Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for disconnecting differential technology that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on July 10th, 2023, published on October 1st, 2024, and assigned serial number 12103381.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has filed its fair share of patents in general over the years, with many of those pieces of intellectual property pertaining to possible drivetrain configurations and technology we may one day see in future models. That list includes ideas for things like an all-wheel drive line lock system, a triple clutch AWD setup, AWD with traction control, and dynamic control of hybrid vehicle modes. Now, this newly filed patent introduces us to an idea for disconnecting differential technology that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.
As Ford points out in this patent filing, hybrid vehicles utilize both gas and electric motors, and when one of the two isn’t needed, it can be beneficial to disconnect one of those power sources, which reduces parasitic drag. Since a differential is used to transfer power from motors/engines to the wheels, automakers often utilize this type of disconnecting setup in that manner. In the case of this patent, however, Ford is focusing specifically on hybrids that use an electric motor to power either the front or rear wheels, along with a gas engine that drives the other two wheels.
As such, this particular patent seems like it’s designed for a vehicle like the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring, which is the only Ford PHEV in North America that currently has an all-wheel drive system with a rear electric motor. However, the pure ICE Corsair and Escape also utilize a driveline disconnect feature, too. Regardless, given the fact that similar types of disconnect systems exist in the automotive world and help improve efficiency, it stands to reason that we could see it come to fruition at some point in the future.
Comments
I have a 2014 Fusion Hybrid, and the engine is connected when needed with a passive clutch (engages when the engine is not running). So it does the similar operation but only for FWD. Search for the HF35 transaxle to understand its operation.
Ok