Ford, Daimler, Renault, Metrocab, Toyota, Mahindra.

Ford patents on offer: Ford is opening up about 650 patents on hybrid and electric car technologies. While Tesla and Toyota were the first to make their respective technical knowledge available for free, Ford is asking competitors to pay a fee. Furthermore, the company plans to hire 200 more electrified-vehicle engineers this year.
autonews.com, greencarcongress.com, greencarreports.com

Daimler batteries: The German carmaker is swiftly following Tesla as it announces that its first stationary batteries for private households will launch this summer. Together with EnBW, deliveries are to start this autumn. The batteries will be manufactured by Daimler’s subsidiary Accumotive.
handelsblatt.com, daimler.com (in German)

Renault Eolab on hold: The light-weight PHEV Renault first presented at the Paris Auto Show 2014 is production-ready. However, Renault faces cost and market acceptance obstacles and is thus delaying Eolab production until “the market is ready,” chief performance officer Jerome Stoll said.
motoring.com.au, paultan.org

Metrocab to go into production: Frazer Nash, the makers of the Range-Extended Electric Metrocab for London, have entered a production partnership with Multimatic and will start volume production in Coventry next year. 50 million pounds will be invested in taking the new Metrocab to production.
newspress.co.uk

Prius spy shot: The next generation of Toyota’s pioneering hybrid has been spied doing test runs in Thailand but is still heavily camouflaged. The new Prius will be presented to the public before the year’s end.
indianautosblog.com

Mahindra double hit: The Indian manufacturer now confirmed to be launching both the Verito electric and the XUV500 Hybrid in its domestic market. The plans rely on the Indian government´s EV scheme.
auto.ndtv.com (EV), indianautosblog.com (hybrid)