Good Guy Toyota Has Released Nearly 6000 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patents For The Good Of Humanity

Remember when Tesla removed all of its electric vehicle patents last year, with the aim of advancing the EV field? Toyota has just done something rather similar, but for hydrogen fuel cell technology.

The company made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It will release a total of 5680 patents, many of which concern technology from the Toyota Mirai (below). 1970 patents are related to fuel cell stacks, a further 290 to do with high-pressure hydrogen tanks, 3350 for fuel cell software systems, and 70 related to hydrogen production and supply.

Toyota states that the move “will spur development and introduction of innovative fuel cell technologies around the world.” However, there is a caveat: the patents will only remain royalty free until 2020. Regardless, it’ll be fascinating to see how this initiative affects the industry.