Ford Motor Co. has 461 patents in hybrid technology, a 50-fold increase since 2000 when it had just 10.
The patents are helping its new Fusion Hybrid achieve 47 mpg in the city and 44 mpg on the highway, says the company. The Fusion will be the first sedan available as either a gasoline, hybrid or plug-in hybrid.
Fusion Energie, the plug-in version, will get 100 mpg equivalent.
A third of Ford’s models in 2012 will feature a vehicle that gets 40 mpg or more.
Much of the credit goes to an individual inventor, Ming Kuang, who is responsible for 40 patents.
In the early days of hybrid technology development, he notes, "The level of cohesiveness wasn’t anywhere close to where it is today. For example, research and advanced engineering and product development didn’t work as closely as they do today, slowing the pace of innovation.
Green patents really started to rise when "We stopped trying to create and fix one-off, niche vehicles."
With better collaboration, inventors are more in tune to where opportunities exist. In the last three years alone, the number of inventions submitted to Ford’s legal team to be considered for patents has risen over 25%.
"One of the best parts of being involved with Ford’s electrified vehicle group is that they are never satisfied," says Eric Kuehn, Ford’s chief engineer, global electrified programs. "They are always striving to go further and see how far they can push toward creating even larger gaps between Ford and its competitors. That is ingrained in the culture and mindset of the team here and isn’t going to change anytime soon."
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