Ford Motor (NYSE:F)is offering its electric vehicle patents to competing automakers amid slumping gas prices that have made EVs less attractive to many consumers.
Its move is similar to what Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) did in June 2014 when it made its portfolio of EV patents, estimated in the hundreds, openly available to rivals. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a blog post at the time that "all our patents belong to you."