Tesla and Toyota: Fuel Cells Compete for New Energy Future! ?

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Recently, the car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation ("Toyota") announced that as a facilitator of fuel cell vehicles (FCV) measures the popularity of the free offer unique about 5680 Toyota fuel cell related patents (including pending patent) the right to use.

This is not the first time the auto companies a free open patented technology in the new energy sector. In June 2014, Tesla had offered to open up all the patented technology to promote the development of electric vehicles in the industry. Toyota and Tesla technology companies are towards the throne of the world's new energy vehicle chief attack from different paths. The two companies in the field of new energy vehicles and more concentrated smell of gunpowder, are trying to open the way for more allies and accelerate the pace of development.

Tesla and Toyota: fuel cells compete for new energy future! ?

To work together to promote open and generous

FCV enter the market in the early stages, in order to give priority to popularize related technology as a starting point, Toyota believes and is committed to the development and the implementation of FCV commercialization of the automobile manufacturers, as well as be responsible for the construction of hydrogen refueling stations and other energy companies to work together to carry out the popularity particularly important. Based on this, Toyota decided in the early market introduction (expected until the end of 2020), to provide free fuel cell stack, high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, a fuel cell control system, the right to use the patent. In addition, to promote the popularization of hydrogen refueling stations as soon as possible, provided free of charge indefinitely manufacture, supply hydrogen hydrogen station patent rights.

toyota,file photo

On the use of these patents, and the general procedure to obtain the right to use the same patent, Toyota needs to apply to individually negotiated and signed the contract after the specific use conditions. Toyota spokesman Niu Yu China to accept the "First Financial Daily" reporters spoke fuel cell vehicle technology and Toyota's hybrid vehicle technology is the same strain, hybrid core technology sharing and in electrical, electronic control and other aspects, Mirai the project design team have come from hybrid automotive design engineer. After years of development, Toyota's hybrid technology has been very mature, has global sales of more than 7 million hybrid vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, but due to aspects related to the construction of infrastructure facilities, the popularity of many relatively high degree of difficulty alone, Toyota, a company limited power , the open-related patents, and hope that other car companies and other enterprises to jointly promote energy.

Earlier, Toyota hybrid car technology accused of relatively "stingy." Toyota repeatedly in China's new energy vehicles a series of positive incentives "off the list", the industry believes it has a great relationship with Toyota in the non-plug-in hybrid technology is not open to form Solidago dominate. Toyota hybrid joint venture in China, the United States Bureau of the battery business because even touch the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, "antitrust" and phenomena relevant provisions of twists and turns. Last July, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued the "Notice on additional restrictive conditions approved by Keli far, Toyota China, PEVE, the new source, Toyota Tsusho intends to set up a joint venture focused on the case of operators antitrust review of the decision." (Ministry of Commerce 2014 No. 49) that the additional restrictive conditions approved by the Ministry of Commerce, one of the conditions is that the United States Bureau of production should be realized after three years, foreign sales of the product.

For Toyota, the so "generous" open fuel cell-related patent rights, automotive analyst Zhang Zhiyong talked about in the "First Financial Daily" reporters, Toyota's strategy changes, there is significant progress in terms of business thinking, etc. alone to drive a Toyota fuel cell vehicles, the difficulty and the pressure is very large, and therefore need to pull into more business and capital to join the camp, in order to accelerate the pace of development.

It is said that in the early development of the Toyota hybrid car, has continued to burn more than a decade began to realize a profit, while Toyota has yet to officially respond to this official. Zhang Zhiyong comes to fuel cell vehicles is the ultimate goal of the new energy vehicles, hybrid technology is more complex than the technology, the greater the difficulty, the world's other car companies are basically no substantial development in fuel cell vehicles, Toyota put even open 5,000 patents rights, other car companies in a short time is difficult to catch up with Toyota, Toyota Moreover, this does not indicate that all the release of the fuel cell patent rights, may also hold the hands of some of the core patents.

Niu Yu stressed that Toyota has always been open to technical style, there was cooperation in hybrid technology with Mazda, Ford and other car companies too, no matter how good the technology is of little significance if not universal, the further expansion of gratis patent use rights. Niu Yu mentioned, Toyota's patents in three, one is free to use, one is paid to use, there is a patent is limited to internal use.

Tesla and Toyota: fuel cells compete for new energy future! ?

Inevitable contest

On January 15, Toyota officially on sale in Japan named "Future (Mirai)" The four-seater fuel cell car. The car is priced at 7.236 million yen (about 400,000 yuan). The Japanese government will subsidize 2.02 million yen per vehicle, consumers only need to pay about 5.2 million yen (about 270,000 yuan).

Toyota originally planned 2015 sales in Japan 400, 300 overseas export of fuel cell vehicles, mainly to the United States and Europe. But Japan has received orders for more than 1,000 vehicles, according to the current production rate, subscribers need to wait a year to two years to put the car. To meet consumer demand as soon as possible, Toyota has decided to invest an additional 20 billion yen, an additional two production lines, production capacity will soon be expanded to the current three.

FCV is performed by electrical energy generated by the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen driven. Mirai just listed this fuel cell vehicles to fill a tank of hydrogen just three minutes after fill the fuel can travel 650 kilometers or more in a row, no less than the life of traditional fossil-fuel vehicles, fuel costs and gasoline costs required quite.

Fuel cell vehicles due to their high energy conversion efficiency, completely non-polluting emissions and a more convenient and efficient use of the conditions has long been considered the ultimate direction of the development of new energy vehicles. However, after due to the high cost of fuel cells, has not been able to popularize. China Automobile Dealers Association executive director Jia Xinguang Expert Committee to accept the "First Financial Daily" reporters when he talked about hydrogen cars 10 years ago cost $ 2 million, and now the cost is reduced to about 1/30 of the original, less than $ 70,000, may Bitesila more competitive.