https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/toyota-patents-hybrid-component-sales-electrification/

See, Toyota has been lagging behind other companies in the development of fully electric vehicles. Catching up to the likes of Nissan and GM will require substantial amounts of cash for development of its own technology, but even more money will be needed to build a manufacturing infrastructure to support EV production.

"We anticipate that there will probably be very few automakers who use our patents to develop their own hybrids from scratch, so by using our system and our components, and offering our support, we can work together to develop these cars," said Shigeki Terashi, executive vice president for Toyota, in a statement to Reuters. Toyota didn't immediately reply to a request for further comment.