DETROIT, March 10 (UPI) -- Ford Motor will use Toyota technology for its hybrid Escape sport-utility vehicle, set to hit U.S. dealers this fall, the Detroit News reported Wednesday.
The big U.S. automaker said it would modify about 20 of the 370 patents that Toyota holds for its gas/electric hybrid technology, used in the Prius car.
The patents Ford is buying involve software that controls, among other things, whether the gas engine or electric motor is used. In hybrid vehicles, power to the wheels shifts from the gas engine to the electric motor depending on demand to save fuel.
Last year, Nissan reached an agreement with Toyota to use all of its patents. The Nissan hybrid could go on sale as early as 2006.
Neither Nissan nor Ford will buy parts from Toyota. They will get blueprints.
