged in 5 minutes seems far away. Fuel cell hydrogen cars will have an edge 5-10 years from now. After that, fuel cell hydrogen vehicles may still be hard to beat in long-range and heavy-duty applications. A hybrid of both can join the best of the two, with good range, plug-in charging and low cost.

 

[VitalyT]

Efficiency of electric motors and batteries is fast-growing, unlike that in traditional internal combustion engines or hybrids. Hybrid engines are only good for now, till electric vehicles become mature enough.

According to what I see on the market now, I'm expecting a huge change over to electrical vehicles about 3 years from now, with market for traditional engines beginning to collapse, unable to compete.

 

[RustyTech]

"Efficiency of electric motors and batteries is fast-growing,..."

That gave me a chuckle! Thank you VitalyT!

 

[davislane1]

According to what I see on the market now, I'm expecting a huge change over to electrical vehicles about 3 years from now, with market for traditional engines beginning to collapse, unable to compete.

As of this post, crude oil futures are trading at $49.07. Unless that price more than quadruples over the next three years, I doubt we'll see the beginnings of an ICE collapse.

If anything, the rebirth of the SUV is at hand.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

According to what I see on the market now, I'm expecting a huge change over to electrical vehicles about 3 years from now, with market for traditional engines beginning to collapse, unable to compete.

As of this post, crude oil futures are trading at $49.07. Unless that price more than quadruples over the next three years, I doubt we'll see the beginnings of an ICE collapse.

If anything, the rebirth of the SUV is at hand.

Oil prices are not the only thing that affects gas prices. The other is the gas tax, and our govt has already started talking about raising the gas tax (12 cents over 2 years) to take advantage of the low prices. They need money because the Highway Trust Fund is just about broke. How nice to be the govt... if you run out of money you can just decide to take more from the people you supposedly serve.

Gas prices notwithstanding, I think hydrogen will need to have cheaper cars to beat full electric. Comparing H2 fueling stations to battery recharging stations isn't accurate. Everyone with an electric car can 'recharge' overnight in their garage. This makes an electric car perfectly viable as a 2nd car for a household. That isn't an option for a fuel cell vehicle, and it'll restrict sales to areas that have filling stations.

And why would a company build filling stations if they don't know if they can sell the cars? Obviously Toyota has this thought out, but are they planning on making filling stations available in the US or in the far more population dense Japan?

 

[cmbjive]

Efficiency of electric motors and batteries is fast-growing, unlike that in traditional internal combustion engines or hybrids. Hybrid engines are only good for now, till electric vehicles become mature enough.

According to what I see on the market now, I'm expecting a huge change over to electrical vehicles about 3 years from now, with market for traditional engines beginning to collapse, unable to compete.

With regards to your first comment ICEs are already more than efficient. There is a thing called diminishing returns where efficiency for efficiency's sake is concerned.

With regards to your second comment, oil is trading real low at this point so there really is no way that electrics will overtake any ICE in the next three years. And the market for traditional cars will not crumble - you do realize that ICEs make up virtually 100% of the global market, don't you?

 

[davislane1]

Oil prices are not the only thing that affects gas prices. The other is the gas tax, and our govt has already started talking about raising the gas tax (12 cents over 2 years) to take advantage of the low prices. They need money because the Highway Trust Fund is just about broke. How nice to be the govt... if you run out of money you can just decide to take more from the people you supposedly serve.

The effect of gas taxes won't be putting much of a dent in ICE sales. They may be considering increased taxes on gasoline, but these geniuses have been mandating ever-stricter efficiency requirements on new vehicles over the past 10 years. Unless there is a major run up in crude prices to make that additional tax burdensome, < $3.00 gas means 25+MPG ICE packages won't be in small demand.

In the meantime, I'm content to watch these clowns continue to put out their various financial fires with increasingly desperate applications of accelerant. The sooner they reduce themselves to ash the sooner they can be replaced with a less inept group of royalty civil servants.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Sure there have been tons of advances in RESEARCH for batteries and electric motors, but very little in the PRODUCTION of them; at least enough to really increase capacities and efficiency.

I believe fuel cell powered vehicles are the answer for our immediate future. I imagine we will be using these for at least the next 20-25 years. Until they can produce batteries with much more storage capacity and faster charge times, not many will be willing to buy a vehicle with these limitations.

 

[wiyosaya]

As I see it, that oil prices are falling is a placebo. The prices will rise again in due time, but for now the placebo effect of the drop will be for people to lose sight of the fact that fossil fuels still pollute and will eventually run out.

I do not see H2 as a viable alternative, but I do see the fact the Toyota is effectively open-sourcing these patents as a fantastic idea if anyone decides to use them.

As far as the future goes, I see ultra-capacitors as the way to go. Right now, there is a large volume of promising research, however, getting a product from a laboratory to production is not always that simple.

 

[cmbjive]

As I see it, that oil prices are falling is a placebo. The prices will rise again in due time, but for now the placebo effect of the drop will be for people to lose sight of the fact that fossil fuels still pollute and will eventually run out.

This same logic can be applied to anything humanity does. All human development in some way pollutes and all human development uses the Earth's resources. Why greenies chose to concentrate on oil and "fossil fuels" (wasn't lithium on this Earth as long as oil?) is beyond the scope of anyone's mental capacity.

 

[wiyosaya]

As I see it, that oil prices are falling is a placebo. The prices will rise again in due time, but for now the placebo effect of the drop will be for people to lose sight of the fact that fossil fuels still pollute and will eventually run out.

This same logic can be applied to anything humanity does. All human development in some way pollutes and all human development uses the Earth's resources. Why greenies chose to concentrate on oil and "fossil fuels" (wasn't lithium on this Earth as long as oil?) is beyond the scope of anyone's mental capacity.

And why those who chant "Drill baby Drill" use straw-man arguments like this to keep status quo instead of seeking to improve is the definition of insanity.

 

[cmbjive]

And why those who chant "Drill baby Drill" use straw-man arguments like this to keep status quo instead of seeking to improve is the definition of insanity.

"Drill baby drill" is why you are paying $1.89 a gallon to fill your car. My argument is no straw-man, but yours certainly is, as you make a reference to Sarah Palin instead of addressing what I have written to you. And the status quo is fine: The insanity is the foolishness that envirozealots think people want to drive oversized remote control cars to save a planet that is far beyond their understanding.